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1 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Chicago Daily Herald


April 10, 2012 Tuesday


The car the right wing cannot kill


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 626 words


Imagine that. Former Republican President George H.W. Bush recently bought his son Neil a Chevrolet Volt as a birthday present. This is the car that all right-thinking right-wingers demand we hate. In their political prism, the Volt has everything going against it: It's beloved by environmentalists for getting 61 miles to the gallon. It's assembled by unionized workers at General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck plant. It enjoys government subsidies intended to encourage the production of fuel-efficient cars (started actually by H.W.'s oldest son, former President George W. Bush).

To many, this resembles progress. But to "conservatives" wanting government-bailed-out Detroit to go down in flames, especially if the United Auto Workers union goes with it, this plug-in hybrid is the car that has to die.

Lo and behold, U.S. car sales were hot last month, with General Motors selling over 100,000 vehicles that get at least 30 miles to a gallon. And sales of its Chevy Volt more than doubled from the month before.

The irony is that GM has temporarily stopped production of the Volt following earlier weak sales. And here's why the Volt wasn't flying out of the lots: The right-wing media had launched an outrageous smear campaign against it. As former GM executive Bob Lutz sarcastically put it, the Volt had become "the poster child for President Obama's socialist meddling in the free automotive market."

Lutz responded with special anger to a recent Bill O'Reilly Fox News show in which the host condemned the Volt as "an unmitigated disaster." Joshing over the disappointing Volt sales, O'Reilly's guest Lou Dobbs said, "It doesn't work." Also, "It catches fire."

None of this happens to be true. The European-market Volt worked well enough to be named the European Car of the Year. The "catching fire" claim is pure fiction, Lutz said, based on battery tests "under extremely destructive experimental conditions." Two of the three batteries involved weren't even in a car. No Volt has ever caught fire in an accident on a public road, he added, while between 2003 and 2007, some 278,000 gasoline-powered cars did.

Sadly, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has lowered himself by catering to feverish right-wing fantasies. He softened the rhetoric a bit by advancing the myth that an already weak General Motors and Chrysler could have survived in bankruptcy reorganization without government help. Most economists deemed that scenario impossible at a time of economic meltdown, when nearly all lending had stopped. And who would buy a car from a bankrupt company not backed by the government?

Judging from past writings on energy policy, Romney probably subscribes to a Bush-like belief that government has a role in helping Americans reduce their oil consumption. But he did join the anti-Volt pile-on last week. Using past tense he commented, "I'm not sure America was ready for the Chevy Volt." Then he wished it well.

What weird brand of politics revels at the prospect of plowing under a U.S. product so innovative that the Chinese are demanding its engineering secrets? It's a politics that ignores the huge subsidies that other governments, including China's, are pouring into energy technology. It's a politics that seems to blindly hate organized labor -- even after the autoworkers had accepted enormous cuts in their numbers and compensation to keep the car companies afloat. It's a politics that went goofy over Chrysler's Super Bowl ad in which Clint Eastwood announced, "It's halftime in America." Without evidence, some heard a thinly veiled call for a second Obama administration.

Exactly whose side are these people on? If these self-styled patriots want to keep waving the flag, fine. But it should be a white flag, not the American one.


LOAD-DATE: April 10, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Paddock Publications, Inc.



2 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 11:18 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2914 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Phil Gast - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

Attorneys for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who authorities say fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Florida, said Tuesday they have lost contact with their client and will no longer represent him.

Colombia-Americas-Summit

Colombian police are stepping up security in the colonial coastal city of Cartagena, where dozens of heads of state and government are scheduled to meet this weekend in a regional summit. Authorities are planning to deploy 7,680 police officers during the Summit of the Americas. Anti-explosive robots and radiation detectors are also part of the security detail.

Maryland-Same-Sex-Divorce

Maryland's highest court is set to decide whether a lesbian couple seeking a divorce can do so in a state that doesn't yet grant same-sex marriages.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Conservative challenger Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of "prayer and thought," effectively ceding the GOP nomination to front-runner Mitt Romney.

US-Guatemala-Kingpin

The U.S. Treasury Department added a Guatemalan man to its drug kingpin list Tuesday, describing him as a "critical link in the drug trade between Colombian producers and the violent Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas." The Treasury's designation of Horst Walter Overdick Mejia as a narcotics trafficker freezes any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits financial and commercial transactions with him. Guatemalan authorities arrested Overdick earlier this month. Last week, federal prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment of Overdick on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

ENT-California-Latino-Producers

Independent Latino producers of documentaries and feature films gather in Los Angeles later this week to draw attention to improving Latino representation in front of and behind the camera. The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has grown since 1999 when it was a just a couple of hundred of film makers is now a formal group with 10,000 subscribers to its newsletter about the state of media for Latino producers.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Conservative challenger Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of "prayer and thought," effectively ceding the GOP nomination to front-runner Mitt Romney.

Florida-Marlins-Castro

Ozzie Guillen's remarks on Fidel Castro may be constitutionally protected, but he has learned there is nothing shielding him from the ire of Miami's large Cuban community.

Syria-Unrest

Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he was "gravely concerned at the course of events" after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to withdraw troops from cities and towns by Tuesday's self-imposed deadline.

Oklahoma-Shootings

The suspects in the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed shortly after their arrest, according to police documents.

California-Charles-Manson

When the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation holds a parole hearing for notorious murderer Charles Manson on Wednesday, he will be represented by state-appointed attorney DeJon R. Lewis who will urge the state to put Manson in a mental hospital, Lewis told CNN.Manson, 77, and Lewis, a 45-year-old attorney who was just a boy at the time of the "Manson family" killings in 1969, haven't yet met. In fact, it is unclear whether Manson will attend his parole hearing.

INTERNATIONAL

Italy-Cruise-Ship-Captain

Italy's highest court ruled Tuesday that the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship must remain under house arrest while he is investigated for possible criminal charges.

Syria-Unrest

Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he was "gravely concerned at the course of events" after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to withdraw troops from cities and towns by Tuesday's self-imposed deadline.

China-Party-Official

The wife of a controversial Chinese leader and a family aide have been arrested in connection with the death of a British businessman, Chinese state media announced Tuesday.

UK-Terror-Suspects

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against five terror suspects Tuesday saying that they can be extradited to America despite their claims that they will be poorly treated.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea said the assembly of the satellite and rocket it plans to launch within the next week should be completed Tuesday, setting the stage for a move that has been widely criticized by other nations.

US-North-Korea

As North Korea prepares to commemorate the 100th birthday of its late founder Kim Il Sung with the launch of a satellite into orbit, the U.S. is already bracing for even more drama the day after.

Belgium-Brussels-Transport-Strike

Public transport in the Belgian capital, Brussels, was paralyzed for a fourth day Tuesday after staff walked out to protest the death of a co-worker in an assault.

Norway-Breivik

A man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in Norway last summer was sane at the time of the alleged crimes, two court-appointed psychiatric experts said in a report released Tuesday.

Myanmar-Britain-Cameron

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will visit Myanmar on Friday, a week after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won dozens of seats at elections in the Southeast Asian country.

Afghanistan-Unrest

The Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for two suicide attacks on government facilities in Afghanistan that killed at least 18 people and wounded 27 others.

China-Activist-Sentence

A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced a disabled lawyer who defended tenants' rights to more than two years in jail for "picking quarrels and making trouble," a local human rights advocacy group said.

SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-F1-Zayani-Ecclestone

Bahrain Grand Prix organizers insisted Tuesday that the Formula One race scheduled for the gulf kingdom later this month should go ahead despite mounting pressure for it to be scrapped.

U.S.A.

GSA-Fallout

The General Services Administration has suspended an employee award program cited by congressional investigators for exceeding spending limits, the acting head of the agency said Tuesday.

US-New-York-Bride-Cancer-Fraud

A New York woman is facing multiple fraud and larceny charges for allegedly pretending she had terminal cancer to get thousands of dollars from sympathetic donors to pay for an over-the-top wedding and honeymoon, according to a court statement released Tuesday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Prosecutor

Angela Corey, the state attorney overseeing the probe into the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is known in Florida as a tough prosecutor ready to pursue what she believes is right, even in the face of media glare and public pressure.

Florida-Marlins-Castro (will update)

Ozzie Guillen's remarks on Fidel Castro may be constitutionally protected, but he has learned there is nothing shielding him from the ire of Miami's large Cuban community.

US-Air-Show-Crash-Findings

The pilot of the P-51 Mustang that crashed at the Reno Air Races last September experienced overwhelming g-forces at the outset of the incident, and likely was incapacitated almost instantly, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

California-Charles-Manson

When the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation holds a parole hearing for notorious murderer Charles Manson on Wednesday, he will be represented by state-appointed attorney DeJon R. Lewis who will urge the state to put Manson in a mental hospital, Lewis told CNN.Manson, 77, and Lewis, a 45-year-old attorney who was just a boy at the time of the "Manson family" killings in 1969, haven't yet met. In fact, it is unclear whether Manson will attend his parole hearing.

US-Teacher-FBI-Top-10

A former private school teacher and camp counselor facing child pornography charges was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list Tuesday.

US-Terrorism-Trial

The chief judge for the Guantanamo Bay military commissions has assigned himself to preside over the trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and four other men. Army Col. James Pohl will preside over the arraignment of the five suspected terrorists beginning on May 5.

Washington-School-Bus-Emergency

A Washington school district is hailing a middle-school student as a hero after he guided a school bus to a stop when the driver slumped in his seat.

MED-Teen-Birth-Rate-Record-Low

The teenage birth rate in the United States has fallen to a record low in the seven decades since such statistics were last collected.

Maryland-Lottery-Winner

They are public school employees who have been holding down multiple jobs. Now that they've won tens of millions of dollars in a historic lottery, they could stop. But instead, the self-declared "Three Amigos," who share a winning Mega Millions ticket, plan to keep their fortune a secret -- and keep working.

Miss-Universe-Transgender

The Miss Universe organization announced Tuesday it is ending its ban on transgender contestants after coming under scrutiny recently when a Canadian competitor was told she would be disqualified because she was born male.

US-Marine-Obama

A Marine facing discharge over criticism of President Barack Obama on a Facebook page he administers will fight in military and civilian courts, his attorney said Tuesday.

US-Northeast-Brush-Fires

Firefighters continue to battle a series of brushfires raging on nearly 2,600 acres in the U.S. Northeast, which officials say were triggered by high winds and dry conditions. Parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been issued warnings by the National Weather Service after a recent dry spell in the region.

MONEY-Stand-Your-Ground-Companies

Pressure is building on companies to cut ties with a group that has championed Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, now under scrutiny in the Trayvon Martin case.

Tech-Smart-Phone-Thefts

A rise in the theft of smart phones, cell phones and tablets across the country has prompted the wireless industry to take steps aimed at minimizing the usefulness of a stolen device.

MONEY-Best-Buy

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn unexpectedly resigned Tuesday amid an investigation into his "personal conduct," the company acknowledged Tuesday, hours after the initial announcement of Dunn's departure.

MONEY-Yahoo

One week after cutting 2,000 employees -- about 14% of Yahoo's workforce -- CEO Scott Thompson unveiled an internal overhaul aimed at streamlining the sprawling Internet portal.

MONEY-Paul-Ryan-Tax-Reform

Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, says that since the Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year anyway, now would be a good time for Congress to pass comprehensive tax reform.

MONEY-Obama-Buffett-Rule

The White House on Tuesday laid out its case for the Buffett Rule, arguing that it would make the tax code fairer and make it harder for the very rich to lower their tax bills.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Jury selection in the trial of a man accused of killing relatives of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson wrapped up Tuesday.

Maryland-Beating

Onlookers laughed and did nothing to help as a man was beaten, stripped and robbed on the street in Baltimore. The attack, which police say happened on March 18 after St. Patrick's Day celebrations, was captured by at least two cameras. Video of it went viral.

POL-Clinton-Parody-Website

Hillary Clinton can often be found on the road checking her BlackBerry. When Moammar Gadhafi was caught by Libyan rebels last year, she was captured on tape receiving the news on her BlackBerry. Now, the new online sensation, "Texts from Hillary" Tumblr, imagines what the secretary of State is chatting about.

ELECTIONS 2012

POL-Santorum-Political-Obit

Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday after it became increasingly unlikely he could tackle the obstacles standing in his way on the road to the GOP presidential nomination, according to a Santorum source.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Conservative challenger Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of "prayer and thought," effectively ceding the GOP nomination to front-runner Mitt Romney.

POL-Campaign-Suspending-Explainer

Rick Santorum announced Tuesday he was suspending his bid for the 2012 GOP nomination. Below is a primer on what candidates mean when they say they're 'suspending' their campaigns. "Suspending" vs. Dropping Out - What's the Difference?

POL-Republicans-Reax-Santorum

Leading Republicans responded to news of Rick Santorum suspending his presidential campaign Tuesday, mostly praising the candidate for making the decision that essentially clears the way for Mitt Romney to soon clinch the GOP nomination.

POL-Pennsylvania-Senator-Endorses-Romney

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania threw his weight behind Mitt Romney on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of the state's presidential primary.

POL-Crossroads-Anti-Obama-Ad

A conservative political action committee on Tuesday announced plans to spend $1.7 million in a half-dozen battleground states criticizing President Barack Obama's energy policy.

POL-Ron-Paul-Ad

The GOP nomination may appear to be in Mitt Romney's reach, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul isn't leaving the race without knocking his rivals at least one more time. In a new 30-second ad set to begin airing on cable in Texas Tuesday, Paul hits Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as collectively unfit to go up against President Barack Obama in November's general election.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

FEA-Garbage-Pail-Kids-Book

Weapons, creepy critters and bodily fluids are timeless sources of inspiration for children's toys. But perhaps no franchise capitalized on all those themes better than "Garbage Pail Kids," the gross-out trading cards of the 1980s that parodied Cabbage Patch Kids. To many from that generation, they were the raddest cards your parents wouldn't let you have. Or, maybe you found ways to procure them on your own and became the coolest kid at the lunch table. Those kids are now adults, and the release of a book that compiles "Garbage Pail Kids" art allows fans to stroll down a blood-soaked, snot-infested memory lane -- one littered with pudgy limbs and heads that bear a disturbing resemblance to the wholesome Cabbage Patch dolls.

MED-Wallace-Depression

Since his death at age 93 Saturday, much has been written about hard-edged ex-"60 Minutes" reporter Mike Wallace's epic verbal battles with world leaders, swindlers and alleged crime bosses. But in 2005, Wallace made news of his own when he acknowledged his longtime war with depression -- a fight that nearly caused him to take his own life.

ENT-Djimon-Hounsou-African-Voices

From scavenging for food through garbage and sleeping in the streets, to becoming an international fashion model and a Hollywood A-lister, Djimon Hounsou's journey to stardom has been an astonishing one. The Benin-born actor, one of the most prominent film stars to come out of Africa, has appeared in blockbusters such as "Gladiator," "Amistad" and "Blood Diamond," and has worked with Hollywood royalty like Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio.

ENT-Ricki-Lake-Married

Ricki Lake has tied the knot with fiance Christian Evans, and the TV personality/actress is feeling the love.

ENT-Lindsay-Lohan-Complaint

Lindsay Lohan's had enough of people making false accusations about while she's trying to get her career back on track after five years of legal troubles, her publicist said Tuesday.

ENT-Madonna-Sales-Drop-Reports

Madonna had the biggest album debut of the year with her new offering, "MDNA," but the disc's second week sales may lead to a less flattering record. Forbes reports that her latest is on track to have the biggest second-week drop in chart history.

MED-Brain-Tumors-Dental-X-Rays

A study published this week in the journal Cancer shows that people who have had dental X-rays are more likely to develop a type of brain tumor called meningioma than those who have not. This does not prove that X-rays cause tumors, but supports previous research about the connection. Dental X-rays have also been implicated in thyroid cancer.

TRAVEL-Titanic-Last-Dive

For Titanic enthusiasts, it's a last chance to glimpse the famous cruise liner in its final resting place, a full 100 years after the vessel's tragic demise. A series of expeditions by marine dive specialists Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) will take paying tourists to the wreck site 12,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean in early July.

TECH-Photo-Apps-Instagram

Facebook's billion-dollar purchase of Instagram this week may have been the first time that many Facebookers heard of the tech-world darling, which lets users turn their phone photos into sleek-looking, stylized images with a single touch.

SPORT-Freedom-Baseball

A growing number of Major League Baseball players are coming together to make every pitch, home run and strikeout count in the fight against child trafficking.

SPORT-Golf-Bubba-Watson-Internet-Sensation

If you thought golf was the stuffy reserve of mild-mannered gentlemen in polo shirts, think again. From Santa Claus outfits to leaping into jacuzzis and even smashing lettuce heads to smithereens, there's no antic too crazy for new Masters champion Bubba Watson.


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



3 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 6:35 PM EST


Santorum to suspend campaign


BYLINE: By Tom Cohen, CNN


LENGTH: 1018 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after a weekend of "prayer and thought."

The development means that Mitt Romney is now the certain GOP nominee to take on President Barack Obama in November, as Santorum was his main challenger. While Romney still needs to win several hundred delegates to clinch the nomination, Santorum's departure from the race leaves his path unhindered.

Santorum had canceled two events earlier Tuesday while adding an afternoon event that turned out to be his withdrawal announcement.

Hogan Gidley, the campaign's communications director, said the two morning events were canceled to allow Santorum and his wife, Karen, to "settle in at home" with 3-year-old daughter Isabella after her weekend hospitalization.

Known as Bella, the child was born with Trisomy 18, a serious chromosomal condition that interferes with development. Half of patients with the condition do not survive past the first week of life, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Campaign aides have acknowledged that the April 24 primary in Pennsylvania, the state he represented in Congress, was a must-win for Santorum's candidacy. But his once double-digit lead there slipped to single digits in a recent poll, and the cancellation of campaign events Monday and again on Tuesday morning stoked media speculation that Santorum might drop out in the face of front-runner Romney's commanding lead.

Meanwhile, a new poll Tuesday shows Romney trailing Obama in a head-to-head matchup, though voters remain split on which presidential contender is best equipped to handle the economy.

The survey, from Washington Post/ABC News, showed 51% of Americans would choose Obama if the election were held now, compared to 44% for Romney.

According to the polling data, Americans are divided on which candidate would best handle economic issues: Forty-seven percent favored Romney while 43% named Obama. When asked which man would be better at creating jobs, 46% named Obama and 43% said Romney. Both margins were within the poll's 3.5% sampling error.

Voters were less divided on other key issues. Fifty-three percent said Obama was best poised to handle international affairs, compared to 36% who said Romney. Conversely, when asked which man would do a better job of reducing the federal deficit, 51% said Romney and 38% said Obama.

In terms of likability, Obama held a clear advantage, with 64% of Americans polled saying the president was a more friendly and likable person, a nearly 2-to-1 advantage over Romney, who was at 26%.

The serious gender gap between the two candidates -- also seen in recent Gallup and CNN/ORC polls -- also appeared in the new poll. Obama had the support of 57% of women, compared to 38% who said they backed Romney, while the former Massachusetts governor had the backing of 52% of men, compared to 44% who backed Obama.

Among another important voting block, independents, the poll shows a much tighter race, with 48% backing Romney compared to 46% for Obama, also within the survey's sampling error.

Romney has used a huge advantage in money and organization to build his lead over Santorum and fellow challengers Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. In particular, the Romney campaign and the super PAC supporting it have spent millions of dollars on negative ads in the run-up to major primary and caucus votes so far.

On Monday, though, Romney's campaign pulled a television ad hitting Santorum while the former senator from Pennsylvania tended to his daughter in the hospital.

The sharply negative ad, which was to begin airing in Pennsylvania, highlighted Santorum's 2006 re-election loss in the state.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said the decision was made "out of deference to Sen. Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign for personal family reasons."

Despite Saul's use of the word "suspend," Santorum has not formally suspended his campaign.

Santorum is Romney's closest rival but still has less than half of his delegate total, with Gingrich and Paul trailing far behind. However, the primary races after April 24 include states with conservative and Christian evangelical voting blocs that have backed Santorum so far.

Both Santorum and Gingrich have resisted calls to end their races in the face of Romney's substantial lead.

However, Gingrich admitted Sunday that Romney was the likely nominee.

"I think you have to be realistic," Gingrich said on "Fox News Sunday." "Given the size of his organization, given the number of primaries he's won, he is far and away the most likely Republican nominee."

CNN's latest estimate of the GOP delegate tally shows Romney with 659, Santorum with 275, Gingrich with 140 and Paul with 71. It takes 1,144 delegates to clinch the nomination.

New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware vote on April 24, in addition to Pennsylvania. In all, 231 delegates are up for grabs in the five states.

Gingrich has said he will stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in August, despite running a distant third in the delegate count. The goal for both Gingrich and Santorum at this point appears to be preventing Romney from reaching the 1,144-delegate threshold before the convention.

While all but conceding the GOP race, Gingrich said Sunday he won't give up on trying to influence the party's platform that emerges going into the general election.

"I think platforms matter in the long run in the evolution of the party," the former House speaker said. "And the party is more than just a presidential candidate -- it's Senate candidates, House candidates, state legislators."

Gingrich also said he has already talked to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus about working in the fall "to help defeat Obama any way I could -- whatever the team thinks I can do to be helpful, I would do."

Beyond that, he said he wouldn't want to serve in a Romney administration and would rather "go back to a post-political career."

CNN's Kevin Liptak, John King, Peter Hamby, Shannon Travis and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



5 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 3:11 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2194 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler and Sarah Aarthun - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian forces pounded cities across the nation, opposition activists said, as a deadline for a troop withdrawal passed Tuesday and blighted the chances of success for a United Nations-backed peace plan.

ENT-Lindsay-Lohan-Complaint

Lindsay Lohan wants the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to investigate the woman who accuses her of shoving her at a nightclub last week, Lohan's lawyer said Tuesday. The woman, whose name has not been made public, filed a report with the sheriff accusing Lohan of battery, but the actress insists she was not out clubbing last Thursday night.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

It was unclear Tuesday when a decision will be made on whether criminal charges will be filed against the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death.

POL-Campaign-Wrap (will update)

Rick Santorum adjusted his campaign schedule Tuesday following his young daughter's release from hospital the night before, canceling morning events in his home state of Pennsylvania while adding a later appearance in Gettysburg.

Florida-Marlins-Castro

The favorable comments that manager Ozzie Guillen of the Miami Marlins made about Fidel Castro struck a raw nerve in Miami, home to thousands of Cuban exiles who suffered under Castro. The team promptly suspended him for five games. The episode highlights the fine line that prominent business figures face when it comes to talking about Cuba in Miami. Sure, people like Guillen enjoy freedom of speech -- but they can alienate customers and pay a price in Miami's marketplace if they offer praise for Castro.

Oklahoma-Shootings (will update)

The suspects in the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed shortly after their arrest, according to police documents.

Italy-Cruise-Ship-Captain (will update)

Italy's highest court is expected to rule Tuesday on whether the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship will remain under house arrest.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Syria-Unrest

Syrian forces pounded cities across the nation, opposition activists said, as a deadline for a troop withdrawal passed Tuesday and blighted the chances of success for a United Nations-backed peace plan.

Oklahoma-Shootings

The suspects in the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed shortly after their arrest, according to police documents.

INTERNATIONAL

UK-Terror-Suspects

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against five terror suspects Tuesday saying that they can be extradited to America despite their claims that they will be poorly treated.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea said the assembly of the satellite and rocket it plans to launch within the next week should be completed Tuesday, setting the stage for a move that has been widely criticized by other nations.

Belgium-Brussels-Transport-Strike

Public transport in the Belgian capital, Brussels, was paralyzed for a fourth day Tuesday after staff walked out to protest the death of a co-worker in an assault.

Syria-Unrest

A deadline for Syrian troops to withdraw from cities came and went Tuesday morning, with no reports of change in the year-long crisis that has killed thousands. An opposition activist in the besieged city of Homs said fresh shelling rained on two neighborhoods late Tuesday morning.

Norway-Breivik

A man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in Norway last summer was sane at the time of the alleged crimes, two court-appointed psychiatric experts said in a report released Tuesday.

Venezuela-Diplomat-Kidnapped

A Costa Rican diplomat kidnapped in Venezuela has been freed, Venezuela's minister for justice and the interior said Tuesday.

Peru-Miners

Peruvian officials hope that efforts to rescue nine miners trapped in a mine for days will pay dividends as early as Tuesday.

Myanmar-Britain-Cameron

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will visit Myanmar on Friday, a week after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won dozens of seats at elections in the Southeast Asian country.

Afghanistan-Unrest

Suicide attacks on government facilities in western and southern Afghanistan Tuesday killed at least 22 people and wounded 23 others, authorities said. Many of the dead were police officers.

Bahrain-Hunger-Strike

Bahrain on Tuesday denied reports that a detained activist on a hunger strike has serious medical problems, saying he is taking fluids orally and intravenously.

China-Activist-Sentence

A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced a disabled lawyer who defended tenants' rights to more than two years in jail for "picking quarrels and making trouble," a local human rights advocacy group said.

US-North-Korea

As North Korea prepares to commemorate the 100th birthday of its late founder Kim Il Sung with the launch of a satellite into orbit, the US is already bracing for even more drama the day after.

Yemen-Violence

At least eight soldiers died and five others were injured when suspected Islamist militants attacked a military post in Yemen's eastern Mareb province early Tuesday, three security officials and a Defense Ministry official told CNN.

U.S.A.

MED-Teen-Birth-Rate-Record-Low

The teenage birth rate in the United States has fallen to a record low in the seven decades since such statistics were last collected.

Maryland-Lottery-Winner

They are public school employees who have been holding down multiple jobs. Now that they've won tens of millions of dollars in a historic lottery, they could stop. But instead, the self-declared "Three Amigos," who share a winning Mega Millions ticket, plan to keep their fortune a secret -- and keep working.

Miss-Universe-Transgender

The Miss Universe organization announced Tuesday it is ending its ban on transgender contestants after coming under scrutiny recently when a Canadian competitor was told she would be disqualified because she was born male.

SPORT-Marlins-Suspend-Manager

The Miami Marlins have suspended Manager Ozzie Guillen for five games, effective immediately, the team said Tuesday.

US-Marine-Obama

A Marine facing discharge over criticism of President Barack Obama on a Facebook page he administers will fight in military and civilian courts, his attorney said Tuesday.

Oklahoma-Shootings

Syrian forces pounded cities across the nation, opposition activists said, as a United Nations-brokered deadline for troop withdrawal came and went Tuesday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

It was unclear Tuesday when a decision will be made on whether criminal charges will be filed against the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death.

MONEY-Bush-Speech

Former President George W. Bush said Tuesday he wishes his name wasn't so firmly attached to one of his administration's signature pieces of legislation -- the broad-based tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year.

MONEY-Stocks

Investors remained nervous Tuesday with stocks ticking lower ahead of the unofficial start of earnings season. Worries about Europe bubbled back to the surface, as borrowing costs in Spain and Italy continue to move higher.

MONEY-Consumer-Bureau-Mortgages

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it's considering new rules aimed at mortgage servicers to help protect consumers against "costly surprises."

MONEY-Best-Buy

Best Buy announced Tuesday that CEO Brian Dunn had resigned from the electronics retailer.

MONEY-airline-seat-review-website

Booking an airline seat can be something of a lottery -- the losing of which can be the ruin of a long-haul flight. But popular seat-review websites are taking the gamble out of flying, allowing passengers to avoid drawing the short straw that could see them trapped for hours in a seat with cramped leg room, or surrounded by queues for the bathroom.

MONEY-Obama-Buffett-Rule

The White House on Tuesday laid out its case for the Buffett Rule, arguing that it would make the tax code fairer and make it harder for the very rich to lower their tax bills. President Obama is set to make the case himself in a speech Tuesday in Florida.

MONEY-Refineries-Gas-Prices

While gas prices soar to record levels, many U.S. refineries that make and sell gasoline are going broke.

MONEY-Consumer-Bureau-Mortgages

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will announce Tuesday that it's considering new rules aimed at mortgage servicers to help protect consumers against "costly surprises." The bureau's new rules will require servicers to issue mortgage statements that are more clear, as well as better disclosures about any fees or changes in a loan's interest rate.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Jury selection continues Tuesday in the murder trial of the man charged in the deaths of singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew more than three years ago.

Maryland-Beating

Onlookers laughed and did nothing to help as a man was beaten, stripped and robbed on the street in Baltimore. The attack, which police say happened on March 18 after St. Patrick's Day celebrations, was captured by at least two cameras. Video of it went viral.

ELECTIONS 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Rick Santorum adjusted his campaign schedule Tuesday following his young daughter's release from hospital the night before, canceling morning events in his home state of Pennsylvania while adding a later appearance in Gettysburg.

POL-Ron-Paul-Ad

The GOP nomination may appear to be in Mitt Romney's reach, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul isn't leaving the race without knocking his rivals at least one more time. In a new 30-second ad set to begin airing on cable in Texas Tuesday, Paul hits Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as collectively unfit to go up against President Barack Obama in November's general election.

POL-Wisconsin-Ad

Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful Kathleen Falk released her first ad Tuesday documenting her background as a Wisconsin native and job creator.

POL-Obama-Romney-Poll

The latest poll pitting President Barack Obama against his likely GOP opponent Mitt Romney shows the president topping his GOP rival in a head-to-head matchup, though voters remain split on which presidential contender is best equipped to handle the economy.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

FEA-Garbage-Pail-Kids-Book

Weapons, creepy critters and bodily fluids are timeless sources of inspiration for children's toys. But perhaps no franchise capitalized on all those themes better than "Garbage Pail Kids," the gross-out trading cards of the 1980s that parodied Cabbage Patch Kids. To many from that generation, they were the raddest cards your parents wouldn't let you have. Or, maybe you found ways to procure them on your own and became the coolest kid at the lunch table. Those kids are now adults, and the release of a book that compiles "Garbage Pail Kids" art allows fans to stroll down a blood-soaked, snot-infested memory lane -- one littered with pudgy limbs and heads that bear a disturbing resemblance to the wholesome Cabbage Patch dolls.

TRAVEL-Beijing-Hidden-Culture

Beijing is a city where history and culture are almost tangible. They sprout, grow and bloom in unexpected places, around glittering new skyscrapers, in subway tunnels and in parks. And yet, despite their prevalence, history and culture in Beijing always seem to be teetering on the verge of extinction.

MED-Wallace-Depression

Since his death at age 93 Saturday, much has been written about hard-edged ex-"60 Minutes" reporter Mike Wallace's epic verbal battles with world leaders, swindlers and alleged crime bosses. But in 2005, Wallace made news of his own when he acknowledged his longtime war with depression -- a fight that nearly caused him to take his own life.

ENT-Djimon-Hounsou-African-Voices

From scavenging for food through garbage and sleeping in the streets, to becoming an international fashion model and a Hollywood A-lister, Djimon Hounsou's journey to stardom has been an astonishing one. The Benin-born actor, one of the most prominent film stars to come out of Africa, has appeared in blockbusters such as "Gladiator," "Amistad" and "Blood Diamond," and has worked with Hollywood royalty like Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Anne-Sophia-Pic

French gastronomy is a male-dominated world, and its centuries-old traditions are fiercely protected. So, although Anne-Sophie Pic is the daughter and granddaughter of Michelin-starred chefs, it was not always clear she would continue the family tradition.

MED-Brain-Tumors-Dental-X-Rays

A study published this week in the journal Cancer shows that people who have had dental X-rays are more likely to develop a type of brain tumor called meningioma than those who have not. This does not prove that X-rays cause tumors, but supports previous research about the connection. Dental X-rays have also been implicated in thyroid cancer.

TRAVEL-Titanic-Last-Dive

For Titanic enthusiasts, it's a last chance to glimpse the famous cruise liner in its final resting place, a full 100 years after the vessel's tragic demise. A series of expeditions by marine dive specialists Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) will take paying tourists to the wreck site 12,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean in early July.


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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CNN Wire


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 1:57 PM EST


Ron Paul hits home state's airwaves


BYLINE: By Kevin Liptak, CNN


LENGTH: 348 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- The GOP nomination may appear to be in Mitt Romney's reach, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul isn't leaving the race without knocking his rivals at least one more time.

In a new 30-second ad set to begin airing on cable in Texas Tuesday, Paul hits Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as collectively unfit to go up against President Barack Obama in November's general election.

The ad, called "Vote Texas," begins with an announcer laying out the options for Republicans: "Let's get this straight. We're debating between a big spending, debt ceiling raising fiscal liberal, a moon colony guy, a moderate from Massachusetts or a Texan with a real plan to balance the budget."

The slam against Gingrich - that he's the "moon colony guy" - comes with a "Photoshopped" image of the former House speaker in a space suit, floating around the moon.

The announcer continues, pushing Paul's platform of reigning in spending and slashing the federal debt.

"Get with it people, only one candidate will stand up for Texas. Ron Paul isn't playing games. Five federal bureaucracies gone. A trillion dollars cut, year one. Get Washington off your back," the announcer says before labeling the candidate a "big, bold Texan."

The assertion that Paul "isn't playing games" is supplemented with an image of an Etch A Sketch, a reference to a March remark from a Romney campaign aide that the GOP frontrunner would shift focus in the general election.

In a statement accompanying the ad's release, Paul's National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton said the buy was indication of how important Texas was in selecting the GOP nominee.

"Texas has 152 delegates up for grabs on May 29th, keeping the race for the Republican nomination open," Benton said. "Ron Paul is competing hard in his home state of Texas, and we expect that Texas conservatives will reject flip-flopping Massachusetts moderate Mitt Romney and the debt ceiling raising fiscal liberal Rick Santorum."

Paul currently represents Texas' 14th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, and has represented the state on and off since 1975.


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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All Rights Reserved



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CNN Wire


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 7:11 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3199 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ed Payne - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Myanmar Britain Cameron (3:15 a.m.)

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will visit Myanmar on Friday, a week after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won dozens of seats at elections in the Southeast Asian country.

Maryland-Lottery-Winner (3:45 a.m.)

Maryland Lottery officials plan a news conference Tuesday, a day after announcing that the holder of one of three winning tickets in a drawing for the Mega Millions has come forward.

Afghanistan-Unrest (4 a.m.)

A suicide bombing outside a district administrator's office in western Afghanistan killed 14 people and wounded 13 others, police said. The attack took place in the Guzara district of Herat province.

US-Wildfires (5 a.m.)

Extreme wind and dry conditions caused an alarming number of brush fires to spark up in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania on Monday, and firefighters will continue to fight blazes throughout the night, according to fire officials.

Miss-Universe-Transgender (HFR 9 a.m.)

Miss Universe owner Donald Trump is taking a swipe at lawyer Gloria Allred in their highly personal public relations battle over allowing transgender competitors in his beauty pageants.

Trump's organization announced Tuesday morning it is ending its rule banning transgender women from competing, but officials insists the change is in spite of, not because of, legal threats from Allred.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A deadline for Syrian troops to withdraw from cities came and went Tuesday morning, with no reports of change in the year-long crisis that has killed thousands. An opposition activist in the besieged city of Homs said fresh shelling rained on two neighborhoods late Tuesday morning.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (monitoring)

Now that the grand jury that was scheduled to convene Tuesday in the Trayvon Martin case has been canceled many are wondering when a decision will be made. The special prosecutor assigned to oversee the investigation, Angela Corey, announced Monday that she would not present the controversial shooting case to a grand jury.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Syria-Unrest

A deadline for Syrian troops to withdraw from cities came and went Tuesday morning, with no reports of change in the year-long crisis that has killed thousands. An opposition activist in the besieged city of Homs said fresh shelling rained on two neighborhoods late Tuesday morning.

Oklahoma-Shootings

Prosecutors will review whether hate crime charges are appropriate against Jake England and Alvin Watts, the men accused of shooting five African-Americans early Friday, District Attorney Tim Harris said Monday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Now that the grand jury that was scheduled to convene Tuesday in the Trayvon Martin case has been canceled many are wondering when a decision will be made. The special prosecutor assigned to oversee the investigation, Angela Corey, announced Monday that she would not present the controversial shooting case to a grand jury.

MONEY-Facebook-Acquires-Instagram

Facebook has agreed to buy photo sharing network Instagram for $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock, the company announced Monday.

INTERNATIONAL

Bahrain-Hunger-Strike

The United Nations is urging Bahrain to consider transferring a detained activist to Denmark for treatment as his hunger strike enters its 62nd day Tuesday.. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds Danish citizenship, is serving a life sentence for his role in anti-government protests that continue to roil Bahrain. Sunday marked a year since his arrest.

China-Activist-Sentence

A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced a disabled lawyer who defended tenants' rights to more than two years in jail for "picking quarrels and making trouble," a local human rights advocacy group said.

US-North-Korea

As North Korea prepares to commemorate the 100th birthday of its late founder Kim Il Sung with the launch of a satellite into orbit, the US is already bracing for even more drama the day after.

POL-US-Brazil-Presidents

President Barack Obama and visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday stressed the importance of strong ties between their countries, despite Brazil's concerns about U.S. economic policies that it says can work against emerging economies.

Egypt-Presidential-Candidates

A Muslim Brotherhood candidate for next month's presidential elections here lashed out Monday at the 11th-hour entrance into the race by Omar Suleiman, the former spy chief to deposed strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Venezuela-Diplomat-Kidnapped

Authorities are investigating the kidnapping of a Costa Rican diplomat in Venezuela, officials said Monday.

Iran-Nuclear-Talks

Nuclear talks will resume this week in Turkey between Iran and six world powers, the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported Monday.

Yemen-Attack

Al Qaeda militants seized control of a military base and two checkpoints during raids in southern Yemen on Monday in which at least 30 people died, security officials and residents said.

North-Korea-Launch

North Korea is planning a nuclear test in the area where it has staged previous atomic blasts, according to a report from South Korean intelligence officials obtained by CNN.

North-Korea-Grant-Trip

A first-person account by CNN reporter Stan Grant to the site of North Korea's planned rocket launch.

South-Korea-Police-Resignation

South Korea's national police chief resigned Monday amid criticism over authorities' handling of an emergency call from a woman who was later found murdered.

Syria-Executions-Report

Syrian security forces have summarily executed at least 101 people, including civilians, since late 2011 in attacks on cities and towns, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday.

Pakistan-Avalanche

A U.S. team was at work Monday at a Himalayan military outpost in Pakistan, joining the search for as many as 139 people buried in a massive avalanche.

Spain-Iberia-Pilots-Strike

Pilots for the Spanish airline Iberia resumed their strikes on Monday, forcing the cancellation of 124 flights, in a grievance over the company's new low-cost carrier, Iberia Express.

Camel-Milk-Dubai

In a Dubai café, patrons sip camel-milk lattes, camel-ccinos and shakes made with camel milk. The newly opened Cafe2Go is one of the first to put camel milk on its menu and it seems to be passing the taste test with intrigued customers.

Beirut-Wonder-Forest

The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the inspiration behind an ambitious plan to grow a rooftop forest high above Beirut's crowded streets.

MONEY-World-Bank

The World Bank will choose its next president in one week, and for the first time ever, it's got a competition on its hands.

MONEY-China-Inflation

Chinese consumers continue to pay the price for economic prosperity, in the form of inflation for pork, alcohol, traditional medicine and other products, the government reported Monday.

SPORT-chelsea-lampard-fulham-premier

Chelsea still have work to do if they are to qualify for next season's Champions League after dropping points in a 1-1 draw at Fulham in the English Premier League on Monday night.

U.S.A.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Jury selection continues Tuesday in the murder trial of the man charged in the deaths of singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew more than three years ago.

Maryland-Lottery-Winner

The holder of one of three winning tickets in a record $656 million Mega Millions drawing has come forward to claim a share, Maryland Lottery officials said Monday.

Maryland-Beating

Onlookers laughed and did nothing to help as a man was beaten, stripped and robbed on the street in Baltimore. The attack, which police say happened on March 18 after St. Patrick's Day celebrations, was captured by at least two cameras. Video of it went viral.

Virginia-Plane-Crash

Emergency calls highlight the confusion in a Virginia Beach, Virginia, neighborhood after a Navy fighter jet crashed last week, with one woman reporting that a pilot was on her patio awaiting medical aid.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

More than three years after actress and singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were killed, jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of the man charged in their deaths.

Michigan-Nuclear-Plant

A troubled Michigan nuclear power plant cited for safety violations has been taken off line for maintenance and refueling, the plant's owner said Monday.

Pennsylvania-University-Threats

The University of Pittsburgh heightened security Monday while school and federal officials continued to investigate bomb threats made against the campus.

Pennsylvania-Firefighters-Killed

Two Philadelphia firefighters died early Monday and three others were injured after a wall collapsed in a building that had been cited repeatedly for safety violations and was set to be sold at auction later this year, officials said.

Tulsa-Shootings-Hate-Crime

Police, officials and residents are horrified by the shooting deaths of three African-American men, allegedly by two white men, in a predominantly black area in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But authorities will not say whether they believe the shootings were a hate crime.

Arizona-Sheriff-Case

Federal officials fired a new warning shot Monday in the ongoing battle between the Obama Administration and local law enforcement in Maricopa County, Arizona.

US-Teen-Sex-Coercion

An Indiana man allegedly blackmailed teenaged boys into being his camera "slaves" by threatening to post their videos on gay porn websites, a criminal complaint said.

US-Weather-Record-Warm-March

March 2012 will go down as the warmest March in the United States since record-keeping began in 1895, NOAA said Monday.

SPORT-New-Orleans-Saints-Bounty

The National Football League announced Monday it will not overturn the penalty it previously imposed against the New Orleans Saints and members of its coaching staff for the team's bounty program.

SPORT-Golf-Masters-Bubba-Watson

First-time Masters champion Bubba Watson admits he's still learning to control his emotions after a miraculous win left him bawling on the green.

SPORT-tennis-serena-williams-charleston

American tennis star Serena Williams is hoping to keep up her blistering momentum after a landmark victory at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston --- the 40th WTA Tour title of her illustrious career.

TECH-google-popular-apple-poll

America's top technology companies have approval ratings that most politicians can only dream of, according to a new poll. And Google, not Apple, is the ultimate object of our digital affection. A robust 82% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Google, and 53% have "strongly favorable" thoughts about the Web titan, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last last week.

MED-Autism-Obesity-Study

A mother's weight and diabetic condition may increase the risk of her unborn child developing a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as autism, according to a new study published in this week's journal Pediatrics.

MED-Genetic-Child-Obesity

Researchers have identified two genetic variations that appear to increase the risk of childhood obesity, according to a new study.

MONEY-Buffett-Rule

President Obama on Tuesday will continue to beat the drum for the Buffett Rule, his campaign-ready tax proposal aimed at millionaires and billionaires.

MONEY-Mortgages-Principal-Reduction

The world will only have to wait a few more weeks to find out whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow principal reductions on mortgages they back. The Federal Housing Finance Agency will decide this month whether Fannie and Freddie should allow write downs on the balances of borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth, said Ed DeMarco, acting director for the agency.

ELECTIONS 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign said Monday it was pulling a television ad hitting rival Rick Santorum while Santorum tends to his young daughter Isabella, who was admitted to a hospital Friday.

POL-Poll-Romney-Nominee

A new poll released Monday shows further evidence that Republicans have circled around Mitt Romney as their party's presumptive nominee.

POL-Romney-Tone-Deaf

It's not the way most Americans spent Easter weekend, but then again, most Americans aren't Mitt Romney. And that's the potential problem that will be leveraged against him in the battle for the White House. The former Massachusetts governor and likely Republican presidential nominee spent the past few days with his family at his beach house in expensive and exclusive La Jolla, California. That's the same three-bedroom home, purchased for $12 million four years ago, that has made headlines over the past couple of years after reports of plans for a major remodeling and expansion.

POL-Romney-Huckabee-Interview

Mitt Romney, making a post-Easter appearance on the radio show of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said he was in touch with rival Newt Gingrich more often than Rick Santorum, despite Santorum's advantage in the delegate count.

POL-Romney-Pulls-Ad

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign said Monday they were pulling a television ad hitting rival Rick Santorum while the former senator tends to his young daughter, who was admitted to a hospital Friday.

POL-Santorum-Daughter-Health

Rick Santorum's daughter Bella is expected to be released from the hospital on Monday, spokesperson Hogan Gidley confirmed to CNN.

MED-santorum-daughter-health

Former Sen. Rick Santorum's daughter Isabella is expected to be released from the hospital Monday, a spokesman tells CNN. The GOP presidential candidate interrupted his campaign Friday, when his 3-year-old girl was hospitalized for reasons the campaign did not disclose. Isabella suffers from a chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18, where extra genetic material is present on chromosome 18. The extra material interferes with normal development, according to the National Institutes of Health.

POL-NRA-Lugar-Ads

A tough battle for Indiana's Republican Senate nomination got uglier Monday as the National Rifle Association began airing television ads blasting incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar for failing to uphold gun ownership rights.

POL-Warren-Massachusetts-Fundraising

Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren raised $6.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, more than doubling incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown's haul, according to her campaign.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

ENT-Alec-Baldwin-Stalking

A Canadian woman arrested by New York police Sunday night for allegedly stalking Alec Baldwin worked as a publicist for a movie the actor had a small role in a decade ago.

ENT-Lindsay-Lohan-Complaint

A woman filed a battery complaint against Lindsay Lohan on Saturday, accusing the actress of shoving her at a West Hollywood nightclub two nights earlier, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's official.

ENT-Whitney-Houston-Funeral

It seems some Newark, New Jersey residents have a bone to pick with Whitney Houston's family. According to CNN affiliate CBS New York, the city's taxpayers aren't pleased with the more than $187,000 tab Newark picked up for police overtime during Houston's funeral there in February.

ENT-SNL-Skit-Andy-Cohen

"Saturday Night Live" returned this weekend after a hiatus with none other than Sofia Vergara as host. She'd already proved she had comedic timing both on and off her ABC sitcom "Modern Family" - if you've ever seen her joke on the red carpet, you'll know that she's a natural - and she brought her talent to a number of skits, including one that poked fun at Bravo exec Andy Cohen.

ENT-Nicki-Minaj-NYC-Concert

Nicki Minaj pulled off an elaborate stunt over the weekend that still has New Yorkers talking. The petite rapper surprised Times Square pedestrians on Friday evening when she conducted an over-the-top three-song concert.

ENT-Tori-Spelling-QA

Tori Spelling regrets the fact that she's put acting on the backburner in recent years. At an event celebrating the release of her new book, "CelebraTORI," she told CNN, "I'm ready to make people laugh more."

MONEY-Second-Screens

It's an advertiser's dream: not one, but two screens to capture consumers' attention. Companies are jumping on the trend with apps to enhance the television experience -- and, of course, to sell more ads.

FEA-Baby-Boomer-Caregivers

Money was no object when the time came for Joan Lunden to find a senior care facility for her 88-year-old mother. For years, the former host of "Good Morning America" had been a long-distance caregiver to her mother and brother in California, providing them with emotional and financial support from New York. After her brother's death from complications from type II diabetes, Lunden needed to find a new home for her mother, who was suffering from the onset of dementia.

FEA-Dementia-Building-Relationships

On a recent late night in New Jersey, Adam Robb sat up with Dulcie Laurance, lulling her back to sleep. Robb's 92-year-old grandmother is one of an estimated 36 million people worldwide with dementia, according to 2010 data from Alzheimer's Disease International, and Robb is one of about 65.7 million people in the United States taking care of relatives with various conditions, including dementia.

FEA-comic-con-job-fair

How exactly does one make a documentary about an event that attracts hundreds of thousands to San Diego, with dozens of events going on at one time? "We had a 150-person crew over the course of filming," said director Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"), who took on the challenge of shooting a movie about San Diego Comic-Con in 2010, his biggest film yet.

FEA-otaku-bedroom

A peek into an otaku's bedroom or living space can be a bit of a surprise for the average person. But it's not unusual for fans of anime and manga in Japan to decorate their small rooms even more elaborately. Otaku rooms can be covered in posters and pillows or shelves with hundreds of collectible figurines, all emblazoned with favorite anime or manga characters. Some fans make a point of collecting as much merchandise associated with the object of their affection as they can, and making sure it's all on display. It's a form of decorative expression that many otaku in the rest of the world have also adopted.

FEA-Whole-Hog-Cuba

Cubans may live surrounded by water but the food that incites the most passion and culinary debate does not swim or slither. That honor is reserved for puerco asado, pork cooked over coals in the traditional style of the Cuban countryside.

FEA-Chinese-Almond-Cookie-Day

Today, give your palate a sweet cleanse because April 9 is National Chinese Almond Cookie Day!

Tamara-Rojo-Fusion-Journey

Tamara Rojo is so often described as the greatest dance actress of her generation, it might possibly be true. Prima ballerina with London's prestigious Royal Ballet for over a decade, the Spaniard's presence on a cast list is guaranteed to fill any theater in London, New York or Paris. Her graceful adagio combinations and perfectly formed arabesques may have wowed audiences across the globe, but how would the 37-year-old fare when parachuted into a dance culture she'd never encountered?

TECH-Facebook-Kill-Instagram

Facebook's purchase on Monday of the photo-sharing app Instagram had the Internet asking one question: Will the Goliath of social networking make Instagram so uncool or so Facebook-y that it dies off entirely?


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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All Rights Reserved



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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=15040&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
Daily News (New York)


April 10, 2012 Tuesday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION


MUSCLE UP! Bam's power play: Leads Mitt in poll


BYLINE: BY ALISON GENDAR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 20


LENGTH: 370 words


PRESIDENT OBAMA'S show of strength involved more than just his arms and chest Monday - he led GOP rival Mitt Romney in the latest survey of critical "swing" voters.

Obama dropped and did a few pushups as part of the White House's annual Easter Egg oll, an exercise-friendly event.

But the President's real prowess was shown in the latest poll that found him beating Romney, 44% to 38%, among independent voters in about a dozen swing states, according to a poll commissioned by the Democratic think tank Third Way. It was conducted in mid-March.

The irony, poll-watchers pointed out, was that many of these same independent voters who said they prefer Obama indicated they were ideologically more in sync with Romney.

Perhaps mindful of those numbers, Team Obama came out swinging Monday, determined to paint Romney as a multimillionaire who is out of touch with the struggles of the middle and working class.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina trumpeted the need to pass a Senate bill that would boost the tax rate to at least 30% for anyone making $1 million or more. Currently, the rate can be lower than 15% for those who make their money through investments, so secretaries can pay a higher tax rate than their millionaire bosses.

Romney has defended his own lower tax rate for investment income - less than 15% - and was called out by Messina by name.

"It all goes back to one simple question: Why should Mitt Romney pay a lower tax rate than average Americans?" Messina asked in a conference call with reporters.

"Romney's a beneficiary of a broken tax system. He wants a system where firefighters, cops, teachers and middle-class Americans all pay a higher tax rate than he does."

Romney, meanwhile, pulled an ad attacking Rick Santorum as it was set to run in Pennsylvania because his conservative rival is away from the campaign trail while his daughter is in the hospital.

Bella Santorum, 3, suffers from a rare genetic disorder, and has already beaten the prognosis for those with the condition.

Romney's $2.9 million ad buy was intended to ask Pennsylvania voters why they would vote for their former senator for President when they voted him out of office in 2006 by nearly 20 percentage points.

agendar@nydailynews.com


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: President Obama does pushups during White House Easter Egg Roll at White House Monday. EPA


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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The New York Times


April 10, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


A Shift in Strategy in Pennsylvania for Romney


BYLINE: By TRIP GABRIEL and KATHARINE Q. SEELYE; Trip Gabriel reported from New York, and Katharine Q. Seelye from Bedford, Pa.


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 14


LENGTH: 1024 words


Mitt Romney's attempt to pull off a victory in Rick Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania was all set to go into overdrive Monday with attack ads highlighting how voters there soundly rejected him in his 2006 Senate race.

But the aggressive tactics that have served Mr. Romney so well in other states faced an unexpected complication: the emergency hospitalization of Mr. Santorum's disabled daughter Bella, which prompted an outpouring of public sympathy.

The Romney camp abruptly pulled the ads on Monday morning. Bella, 3, who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder, was expected to return home soon to Virginia from the hospital, the Santorum campaign said. Her medical struggles, which in some ways have become the emotional centerpiece of Mr. Santorum's race, have the potential to complicate Mr. Romney's effort to quickly end the Republican nominating fight.

''The family has been humbled and overwhelmed by the amount of support they've received,'' said a spokesman for Mr. Santorum's campaign, Hogan Gidley, citing thousands of comments on the candidate's Facebook page and e-mailed ''prayer chains.''

Mr. Santorum's decision to cancel campaign events to be with his daughter after she was hospitalized on Friday with pneumonia -- her second bout since January -- intensified speculation that he would choose the moment to exit the race gracefully, as a chorus of Republican leaders have urged for the sake of party unity.

But Mr. Gidley doused that notion. Mr. Santorum planned to return to campaigning in the south-central Pennsylvania town of Bedford with a rally on Tuesday.

''The fact is, there is still a narrow path, but a path nonetheless, for Rick Santorum to become the nominee, and the Romney campaign knows it or they wouldn't be sending people all over Pennsylvania and Texas to prevent it,'' Mr. Gidley said.

The ad the Romney campaign pulled, after it ran at least 11 times in the Philadelphia media market, according to Kantar Media's campaign media analysis group, bluntly addressed Pennsylvania voters: ''We fired him as senator. Why promote him to president?''

The Romney campaign substituted a positive ad ''out of deference'' to Mr. Santorum, a spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said.

Once Bella is released from the hospital, the Romney campaign is expected to put the anti-Santorum ad back into its rotation, although that could take a day or two. The Romney campaign has planned a $2.9 million barrage of advertising over the next two weeks in Pennsylvania, which Mr. Santorum has called a must-win contest, although polls show him losing ground.

Jim Roddey, chairman of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, who has endorsed Mr. Romney, said the campaign probably would conduct polling to see whether Bella's hospitalization remained a sensitive issue. But, he said, sympathy for Bella would probably not bring Mr. Santorum any new votes, nor would it deter the Romney camp from full-throated attacks on Mr. Santorum.

''He's still not talking about the kinds of things most people are most concerned about, jobs and the economy.''

Bella, who was born with trisomy 18, a rare disorder that is fatal to most of children within their first year, has become a touchstone for Mr. Santorum, both humanizing him and serving as flashpoint for debate over health care with President Obama.

Mr. Santorum mentions her at almost every appearance, sometimes explaining that his wife is not at his side because she is home caring for her, and sometimes, especially in churches, telling of how when Bella was born, doctors sent her home to die because her disorder was ''incompatible with life.''

''It angered us to hear that,'' Mr. Santorum explains in a video on his campaign Web site. ''She was our daughter like every one of our children and we were not going to let her go.''

While many voters find Mr. Santorum's brand of social conservatism and his speaking style off-putting, it is clear at rallies that Bella softens him. Audiences listen raptly to his descriptions, sometimes wiping away tears.

Trisomy 18 results in stillbirth for about half the babies carried to term, and 90 percent of children die before their first birthday, said Dr. Robert Marion, chief of genetics and developmental medicine at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

After the first birthday the survival odds increase, he said, although pneumonia is a common cause of hospitalization because trisomy 18 children often have congenital heart diseases that cause fluid to build up in the lungs, causing infections. The condition has become rarer in the past 25 years, Dr. Marion said, ''because people are diagnosing it prenatally and terminating the pregnancies more often now.''

That is one of the reasons Mr. Santorum cites Bella in his campaign -- an embodiment of his respect for the sanctity of life and a reason he opposes Mr. Obama's health care overhaul. He opposes its requirement that insurance plans cover prenatal screenings, principally amniocentesis, which he said are used to ''cull'' fetuses with birth defects.

The procedures ''are done by and large to find out late in pregnancy whether the child in the womb has a disability,'' Mr. Santorum said in Ohio in February.

''And as we all know, 90 percent of Down syndrome children in this country are aborted once the mother and father find out that child is going to be less than what they were expecting.''

He also maintained that the 2010 health care law, because it was designed in part to slow runaway costs, would lead to ''a brave new world'' in which doctors are pressured to ration care, and disabled children like his daughter would be denied care.

Dr. Marion, whose program sees about 7,500 children a year with developmental disabilities, said most health insurance does not cover many services the children need and that currently ''the government has washed their hands'' and there is no public financing for them either.

''It's not a matter of these kids being squeezed because there's pressure on the person providing the care,'' he said. ''What happens is we're going to have to turn away some kids with trisomy 18 because there's nobody to pay for it.''


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


LOAD-DATE: April 10, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: The plight of Rick Santorum's daughter Bella is central to his campaign. In January, a supporter in Iowa wore her picture on a pin. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES)
Mr. Santorum left the campaign trail temporarily last week. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON COHN/REUTERS)


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States News Service


April 10, 2012 Tuesday


ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT RELEASES NEW WEB VIDEO: "PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS FAILED FLORIDA WORKERS"


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 369 words


DATELINE: BOSTON, MA


The following information was released by Mitt Romney for President:

Today, Romney for President released a new web video titled "President Obama Has Failed Florida Workers." Three years after promising to turn around the economy, it is clear that President Obama has failed to fix Florida's economy. 850,000 Floridians are out of work and the unemployment rate is at 9.4%.

To View "President Obama Has Failed Florida Workers," Please See: http://mi.tt/HzpDxn

AD FACTS: Script For "President Obama Has Failed Florida Workers" (Web Video)

VIDEO TEXT: "When Barack Obama Is In Florida Today"

VIDEO TEXT: "Ask Him About The Forgotten Millions"

VIDEO TEXT: "4.7 Million Americans Missing From Workforce"

Since January 2009, 4.7 Million Americans Are Missing From The Workforce. "March 2012 eligible population: 242.6 million. March 2012 participation rate: 63.8%. March 2012 labor force: 154.7 million. January 2009 participation rate: 65.7%. March 2012 labor force at January 2009 rate: 242.6 million. 65.7% = 159.4 million. 159.4 million (potential) - 154.7 million (actual) = 4.7 million missing." (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/10/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "850,000 Floridians Out Of Work"

Over 850,000 People In Florida Are Unemployed. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/10/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "9.4% Official Unemployment In Florida"

The Unemployment Rate In Florida For February 2012 Is 9.4% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/10/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Double Digit Minority Unemployment"

The Unemployment Rates For The African-American And Hispanic Or Latino Populations Are Above 10%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/10/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Under Obama, A Record 6 Million Women Unemployed"

As Of April 2012, Nearly 6 Million Women Are Unemployed. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/10/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Shrinking Job Growth Dims Hopes"

The Palm Beach Post Headline: "Shrinking Job Growth Dims Hopes" (Emily Roach, "Shrinking Job Growth Dims Hopes," The Palm Beach Post, 4/6/12)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition."

President Obama, In February 2009: "If I Don't Have This Done In Three Years, Then There's Going To Be A One-Term Proposition." (NBC's "Today," 2/2/09)

###


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Tampa Bay Times


April 10, 2012 Tuesday
Politifact.com Edition


ROMNEY CAMPAIGN SAYS WOMEN WERE HIT HARD BY JOB LOSSES UNDER OBAMA


BYLINE: MOLLY MOORHEAD


SECTION: POLITIFACT.COM


LENGTH: 985 words


Women account for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama.

Mitt Romney on Friday, April 6th, 2012 in a tweet

* * *

THE RULING: MOSTLY FALSE

Mitt Romney's campaign wants you to know that the same president who argues for contraceptive coverage and suggests that a Congress with more female members would get more accomplished has also presided over disproportionate job losses among women.

On April 6, 2012, RomneyÍs press secretary Andrea Saul tweeted, "FACT: Women account for 92.3% of the jobs lost under @BarackObama, a claim also made on Romney's website.

She followed it up a few hours later with this: "@BarackObama touts policies for women & 92.3% jobs lost under him r women's. He's even more clueless than we thought."

When we asked for backup for the claim, the campaign cited national employment figures spanning four years. We found that though the numbers are accurate, their reading of them isnÍt.

ïTotal nonfarm payroll jobsÍ

RomneyÍs campaign pointed to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures from January 2009, when Obama took office, and March 2012, for all employees and for female employees.

Here they are:

* Total Nonfarm Payroll Jobs:

January 2009: 133,561,000

March 2012: 132,821,000

Net loss: 740,000 jobs.

* Total Female Nonfarm Payroll Jobs

January 2009: 66,122,000

March 2012: 65,439,000

Net loss: 683,000 jobs.

They then divided the net loss among women by the total net loss and came up with 92.3 percent.

Beyond the numbers

The first problem we find with SaulÍs tweet is that it begins counting job losses the first month Obama was in office. We have taken points off previous claims for blaming officeholders for situations that existed at the beginning of their administrations, before their policies have had time to take effect. One could reasonably argue that January 2009 employment figures are more a result of President George W. BushÍs policies, at least as far as any president can be blamed or credited for private-sector hiring.

We reached out to Gary Steinberg, spokesman for the BLS, for his take on the claim. He pointed out that womenÍs job losses are high for that period of time because millions of men had already lost their jobs. Women were next.

"Between January 2009 and March 2012 men lost 57,000 jobs, while women lost 683,000 jobs. This is the reverse of the recession period of December 2007-June 2009 (with an overlap of six months) which saw men lose 5,355,000 jobs and women lose 2,124,000 jobs," Steinberg told us in an email.

So timing was important. And if you count all those jobs lost beginning in 2007, women account for just 39.7 percent of the total.

Gary Burtless, a labor market expert with the Brookings Institution, explained the gender disparity.

"I think males were disproportionately hurt by employment losses in manufacturing and especially construction, which is particularly male-dominated. A lot of job losses in those two industries had already occurred before Obama took office," he said. "Industries where women are more likely to be employed ? education, health, the government ? fared better in terms of job loss. In fact, health and education employment continued to grow in the recession and in the subsequent recovery. Government employment only began to fall after the private economy (and private employment) began growing again."

Betsey Stevenson, a business and public policy professor at Princeton University, also pointed out that "in every recession menÍs job loss occurs first and most, with unemployment rates for men being more cyclical than those of womenÍs."

She added that many of women's job losses have been government jobs -- teachers and civil servants -- which have been slower to come back because they require greater government spending.

So have Obama's policies been especially bad for women?

Said Stevenson: "I donÍt think you could point to a single piece of evidence that the pattern of job loss: men first then women, is due to the presidentÍs policies. ItÍs a historical pattern that has held in previous recessions."

Our ruling

Romney's website said that women account for 92.3 percent of jobs lost under Obama.

By comparing job figures with January 2009 and March 2012 and weighing them against womenÍs job figures from the same periods, Saul came up with 92.3 percent. The numbers are accurate but quite misleading. First, Obama cannot be held entirely accountable for the employment picture on the day he took office, just as he could not be given credit if times had been booming. Second, by choosing figures from January 2009, months into the recession, the statement ignored the millions of jobs lost before then, when most of the job loss fell on men. In every recession, men are the first to take the hit, followed by women. It's a historical pattern, Stevenson told us, not an effect of Obama's policies.

There is a small amount of truth to the claim, but it ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

* * *

About this statement:

Published: Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 7:11 p.m.

Subjects: Jobs, Women

Sources:

Associated Press, "Obama: Women are not an interest group," April 6, 2012

Andrea Saul, Romney press secretary, Twitter feed

Women & The Obama Economy, Mitt Romne website

Email interview with Gail Gitcho, Romney campaign spokeswoman, April 9, 2012

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings data for total nonfarm payroll jobs

Email interview with Gary Steinberg, spokesman for BLS, April 10, 2012

Email interview with Gary Burtless, Brookings Institution, April 10, 2012

Email interview with Betsey Stevenson, Princeton University, April 10, 2012

POLITICO, "Romney camp's claims about female job loss under Obama not so clear cut," April 6, 2012

PolitiFact, "NRCC ad says 1,500 jobs lost daily since President Barack Obama took office," Jan. 2, 2012

Written by: Molly Moorhead

Researched by: Molly Moorhead, Adam Offitzer

Edited by: Martha M. Hamilton


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All Rights Reserved



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Associated Press Online


April 10, 2012 Tuesday 9:04 PM GMT


Santorum suspends GOP presidential campaign


BYLINE: MARC LEVY, Associated Press


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 880 words


DATELINE: GETTYSBURG Pa.


Bowing to the inevitable after an improbably resilient run for the White House, Rick Santorum quit the presidential race on Tuesday, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination.

"We made a decision over the weekend, that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting," he said.

Santorum, appearing with his family, told supporters that the battle to defeat President Barack Obama would go on but pointedly made no mention or endorsement of Romney, whom he had derided as an unworthy standard-bearer for the GOP.

The former Pennsylvania senator stressed that he'd taken his presidential bid farther than anyone expected, calling his campaign "as improbable as any race that you will ever see for president."

"Against all odds," he said, "we won 11 states, millions of voters, millions of votes."

Santorum signaled his intent to maintain a voice in the campaign to come, saying: "This game is a long, long, long way from over. We will continue to go out and fight and defeat President Barack Obama."

Santorum spoke with Romney before the announcement, a Republican source close to the campaign said, and Romney asked to meet him sometime in the future

The delegate totals told the tale of Santorum's demise. Romney has more than twice as many delegates as Santorum and is on pace to reach the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by early June. Still in the race, but not considered a factor: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Santorum had hoped to keep his campaign going through the Pennsylvania primary on April 24, but decided to fold after his severely ill 3-year-old daughter, Bella, spent the weekend in the hospital.

Santorum, a feisty campaigner who took everyone by surprise with his win in Iowa's leadoff caucuses, ran on his conservative credentials and his experience in Congress he was a House member for four years and senator for 12 but was hobbled by a lack of money and organization.

He said that while Romney was accumulating more delegates, "we were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts" with a conservative message.

In a statement, Romney called Santorum "an able and worthy competitor" and congratulated him on his campaign.

"He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation," Romney said. "We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity."

With Romney on his way to the nomination and a contest against the president, Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, sharply criticized Romney for waging a negative ad campaign against his opponents.

"It's no surprise that Mitt Romney finally was able to grind down his opponents under an avalanche of negative ads. But neither he nor his special interest allies will be able to buy the presidency with their negative attacks," Messina said. "The more the American people see of Mitt Romney, the less they like him and the less they trust him."

Santorum said the campaign had been "a love affair for me, going from state to state. ... We were raising issues, frankly, that a lot of people did not want raised."

He spoke almost nostalgically of the race, and of his trademark sweater vest, a pointed visual contrast to his suited rivals.

"Over and over again we were told, `Forget it. You can't win,'" he said.

Eventually, the improbable had to bow to reality: Santorum would have needed 80 percent of the remaining delegates to win the nomination before the party's national convention in Florida in August. And that couldn't happen as long as Romney was in the race because most upcoming primaries use some type of proportional system to award delegates, making it hard to win large numbers of delegates in individual states.

In most states, Santorum's delegates can now support any candidate they choose.

Gingrich, who has been splitting the votes of those who questioned Romney's conservative credentials with Santorum, made an immediate play for his supporters.

He said the former senator's campaign was "a testament to his tenacity and the power of conservative principles.

"I am committed to staying in this race all the way to Tampa so that the conservative movement has a real choice. I humbly ask Senator Santorum's supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa."

Paul also congratulated Santorum for "running such a spirited campaign" and called himself "the last and real conservative alternative to Mitt Romney."

Suspending the campaign allows Santorum to keep paying off nearly $1 million in debt, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings. Those debts include about $500,000 for media consulting and tens of thousands more for telemarking and online advertising, records show.

Other presidential candidates have eventually extinguished their debt and terminated their campaigns. Former Minnesota Gov. Tom Pawlenty officially shuttered his campaign committee on Tuesday, owing as much as a half a million dollars last fall but slowly whittling that figure down.

Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt, Jack Gillum and Nancy Benac in Washington contributed to this report.


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The Associated Press


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 04:36 PM GMT


Obama-Romney showdown starts off with a harsh tone


BYLINE: By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1037 words


DATELINE: MENDENHALL, Pa.


The 2012 presidential general election has begun. It won't be pretty.

Tuesday marked Day One, in essence, of the contest between the two virtually certain nominees, Republican Mitt Romney and Democratic President Barack Obama. Rick Santorum's departure removed the last meaningful bump from Romney's path to the GOP nomination. Romney and Obama wasted no time in portraying the voters' choice in dire, sometimes starkly personal terms.

"The campaign started yesterday, the general election campaign," Romney said Wednesday on Fox News when pressed on how he would counter continued Democratic attacks that he is an out-of-touch rich guy. "It's a little early in the process."

With Obama saddled with a still-ailing economy and a divisive health care law, and Romney riding a wave of blistering TV ads, the fall election is unlikely to dwell on "hope," "change" and other uplifting themes from four years ago. Much of the nation's ire then was aimed at departing President George W. Bush, and Obama had no extensive record to defend.

The landscape is much different now. Voters face nearly seven months of hard-hitting jabs and counterpunches between the two parties' standard-bearers.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor making his second presidential bid, now has to unify his party, build out a general election campaign and start answering big questions like who he will choose as a running mate. He insisted Wednesday that conservatives will unite behind him and said he believes Santorum will campaign with him against Obama. He also suggested he is considering one of his formal rivals for the presidential ticket.

"There's a large number of people in the Republican party who are extraordinary leaders, including some of those who have run in this last contest with me, and so we'll go through that list and decide who could potentially become a president if that were necessary," he told Fox News.

The presumptive nominee attacked Obama with gusto Tuesday in his two public events that followed Santorum's surprising announcement.

Campaigning in Pennsylvania, where an April 24 GOP primary is suddenly less important than its likely role as a battleground state this fall, Romney portrayed Obama as a weak leader who apologizes for America's greatness and prefers European-style socialism over robust free enterprise. Obama's allies call such claims nonsense.

"The right course for America is not to divide America," Romney told a GOP dinner gathering in Mendenhall, near Philadelphia. "That's what he's doing," he said of Obama. "His campaign is all about finding Americans to blame and attack, and find someone to tax more, someone who isn't giving, isn't paying their fair share."

He said Obama prefers "a government-centered society."

Obama, campaigning in Florida, said the choice in November will be as stark as in the 1964 contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater, which resulted in one of the biggest Democratic landslides ever. That election included dramatic and controversial moments, such as Goldwater's defense of "extremism in the defense of liberty" and a devastating TV ad suggesting a Goldwater presidency would lead to nuclear war.

Obama didn't mention Romney by name. His top aides have shown less restraint, however.

The Obama campaign posted a YouTube video on Wednesday, the day after Santorum's withdrawal, noting that "as Republicans settle on a nominee," there are things voters should remember about the Romney campaign.

The presentation proceeds with video clips of a slew of Romney statements, including his pledge to see the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortions overturned, his statement that he'd rather see Detroit go bankrupt before backing a government bailout, his assertion that "corporations are people, my friend," and his declaration that he was an "extremely serious conservative" governor of Massachusetts.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement after Santorum's withdrawal: "It's no surprise that Mitt Romney finally was able to grind down his opponents under an avalanche of negative ads. But neither he nor his special interest allies will be able to buy the presidency with their negative attacks. The more the American people see of Mitt Romney, the less they like him."

Other Obama campaign officials have mocked Romney's wealth and called him out of touch with average Americans.

Romney and his allies, including a potent super political action committee, have proved their ability to raise millions of dollars to air brutally effective attack ads, which crippled Santorum and Newt Gingrich in the GOP primary contests. Obama will raise many millions, too, and few doubt that he will hit Romney hard.

The Republican super PAC Crossroads GPS is already on the air attacking Obama in six critical swing states. The group is spending $1.7 million to attack the president's energy record for a week in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.

On Tuesday, Romney made clear that he will go after Obama's character as well as his record. In speeches in Mendenhall and Wilmington, Del., Romney said Obama isn't merely inept at economic policy, he actively dislikes business.

Obama "is clearly trying to hide from us what he intends to do," Romney said in Wilmington. "He's going to hide. And it's my job to seek."

Romney made similar remarks last month. Now, with Santorum off the stage and Gingrich and Ron Paul hardly a factor, there are no intra-party distractions to dilute such comments. Romney and Obama are fully engaged, one on one, at a much earlier stage than in 2008, when Obama had to parry Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton throughout the summer before fully turning to Republican John McCain.

Even then, Bush's unpopularity helped fuel Obama's campaign and deflected some of the anti-GOP sentiment away from the actual nominee.

This time, the incumbent president is on the ballot, with unemployment above 8 percent. The tea party, which didn't exist in 2008, is a potent and unpredictable force.

And Romney suddenly is free of meaningful primary worries. That leaves him able to focus the full force of his fundraising and campaigning skills against Obama.

Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.


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The Associated Press


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 06:40 PM GMT


Ad blames Obama for high gas prices


BYLINE: By ANDREW MIGA and DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 671 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


TITLE: "Too Much"

LENGTH: 30 seconds.

AIRING: On broadcast and cable networks in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia.

KEY IMAGES: The ad sponsored by Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit arm of a Republican super PAC, blames President Barack Obama for high gas prices and accuses him of pursuing policies that have decreased energy production. Crossroads GPS is the sister group of American Crossroads, a super PAC that has promised to raise millions to defeat Obama.

The ad opens with the words "President Obama's TV Claim" emblazoned across the screen and a narrator saying: "Under President Obama, oil production is at an 8-year high." A second narrator interjects, "Oh really? His own administration admits production is down where Obama's in charge," says a March 14 quote from the environmental and energy newsletter Greenwire: "Oil production fell by 14 percent ... on federal lands and waters."

"The real story," says the narrator. Then a clip from NBC's "Meet the Press" on March 25 shows host David Gregory saying to Obama senior adviser David Plouffe that a lot of the increase in production is due to decisions by former President George W. Bush, and that most of the production is on private lands.

"So you're taking credit for this boost in exploration, which is not really fair," says Gregory. "Taking credit for others' hard work," says the narrator. "Typical Washington. No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much."

A sign advertising regular gas at $4.99 per gallon fills the screen and the narrator urges viewers to tell Obama to stop blaming others and to work to pass better energy policies.

ANALYSIS: The ad is the latest broadcast salvo over high gasoline prices, a prime concern for voters as Mitt Romney cements his hold on the Republican presidential nomination and the general election contest against Obama begins to heat up. It is aimed at six states that are expected to be competitive in the election.

Republicans blame Obama for policies they claim are restricting U.S. oil production and pushing up energy costs. They also say he's taking credit for energy production increases that owe much to his Republican predecessor, Bush.

However, Obama's assertion that domestic oil production is at an eight-year-high is solid. In 2011, the U.S. produced more oil than any year since 2003, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. But much of that gain came from oil development on private lands, over which the federal government has little control, and which Obama can't take full credit for given the lag time between exploring for oil and actual production.

The ad's claim that oil production is down by 14 percent on federal lands where the government is in charge of leasing and permitting is correct. Oil production dropped by that amount from fiscal year 2010 to 2011, according to the energy information agency. Much of that decline was offshore, where the Obama administration put in place a moratorium on drilling after the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

But by using only the most recent year of data, the ad tells only part of the story. Oil and gas production goes up and down when discoveries are made. In some years there was less oil produced on federal lands under Bush than under Obama. In fact, oil production on federal lands onshore and offshore dropped 16.8 percent from 2003 to 2008 under Bush.

The ad's implication that the president has control over gas prices at the pump falls flat. A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.

That's because oil is a global commodity and U.S. production has only a tiny influence on supply. Factors far beyond the control of a nation or a president dictate the price of gasoline. And the ad's portrayal of a gas pump priced at $4.99 a gallon is misleading; the average price nationally as of Tuesday was $3.92.


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The Associated Press


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 10:30 PM GMT


Super PACs largely free to spend remaining cash


BYLINE: By JACK GILLUM, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 692 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


When a presidential candidate throws in the towel, what can a "super" PAC that once supported the campaign spend its money on?

Pretty much anything it wants.

Until now, the super political action committee working in Rick Santorum's favor spent nearly all its cash more than $4.5 million on television ads for Santorum. But his departure from the GOP primaries leaves the Red, White and Blue Fund with a foggier mission.

The new phenomenon of super PACs this election cycle also has raised new questions about how, or whether, they should go out of business when their favored candidate bails out. Some have closed down, saying it wouldn't be right to spend donors' money on another cause or candidate.

For super PACs that outlast a presidential candidate, the rules governing them offer possibilities for future spending, including on issues or candidates that have nothing to do with the initial campaigns the PACs were formed to support. One of the few restrictions would be turning over any remaining cash to a campaign, which wouldn't be allowed. But campaign organizations can themselves be turned into new super PACs.

Robert Kelner, a campaign finance expert at the law firm Covington & Burling, said super PACs "can make ads to say, `vote for Romney' or `here are the 50 Republican House candidates we like.'"

"There are lots of possibilities," he said. "Still, ads are expensive."

Super PACs have proliferated this election cycle, thanks in part to federal court rulings that effectively stripped away campaign finance rules and allowed them to accept unlimited and effectively anonymous contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and others.

Nearly every major presidential candidate had a super PAC in their corner. The Make Us Great Again PAC supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry's White House bid and, at one point, had planned to spend more than $50 million to help elect him. GOP front-runner Mitt Romney also has one it's called Restore Our Future and run by a former adviser that has spent at least $35 million on ads that have halted his rivals' momentum.

Still, the political committees rarely stockpile large amounts of cash because they spend it so quickly. Many times, they operate paycheck to paycheck. The group supporting Santorum spent roughly $500,000 per week in recent months even as financial reports showed it began March with less than that amount, or $364,000, in the bank. Sometimes, it waited until the 11th hour to decide to book a major ad in a new state, a strategic choice when looking at its balance sheets.

Many of the groups have major fundraisers, like Wyoming businessman Foster Friess, who has contributed $1.7 million to Red, White and Blue since last year. Friess told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he would now support Romney, suggesting he might not give more money to the group supporting Santorum.

The unchartered territory for super PACs has also created unusual situations. The Federal Election Commission granted a request by Perry to convert his presidential campaign into a super PAC.

The Red, White and Blue Fund has made no clear decision on what's next now that Santorum is out. In emails, it called Santorum a "great leader" and a "principled conservative," hinting that it would still support his causes by saying the fight goes on even as Santorum's campaign will not. Red, White and Blue Fund adviser Stuart Roy said the group has yet to make an announcement on the super PAC's future.

Dozens of other super PACs also are supporting Romney or at least opposing President Barack Obama. The largest of all Republican super PACs, American Crossroads, announced Tuesday that its sister organization would begin airing ads in six states hitting Obama on energy policy.

Obama has a super PAC, Priorities USA Action, that has raised $6 million to go after Republicans and help defend him from their attacks. The group had about $2.8 million on hand as of the end of February.

All told, super PACs have spent more than $55 million on the presidential race since last summer, at times eclipsing the ad spending of the very campaigns they support.

Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackgillum


LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved



18 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 10:33 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3397 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who says he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Sanford, Florida, has been charged with second-degree murder, special prosecutor Angela Corey announced Wednesday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Timeline (will update)

Here's a look at the timeline of events in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the ensuing uproar.

California-Pepper-Spray-Protest (will update)

The pepper-spraying of student protesters at the University of California-Davis was an "objectively unreasonable" use of force by campus police, a state review of the incident concluded Wednesday.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will return to his country "within hours," Cuban state media reported Wednesday. Chavez has been in the island nation, where he is undergoing cancer treatment, since Sunday.

Syria-Unrest (monitoring)

Despite fresh violence and global skepticism, the Syrian government said Wednesday it will abide by the terms of a United Nations-backed peace plan and meet a looming deadline to halt all military action.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Syria-Unrest

Despite fresh violence and global skepticism, the Syrian government said Wednesday it will abide by the terms of a United Nations-backed peace plan and meet a looming deadline to halt all military action.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who says he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Sanford, Florida, has been charged with second-degree murder, special prosecutor Angela Corey announced Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL

Raymond-Aubrac-obit

One of the heroes of the French Resistance against Nazi occupation, Raymond Aubrac, has died in Paris at the age of 97.

Egypt-Constitution-Analysis

Egypt's administrative court has suspended the country's 100-member constitutional assembly, tasked with drafting a new national constitution. But what does that say about the country's progress toward political reform?

MONEY-Nokia

Shares of Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia plummeted Wednesday after the company yet again said it expects financial results to miss prior forecasts.

Syria-Whats-Next

With the Syria deal in jeopardy and questions as to whether Syria will truly cease its military operations, particularly after Syrian troops fired across the border into Turkey, discussions within the Obama administration about creating a Syria-Turkey border "buffer zone" have intensified, State Department officials tell CNN.

Indonesia-Earthquake

A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a tsunami watch for the Indian Ocean, which was later canceled.

Indonesia-Earthquake-Differences

Indonesia's response to a massive earthquake and a tsunami scare Wednesday highlights a critical reality: Warning systems and emergency responses have come a long way since the catastrophe of eight years ago. But there's still work to be done -- not just in Indonesia, but in some other countries throughout the region as well.

Greece-Election

Greece will hold parliamentary elections May 6, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos announced Wednesday.

MONEY-Spain-Italy

Smoldering worries about the debt crisis in Europe have flared up again in global financial markets with Spain and Italy feeling the heat.

Israel-Finland-nuclear-conference

Israel is in the midst of discussions with Finland about the possibility of participating in a conference about creating a nuclear-free Middle East, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Peru-Miners

Nine Peruvian miners emerged into the daylight Wednesday morning after six days trapped in a collapsed mine.

Argentina-Baby-Survivor

A family says they witnessed a miracle after they found that their baby, who had been put in the morgue as dead, had actually survived and was breathing.

India-Baby-Death

A 3-month-old baby, whose father has been arrested on allegations he beat her for being born a girl, died Wednesday at a hospital in South India, a doctor said.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea has started fueling a long-range rocket it plans to launch in the coming days, a senior national space official said Wednesday.

China-Gu

As the drama surrounding one of the Chinese Communist Party's most powerful leaders, Bo Xilai, unfolds with all the twists of a soap opera, attention has now focused on his wife, Gu Kailai, the woman likened to the "Jackie Kennedy of China" and now at the centre of a murder investigation.

Iran-Israel-Terror-Network

Iran said it has broken up an Israeli "terror and sabotage network" that was planning attacks within the country, making a number of arrests while confiscating weapons and equipment, state-run media reported.

Iran-Nuclear

Iran said Wednesday it plans to present new proposals at upcoming talks on its controversial nuclear program.

Philippines-China-Naval-Standoff

The Philippines said Wednesday that its largest naval vessel was engaged in a standoff with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships in a remote lagoon in the South China Sea.

US-Clinton-Bin-Laden-Killing

Who can forget the photo of President Barack Obama and his Cabinet in the White House Situation Room, all eyes riveted on a monitor out of view of the camera, watching -- real time -- as Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden?

U.S.A.

Florida-Zimmerman-charges

The special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin shooting case has announced that she has filed a charge of second degree murder against George Zimmerman. So, what did Special Prosecutor Angela Corey have to do legally to get here and what will happen next?

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Timeline

Here's a look at the timeline of events in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the ensuing uproar.

Florida-Attorneys

Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig have viewed courtrooms from both the prosecution and the defense table. Until Tuesday, the two attorneys -- who have focused solely on criminal defense in recent years -- comprised the legal team representing George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, who ignited a firestorm of controversy when he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February. But while the two insist they believe and support Zimmerman's claim that he shot the teen in self-defense, they said Tuesday they could no longer claim to represent him, as they had lost contact with him.

California-Charles-Manson

Notorious killer Charles Manson, 77, was denied parole Wednesday after a California parole panel "could find nothing good as far as suitability" for his being paroled, a commissioner said.

California-Pepper-Spray-Protest

The pepper-spraying of student protesters at the University of California-Davis was an "objectively unreasonable" use of force by campus police, a state review of the incident concluded Wednesday.

Connecticut-Death-Penalty-Vote

Lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives are expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that would abolish the state's death penalty, one week after the bill passed the state Senate.

Maryland-Same-Sex-Divorce

Maryland's highest court is set to issue a ruling in a case involving a lesbian couple married in California but denied a divorce in Maryland because the state does not currently allow same-sex marriages.

Pennsylvania-School-Threats

The home of the University of Pittsburgh's chancellor was among the latest targets of a series of empty bomb threats plaguing the Pennsylvania school, officials said Wednesday.

US-Energy-Renewables

Federal support for renewable power helped the United States reclaim from China the title of the world's biggest investor in clean energy, researchers for the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts reported Wednesday.

SPORT-Football-Coach-Dead

An assistant football coach at the University of South Alabama in Mobile was found dead at his home, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a coroner said.

MED-FDA-Livestock-Antibiotics

For decades farmers have used antibiotics to improve food consumption rates and enhance the growth of otherwise healthy animals. The Food and Drug Administration wants farmers and animal producers to phase out such uses, concerned that they are undermining the fight against illness in humans. On Wednesday the FDA asked the livestock industry to voluntarily limit the use of medicines for treating, controlling and preventing specific diseases. It also asked drug manufacturers to make changes so that the antibiotics can only be prescribed by a veterinarian.

MONEY-Apple-DOJ-Ebooks

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday brought a lawsuit against Apple and several publishing companies over a scheme to fix e-book prices.

MONEY-Verizon-Upgrade-Fee

Thinking of upgrading your phone with Verizon? Better do it fast. On April 22, Verizon Wireless will institute a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers who purchase new phones with a two-year contract.

MONEY-Johnson-Risperdal-Arkansas

An Arkansas judge slapped Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary with more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Wednesday for deceptive marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.

MONEY-Best-Buy

Electronics retailer Best Buy said Wednesday that its investigation of ex-CEO Brian Dunn's conduct is ongoing. Dunn resigned unexpectedly Tuesday amid an investigation into his "personal conduct." A spokesman for the company would not elaborate on the investigation's focus, or indicate when the inquiry might be complete.

MONEY-Consumer-Bureau-Student-Loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday released a new online tool it's testing to help families compare the costs of attending different colleges and universities. The bureau launched the financial aid online tool to help families estimate the cost of a degree at up to three different individual schools.

MONEY-Manufacturing-Alabama

As manufacturing picks up across the United States, Alabama has become an unexpected beneficiary.

MONEY-Reebok-Nike-Tebow

Reebok has reached a settlement with Nike, agreeing to stop producing sports apparel with the name of football star Tim Tebow, according to court documents.

MONEY-Tax-Car-Crash

The odds of getting into a fatal crash increase by 6% on tax filing day, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MONEY-Oil-Price-Economy

An oil price spike caused by a confrontation with Iran is now seen as the biggest threat to the U.S. economy.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, bouncing back after a string of five down days, as concerns about Europe eased and hopes for a better-than-expected earnings season rose.

MONEY-Thebuzz

Is Google's future so bright, it has to wear shades? While many are still scratching their heads about last week's Project Glass announcement -- those bizarre virtual-reality lenses are not one of Google's typical April Fool's Day jokes -- investors are hoping that Google will wow investors with strong first quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.

POL-Poll-Christie-Approval

Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey received his highest approval ratings to date in a Quinnipiac survey, according to the results released Wednesday.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

President Barack Obama and his certain Republican opponent in November, Mitt Romney, shifted to full general election mode Wednesday, portraying each other as threats to future American progress as their campaigns engaged in a "war over women" indicative of what to expect for the next seven months.

POL-Poll-Romney-Pennsylvania

A new poll released one day after Rick Santorum suspended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination indicates that the former senator from Pennsylvania had lost his lead in his home state in advance of the April 24 primary.

POL-Romney-Challenge-Right

Typically when a presidential candidate wraps up his party's nomination after months of reaching out to base voters in the primaries, the question becomes whether he can appeal to the political center for the general election. Not for Mitt Romney.

POL-Romney-Obama-Ledbetter

The Mitt Romney campaign's failure to answer a reporter's question Wednesday over the support of an equal-pay for women law was quickly pounced on by President Barack Obama's campaign, marking the first skirmish of the general election now that Romney is the apparent GOP nominee.

POL-Romney-Female-Unemployment

Mitt Romney, eager to close the persistent gender gap opening up between himself and President Barack Obama, has begun using an eyebrow-raising statistic on the campaign trail.

POL-Obama-Campaign-Romney

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign marked the conclusion of the Republican primary -- and the beginning of the general election campaign -- with a nearly two-minute Web video splicing together clips of Mitt Romney's most conservative statements from the trail.

POL-Romney-Santorum-Campaign

Their bitter primary rivalry may seem fresh, but likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney said Wednesday he was looking forward to hitting the campaign trail with former candidate Rick Santorum.

POL-Romney-Pulls-Pennsylvania-Ads

Well on the way to securing the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney on Tuesday pulled his television advertising from Pennsylvania airwaves, a GOP ad tracking source told CNN.

POL-Campaign-Suspending-Explainer

Rick Santorum announced Tuesday he was suspending his bid for the 2012 GOP nomination. Below is a primer on what candidates mean when they say they're 'suspending' their campaigns. "Suspending" vs. Dropping Out - What's the Difference?

POL-Santorum-Religious-Conservatives

Evangelical activist Michael Farris was not exactly surprised that Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday. But that doesn't mean that Farris, a longtime political organizer, knows what he's supposed to do now.

POL-Friess-Santorum-Backer

The billionaire who was a major financial backer of a super PAC supporting Rick Santorum, said Wednesday he is "willing to help" the Republican party this fall, and that the GOP has to "move forward" from the bitter primary campaign.

POL-Gingrich-Campaign-Check

Newt Gingrich shrugged off a $500 bounced check from his campaign Wednesday, saying the mistake was "one of those goofy things."

POL-Gingrich-GOP-Race

Newt Gingrich stood by his claim that the GOP presidential field has now become a two-man race between him and Mitt Romney, after Rick Santorum suspended his campaign Tuesday.

POL-Ann-Romney-Hampton-Inn

As someone who spends life on the road, Ann Romney knows a thing or two about hotels.

POL-Indiana-Senate-Debate

It's been 12 years since Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar faced off in a campaign debate. That streak ends Wednesday night when the most senior Republican member of the Senate shares the stage with his conservative GOP challenger, Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, at a debate in Indianapolis that will be televised statewide in Indiana.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

ENT-Whitney-Houston-Probe

The police investigation of Whitney Houston's death is "officially closed" with the conclusion that her death was an accidental drowning, the Beverly Hills Police Department said Wednesday.

ENT-Stan-Lee-Convention

Wherever superhero creator Stan Lee goes, a crowd of comic book fans seems to gather, but now Lee's making it official with his own comic convention.

ENT-betty-white-joins-twitter-pranks-co-star

"Hello Twitter!" Betty White posted on Tuesday. "And they said it would never happen. Oh wait, that was me." White used the social networking site to promote her new NBC show, "Betty White's Off Their Rockers."

ENT-khloe-kardashian-kim-and-kanye-are-cute-together

We're still not sure if Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are officially dating, but it's good to know "Kimye" has Khloe Kardashian Odom's seal of approval ... just in case. "I think they're cute together," Khloe said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Wednesday, not confirming nor denying reports that Kim and Kanye are an item.

ENT-bieber-backs-bully-doc-i-was-bullied-too

The Weinstein Company's documentary on bullying in schools has received another show of support from teen pop star Justin Bieber. The 18-year-old singer has provided the soundtrack for a new TV spot for the "Bully "documentary with his song "Born to Be Somebody." The clip, which premiered on Fandango.com, began airing on TV Monday.

ENT-dont-trust-the-b-stars-embrace-shows-title

It's no surprise that Krysten Ritter revels in the chance to play Chloe, the title character in ABC's new comedy, "Don't Trust the B-- in Apartment 23." "I mean, d-uh," she told CNN. "[In the premiere] alone, I'm in a rap video; I'm naked; I'm getting a kid drunk; and having sex on a birthday cake. It's ridiculous! It's really fun to play any character that has no morals and no filter."

ENT-the-next-list-Game-of-Thrones-linguist-How-to-create-a-language-from-scratch

'Game of Thrones' linguist: How to create a language from scratch

ENT-the-next-list-Recap-Language-creator-David-Peterson-on-The-Next-List

For linguist David Peterson, inventing a new language is "like creation itself."

ENT-the-next-list-A-history-of-Hollywood's-invented-languages

A history of Hollywood's invented languages

TRAVEL-dog-home-stay-sites

Does your dog object to vacationing in a cage? Can't count on your brother-in-law to commit to dog-sitting for two weeks? Now there are home stay websites for four-legged creatures. Frustrated with kennels that keep dogs cooped up and charge extra for petting and walks, the founders of DogVacay.com and Rover.com are connecting dog lovers who want to earn extra cash with travelers who want dog-friendly people to care for their pets close to home while they're away.

SPORT-olympics-2012-campbell-brown

Veronica Campbell-Brown knows a thing or two about upsetting the odds. The 29-year-old Jamaican sprinter has had to overcome grinding poverty to become one of the greatest Olympians her country has ever produced. After being spotted running barefoot at a school sports day, Campbell-Brown burst on to the track and field scene when she won silver as part of Jamaica's 4x100 meters sprint team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. That was just the start.

FEA-cook-pregnancy-attraction

I recently saw video of an interview I'd done a couple years ago, when I was ginormously pregnant. Next to Annie Lennox, I was nine months pregnant, with body parts bloated beyond recognition and heading in directions they normally don't. My breasts were falling to the sides -- why had someone not told me to wear a more effective push-up bra? -- my face was all puffy. I swear, I counted one, two -- no, three -- chins below my overly smoky eye shadow. And then there was the belly -- a massive dome of a thing, so immense that Lennox looked like a wee Scottish lass beside me. Jessica-Simpson-on-the-cover-of-Elle, no. Sexy, I was not.

TECH-tips-unemployed-netiquette

Raise your hand if someone you know was laid off in the last month. The odds are pretty good (meaning awful). Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that hiring slowed dramatically in March. Although more people are being taken on than cut loose in the private sector as a whole, the public sector continues to hemorrhage jobs, and recently we've seen dismissals in everything from magazines to nursing homes.

TECH-the-next-list-GraFighters

When boredom struck, Eric Cleckner and David Chenell decided to get creative. They co-founded an online fighting game called graFighters, which lets users bring their own drawings to life.

TECH-the-next-list-a-game-to-make-your-life-superbetter

A game to make your life "SuperBetter"

MED-enayati-power-perceptions-imagination

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who spent three years during World War II living under unspeakable circumstances in several of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. While imprisoned, Frankl realized he had one single freedom left: He had the power to determine his response to the horror unfolding around him. And so he chose to imagine.

COMMENTARY-Mayer-Instagram-Facebook

What Facebook will do with Instagram.

COMMENTARY-Pho-health-spending

Doctors and patients should talk more, test less.

COMMENTARY-Galbraith-Buffett-Rule

Obama needs more than symbolism of 'Buffett Rule.'

COMMENTARY-granderson-violence-race

Violence and race: a two-way street.

COMMENTARY-Hostin-Trayvon-Martin-Jury

Let a jury decide on Trayvon Martin case.


LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



19 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 7:20 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2803 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ed Payne - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Iran-Israel-Terror-Network (3:45 a.m.)

Iran said it has broken up an Israeli "terror and sabotage network" that was planning attacks within the country, making a number of arrests while confiscating weapons and equipment, state-run media reported.

Syria-Unrest (3:45 a.m.)

Shelling and bombardment erupted in Syria on Wednesday as international envoy Kofi Annan held out hope that government forces and the opposition will meet a looming deadline to end all hostilities.

Philippines China Naval Standoff (4 a.m.)

The Philippines said Wednesday that its largest naval vessel was engaged in a standoff with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships in a remote lagoon in the South China Sea.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch (monitoring)

North Korea has started fueling a long-range rocket it plans to launch in the coming days, a senior national space official said Wednesday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

Attorneys for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who authorities say fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Florida, said Tuesday they have lost contact with their client and will no longer represent him.

Peru-Mine (will update)

It will be "a few hours" before a rescue operation begins to reach nine trapped miners in southern Peru, the nation's president told reporters Tuesday night. Engineers were working to make sure the mine was secure "so there are no victims," President Ollanta Humala said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea has started fueling a long-range rocket it plans to launch in the coming days, a senior national space official said Wednesday.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Conservative challenger Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of "prayer and thought," effectively ceding the GOP nomination to front-runner Mitt Romney.

SPORT-Arkansas-Petrino

Bobby Petrino has been fired as head football coach at the University of Arkansas, the school's athletics director said Tuesday. Petrino's lack of candor about his "personal and professional relationship" with a female employee who was riding with him on a motorcycle that crashed earlier this month was key to the decision, Jeff Long told reporters.

California-Charles-Manson

When the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation holds a parole hearing for notorious murderer Charles Manson on Wednesday, he will be represented by state-appointed attorney DeJon R. Lewis who will urge the state to put Manson in a mental hospital, Lewis told CNN. Manson, 77, and Lewis, a 45-year-old attorney who was just a boy at the time of the "Manson family" killings in 1969, haven't yet met. In fact, it is unclear whether Manson will attend his parole hearing.

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt-Constitution

Egypt's administrative court suspended the 100-member constitutional assembly on Tuesday delaying the drafting of the new constitution.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea has started fueling a long-range rocket it plans to launch in the coming days, a senior national space official said Wednesday.

POL-North-Korea-Intelligence

While the Obama administration is urging North Korea not to go ahead with its expected rocket launch, the launch does present one benefit: The U.S. intelligence community will get the rare opportunity to more precisely see just how far North Korea has progressed with its long-range missile technology program since its last launch three years ago.

Korean-Air-Threat

NORAD jet fighters intercepted a Korean Air passenger jet and escorted it to a safe emergency landing at a military base on Vancouver Island in British Columbia after the airline received a bomb threat, officials said Tuesday.

US-Guatemala-Kingpin

The U.S. Treasury Department added a Guatemalan man to its drug kingpin list Tuesday, describing him as a "critical link" between Colombian drug producers and Mexico's Zetas cartel.

Italy-Cruise-Ship-Captain

Italy's highest court ruled Tuesday that the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship must remain under house arrest while he is investigated for possible criminal charges.

Syria-Unrest

Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he was "gravely concerned at the course of events" after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to withdraw troops from cities and towns by Tuesday's self-imposed deadline.

US-Syria-Tough-Choices

No one in the Obama administration seems ready to say out loud that the Syria peace plan has failed, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came close. Asked whether the six-point plan on which U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan supposedly won agreement from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is failing, Clinton told reporters the plan has not achieved a main goal of stopping the attacks.

South-Korea-Politics

With a new corruption scandal emerging regularly, South Koreans appear to be turning away from traditional political parties and toward the unaffiliated underdog. In response, the major parties are panicking, changing their candidates, their policies and even their names in preparation for Wednesday's parliamentary election.

China-Party-Official

The wife of a controversial Chinese leader and a family aide have been arrested in connection with the death of a British businessman, Chinese state media announced Tuesday.

North-Korea-Rocket-Launch

North Korea said the assembly of the satellite and rocket it plans to launch within the next week should be completed Tuesday, setting the stage for a move that has been widely criticized by other nations.

US-North-Korea

As North Korea prepares to commemorate the 100th birthday of its late founder Kim Il Sung with the launch of a satellite into orbit, the U.S. is already bracing for even more drama the day after.

Belgium-Brussels-Transport-Strike

Public transport in the Belgian capital, Brussels, was paralyzed for a fourth day Tuesday after staff walked out to protest the death of a co-worker in an assault.

Norway-Breivik

A man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in Norway last summer was sane at the time of the alleged crimes, two court-appointed psychiatric experts said in a report released Tuesday.

Afghanistan-Unrest

The Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for two suicide attacks on government facilities in Afghanistan that killed at least 18 people and wounded 27 others.

China-Activist-Sentence

A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced a disabled lawyer who defended tenants' rights to more than two years in jail for "picking quarrels and making trouble," a local human rights advocacy group said.

SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-F1-Zayani-Ecclestone

Bahrain Grand Prix organizers insisted Tuesday that the Formula One race scheduled for the gulf kingdom later this month should go ahead despite mounting pressure for it to be scrapped.

U.S.A.

GSA-Fallout

The General Services Administration has suspended an employee award program cited by congressional investigators for exceeding spending limits, the acting head of the agency said Tuesday.

Oklahoma-Shootings

The suspects in the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed shortly after their arrest, according to police documents.

US-New-York-Bride-Cancer-Fraud

A New York woman is facing multiple fraud and larceny charges for allegedly pretending she had terminal cancer to get thousands of dollars from sympathetic donors to pay for an over-the-top wedding and honeymoon, according to a court statement released Tuesday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Prosecutor

Angela Corey, the state attorney overseeing the probe into the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is known in Florida as a tough prosecutor ready to pursue what she believes is right, even in the face of media glare and public pressure.

Florida-Marlins-Castro (will update)

Ozzie Guillen's remarks on Fidel Castro may be constitutionally protected, but he has learned there is nothing shielding him from the ire of Miami's large Cuban community.

US-Air-Show-Crash-Findings

The pilot of the P-51 Mustang that crashed at the Reno Air Races last September experienced overwhelming g-forces at the outset of the incident, and likely was incapacitated almost instantly, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

California-Charles-Manson

When the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation holds a parole hearing for notorious murderer Charles Manson on Wednesday, he will be represented by state-appointed attorney DeJon R. Lewis who will urge the state to put Manson in a mental hospital, Lewis told CNN.Manson, 77, and Lewis, a 45-year-old attorney who was just a boy at the time of the "Manson family" killings in 1969, haven't yet met. In fact, it is unclear whether Manson will attend his parole hearing.

US-Teacher-FBI-Top-10

A former private school teacher and camp counselor facing child pornography charges was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list Tuesday.

US-Terrorism-Trial

The chief judge for the Guantanamo Bay military commissions has assigned himself to preside over the trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and four other men. Army Col. James Pohl will preside over the arraignment of the five suspected terrorists beginning on May 5.

Washington-School-Bus-Emergency

A Washington school district is hailing a middle-school student as a hero after he guided a school bus to a stop when the driver slumped in his seat.

MED-Teen-Birth-Rate-Record-Low

The teenage birth rate in the United States has fallen to a record low in the seven decades since such statistics were last collected.

Maryland-Lottery-Winner

They are public school employees who have been holding down multiple jobs. Now that they've won tens of millions of dollars in a historic lottery, they could stop. But instead, the self-declared "Three Amigos," who share a winning Mega Millions ticket, plan to keep their fortune a secret -- and keep working.

Miss-Universe-Transgender

The Miss Universe organization announced Tuesday it is ending its ban on transgender contestants after coming under scrutiny recently when a Canadian competitor was told she would be disqualified because she was born male.

US-Marine-Obama

A Marine facing discharge over criticism of President Barack Obama on a Facebook page he administers will fight in military and civilian courts, his attorney said Tuesday.

US-Northeast-Brush-Fires

Firefighters continue to battle a series of brushfires raging on nearly 2,600 acres in the U.S. Northeast, which officials say were triggered by high winds and dry conditions. Parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been issued warnings by the National Weather Service after a recent dry spell in the region.

MONEY-Stand-Your-Ground-Companies

Pressure is building on companies to cut ties with a group that has championed Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, now under scrutiny in the Trayvon Martin case.

Tech-Smart-Phone-Thefts

A rise in the theft of smart phones, cell phones and tablets across the country has prompted the wireless industry to take steps aimed at minimizing the usefulness of a stolen device.

ELECTIONS 2012

POL-Romney-Women-Voters

As the Republican field winnowed Tuesday, Mitt Romney made an appeal to a voting bloc key to any candidate's success in November: women.

POL-Santorum-Political-Obit

Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday after it became increasingly unlikely he could tackle the obstacles standing in his way on the road to the GOP presidential nomination, according to a Santorum source.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Conservative challenger Rick Santorum announced Tuesday that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of "prayer and thought," effectively ceding the GOP nomination to front-runner Mitt Romney.

POL-Campaign-Suspending-Explainer

Rick Santorum announced Tuesday he was suspending his bid for the 2012 GOP nomination. Below is a primer on what candidates mean when they say they're 'suspending' their campaigns. "Suspending" vs. Dropping Out - What's the Difference?

POL-Republicans-Reax-Santorum

Leading Republicans responded to news of Rick Santorum suspending his presidential campaign Tuesday, mostly praising the candidate for making the decision that essentially clears the way for Mitt Romney to soon clinch the GOP nomination.

POL-Pennsylvania-Senator-Endorses-Romney

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania threw his weight behind Mitt Romney on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of the state's presidential primary.

POL-Crossroads-Anti-Obama-Ad

A conservative political action committee on Tuesday announced plans to spend $1.7 million in a half-dozen battleground states criticizing President Barack Obama's energy policy.

POL-Ron-Paul-Ad

The GOP nomination may appear to be in Mitt Romney's reach, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul isn't leaving the race without knocking his rivals at least one more time. In a new 30-second ad set to begin airing on cable in Texas Tuesday, Paul hits Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as collectively unfit to go up against President Barack Obama in November's general election.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

ENT-sharon-tate-murder-pop-culture

As convicted murder Charles Manson comes up for parole review on Wednesday, there continues to be an enduring fascination in Hollywood regarding his crimes. The murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others on August 9, 1969, by members of a group known as the Manson Family left a thumbprint on American pop culture that has influenced music, movies and books. One of the latest projects is the book "Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice," written by a woman who has a personal tie with the story.

ENT-California-Latino-Producers

Independent Latino producers of documentaries and feature films gather in Los Angeles later this week to draw attention to improving Latino representation in front of and behind the camera. The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has grown since 1999 when it was a just a couple of hundred of film makers is now a formal group with 10,000 subscribers to its newsletter about the state of media for Latino producers.

FEA-Garbage-Pail-Kids-Book

Weapons, creepy critters and bodily fluids are timeless sources of inspiration for children's toys. But perhaps no franchise capitalized on all those themes better than "Garbage Pail Kids," the gross-out trading cards of the 1980s that parodied Cabbage Patch Kids. To many from that generation, they were the raddest cards your parents wouldn't let you have. Or, maybe you found ways to procure them on your own and became the coolest kid at the lunch table. Those kids are now adults, and the release of a book that compiles "Garbage Pail Kids" art allows fans to stroll down a blood-soaked, snot-infested memory lane -- one littered with pudgy limbs and heads that bear a disturbing resemblance to the wholesome Cabbage Patch dolls.

MED-Wallace-Depression

Since his death at age 93 Saturday, much has been written about hard-edged ex-"60 Minutes" reporter Mike Wallace's epic verbal battles with world leaders, swindlers and alleged crime bosses. But in 2005, Wallace made news of his own when he acknowledged his longtime war with depression -- a fight that nearly caused him to take his own life.

ENT-Ricki-Lake-Married

Ricki Lake has tied the knot with fiance Christian Evans, and the TV personality/actress is feeling the love.

ENT-Lindsay-Lohan-Complaint

Lindsay Lohan's had enough of people making false accusations about while she's trying to get her career back on track after five years of legal troubles, her publicist said Tuesday.

ENT-Madonna-Sales-Drop-Reports

Madonna had the biggest album debut of the year with her new offering, "MDNA," but the disc's second week sales may lead to a less flattering record. Forbes reports that her latest is on track to have the biggest second-week drop in chart history.

TRAVEL-Titanic-Last-Dive

For Titanic enthusiasts, it's a last chance to glimpse the famous cruise liner in its final resting place, a full 100 years after the vessel's tragic demise. A series of expeditions by marine dive specialists Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) will take paying tourists to the wreck site 12,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean in early July.

SPORT-Freedom-Baseball

A growing number of Major League Baseball players are coming together to make every pitch, home run and strikeout count in the fight against child trafficking.

SPORT-Golf-Bubba-Watson-Internet-Sensation

If you thought golf was the stuffy reserve of mild-mannered gentlemen in polo shirts, think again. From Santa Claus outfits to leaping into jacuzzis and even smashing lettuce heads to smithereens, there's no antic too crazy for new Masters champion Bubba Watson.


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CNN Wire


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 1:53 AM EST


Santorum's decision came down to odds and his daughter


BYLINE: By From the CNN Political Unit


LENGTH: 1386 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Rick Santorum's decision to drop out of the Republican presidential race came after he spent the holiday weekend evaluating the race with his family, who were grappling with the latest hospitalization of his 3-year-old daughter Bella.

Santorum's path to the nomination hinged on three puzzle pieces falling neatly in place, multiple sources close to the campaign told CNN, a prospect that grew dimmer with each passing day.

The campaign, eagerly looking ahead to a slew of conservative leaning states that vote in May, had hoped that Texas would adjust its proportional primary rules and award its treasure trove of 155 delegates on a winner-take-all basis -- but Texas Republicans dismissed the idea.

Santorum was also hoping that Gingrich, who has also been competing for the same conservative anti-Romney voters, would drop out of the race, something the former House Speaker shows no signs of doing.

Finally, the campaign understood that a victory in Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania on April 24 was crucial.

Romney's poll numbers have lately creeped up in Pennsylvania and his campaign was in the process of unleashing a more than $2 million negative ad blitz against Santorum across the state, but Santorum aides said they remained confident that they would pull out a win on their home turf.

His campaign reported it was nearly $1 million in debt last month and would have been forced to drain its campaign account to compete with Romney and his allies on the costly Pennsylvania airwaves, another factor in Santorum's decision.

"The Romney team was putting a lot of money out there," said one Santorum adviser who did not want to be named discussing internal decision-making. "The budget was a factor."

Despite trailing in the delegate count, Santorum vowed as recently as last week to remain in the race until one candidate reached the 1,144 delegates needed to capture the nomination.

However, during a conference call with his wife, Karen, campaign manager and staff before his announcement on Tuesday, Santorum said the decision was based on personal and political factors, according to a Santorum source. A campaign adviser also said the financial state of the campaign probably played a role in the conclusion.

"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," Santorum said during his speech in Gettysburg on Tuesday. "We will continue to fight for those voices for those Americans who stood up and gave us that air under our wings."

He also acknowledged the decision was not entirely political, saying the past weekend was a "time of prayer and thought" as he and his family cared for his daughter Isabella, the youngest of Santorum's seven children, who suffers from Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition.

Santorum's organization announced they were halting campaign events on Friday because the candidate's three-year-old daughter Bella was admitted to the hospital. Bella, the youngest of Santorum's seven children, suffers from a rare chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18, which causes severe medical and developmental problems.

Santorum's departure leaves rival Mitt Romney with a firm grasp on the nomination but also deep wounds left to heal within the GOP.

Santorum spoke to Romney before Tuesday's speech, according to a Republican source. But Santorum aide Hogan Gidley told CNN an endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor "is not a inevitability."

Gidley said Santorum and Romney are attempting to schedule a meeting to discuss an endorsement and that the latter would like it to occur "sooner rather than later."

Santorum entered the race with a voting record in the House and Senate of a staunch social conservative and presented himself on the campaign trail as the alternative to more moderate candidates, who he said had compromised their ideals for political expediency.

More recently, he elevated his fire directly at Romney, labeling him a flip-flopper on conservative issues including abortion rights, cap and trade and government mandated health care. He also repeatedly accused the former executive of failing to tell the truth.

"For somebody who is maybe the weakest candidate we've every had on the pro-life issue to attack the leader of the pro-life cause is absurd," Santorum said at a forum in Troy, Michigan on February 25. "He glosses over and doesn't even tell the truth....Here is a guy who is the ultimate flip-flopper running for president, and he's attacking me for not being principled? That doesn't wash."

Santorum officially announced his candidacy on June 6, 2011, and quickly began airing radio ads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first three states to vote.

Soon after his official announcement, he told CNN that his bid would be based on a consistent conservative record.

"I think I stand out because I have been a consistent conservative, someone who has been a leader, someone who's had the courage to lead on a variety of hot-button topics before they were popular, like entitlement reform. I've been a leader on that," he said.

In August, when his candidacy was barely making waves in key early voting states, Santorum maintained his effort would take a long view of the race, saying at a rally, "This is the little-engine-that-could campaign."

He was eclipsed first by Michele Bachmann's entry in the race, then Rick Perry's. When those two faltered, Herman Cain became the conservative favorite.

As Cain was faltering amid accusations of sexual harrassment, Newt Gingrich was the last conservative to slingshot past Santorum, taking a lead over Romney in polls in November and December.

At GOP presidential debates throughout the fall, Santorum was mostly marginalized as the most questions went to the top-tier candidates.

In the months leading up to Iowa's caucuses, Santorum became the first GOP presidential candidate to visit all of Iowa's 99 counties, often sporting what became his signature look (and the butt of jokes): a sweater vest bearing his campaign's logo.

Despite all that time in Iowa, Santorum didn't see substantial traction in polls until January as Gingrich withered in the heat of negative ads from Romney's campaign and a super PAC that supports him.

And on election night in Iowa, it looked like Santorum had narrowly missed his first surprise victory in the race when initial counts showed he had come eight votes short of beating Romney.

The narrow miss was enough to energize conservatives to contribute to the cause and give Santorum a spike in fundraising. And his conservative rivals began to fall.

Bachmann dropped out of the race the day after Iowa. Two weeks later, the certified vote in Iowa showed that Santorum had actually won there and Perry dropped out of the race later that same day.

Gingrich then won in South Carolina and Romney won in Florida and Nevada, states that Santorum largely ignored to concentrate on more conservative voters down the road. That strategy paid off when he stunned Romney by sweeping Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri all on the same day and changed the trajectory of the race.

Romney, who had begun to take on the air of the Republican nominee by focusing on President Barack Obama rather than Republican rivals, had to turn his focus back toward his challenger and built up a nearly 400-delegate lead in the race to the 1,144 needed to clinch the nomination.

Despite increasingly long odds, Santorum maintained throughout the last weeks of March that he would stay in the race, citing flawed delegate math and upcoming contests that looked to be in his favor.

"Our delegate calculation has Gov. Romney far below 50%," Santorum said on March 19 on CBS. "We think there's a lot of primaries coming up, including Pennsylvania my home state, where we can make some big delegates. Texas will be another great state for us. We feel very good that we're going to continue to win and do well."

A senior Santorum source said that Bella's hospitalization was a major factor in the decision to bow out.

"When you have enough time with your adrenaline down, you start to think about what's really important," the source told CNN. Sitting in the hospital with his daughter for the second time during this campaign put that in perspective for Santorum, the source said.


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Creators Syndicate


April 11, 2012 Wednesday


Romney Trails Obama, but Key Numbers Break His Way


BYLINE: Michael Barone


SECTION: ROMNEY TRAILS OBAMA, BUT KEY NUMBERS BREAK HIS WAY


LENGTH: 811 words


Now that Rick Santorum has "suspended" his campaign, we can stop pretending and can say what has been clear for weeks: Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for president. The general election campaign has begun.

In some quarters, it is assumed that Barack Obama will be re-elected without too much difficulty. There are reports that staffers at Obama's Chicago headquarters consider Romney's candidacy a joke.

One suspects the adults there take a different view. For the fundamentals say that this will be a seriously contested race, with many outcomes possible. Obama's job-approval numbers in the realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls hover at 48 percent positive, 47 percent negative. That's on the cusp between victory and defeat.

Obama leads Romney in recent polls by 48 to 43 percent. Note that Obama's percentage does not exceed his job approval. And Romney does not maximize the potential Republican vote.

Romney carries bruises, some self-inflicted, from the primary process, and his unfavorable numbers far outnumber his favorables. He got more negative than positive press coverage (interestingly, on Fox News as well as mainstream media) even as he was winning the nomination.

One reason is that his campaign and the super PAC backing him have spent most of their ad dollars battering down successive rivals who rose in the polls. The positive case for Romney has gotten much less of an airing.

But general elections involving sitting presidents usually turn out to be verdicts on the incumbent. Challengers who meet minimal standards tend to win if most voters want the incumbent out.

Which is, or is close to being, the case today. Note that the two national pollsters who limit their samples to likely voters, Rasmussen and Bloomberg, show the race a tie. Obama does better with the larger universes of registered voters and all adults. But polls show that this year, unlike 2008, Republicans are more enthusiastic about voting than Democrats.

You see a similar picture when you look at polls in the 11 states that were close last time and are generally considered targets now. Not on the list are Indiana and Missouri, whose 21 electoral votes seem safely Republican this time, and New Mexico, whose five electoral votes seem safe Democratic.

Recent polls in these 11 states show Obama ahead of Romney in every state but Iowa. But they also show him topping 50 percent only in Wisconsin.

Obama seems to be running slightly better than last time in Ohio, Florida and North Carolina, and slightly weaker in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Iowa, and about the same in Virginia, Colorado and Nevada, with no recent polling in New Hampshire.

Obama has not sewn up any of these 11 states, which have 144 electoral votes. Without them, and without the 11 in Indiana and one in Nebraska he carried last time, he would have only 205 electoral votes, 65 short of the needed majority.

And 2008 is not the only possible benchmark. In the 2010 congressional elections, Republicans carried the popular vote for the House in all 11 of these states. They went into the election with only 56 of these states' 126 House seats and came out with 82.

Voters' issue focus this year looks more like that of 2010 than 2008. Even polls showing Obama ahead also show most voters rate him negatively on the top issues, jobs and the economy. Neither the stimulus package nor Obamacare evokes positive feelings.

The president has been reduced to trash-talking the Supreme Court, leaving his press secretary to tidy up afterward. He has been spending a week playing up the Buffett rule, a tax proposal raising capital gains rates on very high earners that would net little revenue.

That polls well in a vacuum. But more extended surveys, like one recently conducted for the moderate Third Way group, show most voters prefer limiting government and putting economic growth ahead of "an economy based on fairness."

That's closer to Mitt Romney's view than Barack Obama's. Obama and his party have bet everything on the notion that economic distress would make Americans favor a bigger government. That turned out to be a losing bet.

Romney and his party are betting that voters are ready for market-oriented reforms. Despite his political tin ear, Romney has been making progress in honing this message.

Meanwhile Obama is flailing. That's not the behavior of an incumbent president confident of winning re-election.

Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner (www.washingtonexaminer.com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2012 THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

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The Philadelphia Inquirer


April 11, 2012 Wednesday
CITY-C Edition


Santorum bows out, clearing the path for Romney


BYLINE: By Jeremy Roebuck and Amy Worden; Inquirer Staff Writers


SECTION: NATIONAL; P-com News for PC Home Page; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1087 words


Now it's Romney vs. Obama.

With that in mind and a bruising primary fight finally behind him, Mitt Romney bathed in the praise Tuesday night of a cheering crowd of Chester County Republicans - finally, their party's presidential nominee in all but name.

Hours earlier, Rick Santorum, the former Massachusetts governor's last significant GOP rival, suspended his campaign amid a family health crisis and a growing chorus of calls from party leaders for him to drop out of the race.

Santorum's decision, announced at an afternoon appearance in Gettysburg, cleared Romney's path to his party's nomination at its August convention in Tampa and set the stage for what is sure to be a rancorous general election showdown with President Obama.

"This has been quite a day for me," Romney told the gathered crowd at Inn at Mendenhall in southern Chester County. "We'll have work to do ahead of us, but let's all enjoy tonight."

His speech Tuesday night, in one of the suburban swing counties that were fiercely contested ground in 2008, also offered Republican faithful here a chance to partake in their candidate's victory lap.

"I knew this was coming at some point, but I didn't think it would come so soon," said Chester County GOP chair Val DiGiorgio as he scrambled to accommodate an overflow crowd.

Santorum's exit came less than two weeks before his home state's April 24 primary, a contest he had called a "must-win" for him.

With his wife, Karen, at his side, the former Pennsylvania senator announced his decision in the same room at the historic Gettysburg Hotel where only three weeks earlier, he had pledged to soldier on after his defeat in the Illinois primary.

Holding back tears, Santorum cited the hospitalization of his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, and the uphill battle he faced at the polls, as factors in his decision.

Bella, who suffers from a serious and rare genetic disorder, was in the hospital over the weekend with her parents at her side. Santorum said the good news was that she was able to come home Tuesday morning.

"We made a decision over the weekend," he said, "that while this presidential race for us is over, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting."

Saying he had enabled "conservatives to have a voice" in the GOP nominating process, Santorum marveled at the unlikely nature of his campaign, in which he rose from a poorly financed candidate with little organizational support to become the strongest remaining challenger to Romney's well-funded run.

"Against all odds, we won 11 states, millions of voters, millions of votes," he said. "I realized if I felt and understood at a very deep level what you all were going through across America, that your voice could be heard and miracles could happen. And miracles did happen."

He did not mention Romney, letting questions linger over whether he would endorse his onetime opponent - though he said the next goal was to defeat Obama.

Romney and his backers had poured millions into negative ads attacking Santorum in primary states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan - and had pulled back an attack ad in Pennsylvania only after learning Santorum's daughter had been hospitalized.

Striking a conciliatory tone Tuesday, Romney's campaign released a statement acknowledging Santorum as "an able and worthy competitor."

But right away, attention shifted to Nov. 6.

"It's no surprise that Mitt Romney finally was able to grind down his opponents under an avalanche of negative ads," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said. "But neither he nor his special-interest allies will be able to buy the presidency with their negative attack ads."

Obama's campaign has developed a big cash lead over Romney's, collecting more than $84 million by the end of February to the former governor's $7.2 million. And campaign advisers have long focused on Romney as their likeliest rival.

Both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul pledged to stay in the Republican race Tuesday, but neither was considered much of a threat to Romney. Calling himself "the last conservative standing," Gingrich asked Santorum supporters to back him instead.

Even before Tuesday, Romney had been on a pace to claim the 1,444 delegates needed for the nomination. According to an Associated Press tally of the 32 states to have voted so far, his delegate count stands at 661, to Santorum's 285, with 136 for former House Speaker Gingrich and 51 for Texas Congressman Paul.

At his appearance in Mendenhall on Tuesday night, Romney paid his remaining GOP rivals no heed. Instead he ripped Obama's record on the economy, military spending, and health care.

Mindful of his falling poll numbers with women, Romney told of recent discussions with struggling female business owners and attacked what he called a drift toward socialism under Obama.

"The innovative spirit of the American people is still there," he said. "Yet these economic policies of this president are wearing it down. This administration has some explaining to do."

Throughout the primaries, conservative critics dogged Romney as too far to the middle - a "mushy moderate," Santorum called him - to rally his party's conservative base. His run still poses challenges for a GOP primed to attack Obama's federal health-care overhaul - a plan modeled in part on the one instituted under Romney's watch as Massachusetts governor.

Still, Santorum supporters across Pennsylvania said they want to oust Obama.

"It will take a while for the enthusiasm to manifest itself in my spirit," said Colin Hanna, a former Chester County commissioner, conservative activist, and early Santorum backer. "But it will be there."

At Lancaster Bible College in Manheim, Pa., where Santorum appeared Tuesday night with evangelist leader James Dobson, several supporters lined up outside were surprised to learn their candidate had left the race. Asked if she could support Romney, Helen Sneder, 80, said simply: "I'll vote for him, if that's what's left to vote for."

But in Gettysburg, Tim Bitler, 20, of Reading, and Bryan Barth, 21, professed excitement that their party was finally coalescing. They had dashed over from their political science class at Gettysburg College on receiving a text from a friend that Santorum was speaking nearby.

"It's pretty historic," Bitler explained. "As someone said, 'The GOP civil war ends at Gettysburg today.' "

Contact Jeremy Roebuck

at 267-564-5218 or jroebuck@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @jeremyrroebuck.

Staff writers Matt Katz and Thomas Fitzgerald contributed to this article.


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Pittsburgh Tribune Review


April 11, 2012 Wednesday


Rick Santorum folds presidential campaign


BYLINE: Salena Zito


LENGTH: 1024 words


GETTYSBURG -- Republican Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign on Tuesday, following losses in March and April primaries that led to an insurmountable delegate disadvantage.

"Miracle after miracle, this race was improbable as any race we will see for president," the former two-term U.S. senator from Pennsylvania said, surrounded by family. He said the family decided over Easter weekend that "while this presidential race is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting."

Santorum, 53, did not mention front-runner Mitt Romney in his 14-minute speech at the Gettysburg Hotel, but he referred to Lincoln's address at the Civil War battle site.

"We will never be a country that can go forward as a great and powerful country again unless we remember who we are and what makes us Americans," he said. "That's what our campaign was about."

Neither Santorum nor campaign adviser John Brabender of Pittsburgh would say why he quit now. Santorum and wife Karen spent the weekend tending to their hospitalized daughter, Bella, 3, who has a chromosomal disorder that causes developmental and medical problems. Doctors released her on Monday.

Santorum's campaign limped along in recent weeks with little money, weakening popularity in polls and almost no chance to overcome Romney in the race for 1,144 party delegates. His departure all but anoints the former Massachusetts governor as nominee, though former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas remain in the race.

Romney called Santorum "an able and worthy competitor. ... He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation."

Gingrich said he remains committed to campaigning until the August convention in Tampa and asked Santorum's supporters to review his record.

"Rick has waged a remarkable campaign. His success is a testament to his tenacity and the power of conservative principles," Gingrich said.

In a Susquehanna Polling and Research survey from March 29 to April 1, Santorum led Romney by 7 percentage points among Pennsylvania Republicans and 30 percentage points among self-identified "very conservative" voters, said Jim Lee, Susquehanna Polling president. The poll of 500 voters had an error margin of 4.3 percentage points.

"He absolutely had a shot," Lee said. "You can still make a case that Santorum could've won" the state's April 24 primary.

It was a gamble, Lee said. Losing his native state after a 2006 Senate defeat to Democrat Bob Casey Jr. would weaken any arguments Santorum could later make about reigniting his political career. A nasty primary fight could wound Romney in a key swing state, earning Santorum enemies among Republicans hoping to beat President Obama.

"At this point, he can save almost everything that he has earned during this campaign," Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, agreed. "Among those things are admiration and restoration of his political credibility, and the potential for a future as a presidential candidate."

Romney used his financial advantage in earlier primaries to overcome conservatives' doubts about him and almost certainly would have continued that in Pennsylvania, where his campaign made a $2.9 million television ad buy.

Federal Election Commission reports show Romney started March with $7.3 million in the bank to Santorum's $2.6 million. Super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations and run parallel campaigns to aid candidates, widened Romney's advantage. Super PACs spent $2.4 million to support Romney before the April 3 Wisconsin primary, compared to $751,000 to support Santorum, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Experts say Santorum helped and hurt the party with his socially conservative campaign that turned the national spotlight on religious and moral issues.

"I'm not sure there ever was a movement for Santorum," said Bruce Haynes, a Republican strategist based in Washington. "He was merely the final repository of the last vestiges of the values- and culture-based voters who wanted a candidate other than Romney."

Santorum's remarks denouncing birth control as harmful to women and society could cost the party support among female voters, said Lara Brown, a political science professor at Villanova University.

"I think that Santorum has left some destruction in his wake," Brown said. The GOP successfully wooed women in 2010 and 2011, she said, and "for much of January, Romney was in good stead among women, partly because the issues that the Republicans were focused on were the economy and energy."

Though Santorum's strict Catholicism alienated some Catholic voters, his trademark barnstorming enabled him to capture a sizable majority of evangelical Protestants in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana -- something no other serious presidential contender has done, said Eldon Eisenach, a political scientist emeritus at Tulsa University.

He became "the first to establish that religious/moral/family values trump particular church identities in the Republican Party," Eisenach said.

Santorum was the last of second-tier Republican candidates to surge during the long primary process, rising in popularity when Iowa officials certified him as the surprise winner of that state's January caucus. State party leaders waited weeks to announce it, on the eve of the South Carolina primary that Gingrich won. Initially, Iowa declared Romney the winner.

In February, Santorum won caucuses in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, empowering his campaign as the party's "only true, consistent conservative."

Then, his caustic tone intensified. He criticized Romney as the worst candidate Republicans could run and suggested he would prefer Obama for a second term. Party leaders began to suggest that Santorum exit the race after the Ohio primary in early March.

Chris Kelley, a political scientist at Miami University of Ohio, said Santorum can look back on his run with pride.

"He really was written off from the start as a nobody, and he came close to becoming a somebody," Kelley said.


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


April 11, 2012 Wednesday
State Edition


GOP is scheming to limit women's rights


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A-10


LENGTH: 863 words


GOP is scheming to limit women's rights

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Kathy Byron's Op/Ed column, "Assembly's gains were overlooked," is unbelievable. She dismisses the recent outrage over threats to women's reproductive health care as the result of "distortions" about the proposed legislation.

Byron is naive if she thinks that the bills in the General Assembly are not part of a wider Republican agenda to limit women's reproductive rights. Rick Santorum opposes birth control, while he, Mitt Romney and Rep. Eric Cantor supported the Blunt amendment that would allow employers to deny women contraception coverage. Romney wants to "get rid" of Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides affordable family planning and cancer screenings to hundreds of thousands of women. George Allen supports a personhood amendment that would jeopardize in vitro fertilization, certain types of birth control and stem cell research. Most Republican officials rant against the Affordable Care Act, which would outlaw insurance companies charging women higher premiums, expand health coverage to many families and make contraception and maternity care more affordable.

As Byron says, Virginians are smart and reasonable people. They will soundly reject the Republican agenda to over-regulate women's reproductive health care come November.

Mary Anne Pugh.

Montpelier.

Florida law needs to be reviewed

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Regarding the Trayvon Martin incident: Among the things that outrage me in this situation is the non-arrest of the armed participant. The outrage by Americans everywhere stems from our knowledge of a system that holds to those principles. This Florida law has never been challenged like in this situation. It is a miscarriage of justice by way of a law that failed to take into account situations that need to be investigated before resolution can be had.

I believe in the judicial process. This law has taken the process out and left a decision of guilt or no-guilt to the policing agencies on duty. Was this law a cost-saving measure attempting to reduce caseloads?

An armed adult (who had been instructed to remain in his car by the police department) who becomes the sole survivor of a life-and-death struggle with an unarmed youth should have been arrested and held until the facts were reviewed. Zimmerman needs to have the full range of judicial processes employed to determine whether his actions were correct.

This Florida law and this event are evidence that a full review and standard processing of a criminal act should have been the order of the day.

Is this law being put back on the docket for review or appeal? If not, why not?

Judy Grubbs.

Henrico.

Attacking my views doesn't help yours

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

David Metz's letter, "Conservatives are the mainstream," carried the by now all-too-familiar content. He presented a common laundry list of "wrongs" perpetrated by liberals and progressives, juxtaposed to a list of the usual "virtues" of conservatives. His point, in short, was that conservatives are mainstream and good, and that liberals are extreme and bad.

Herein is a reminder for Metz of the mirror image of his conservative virtues. It was a conservative who walked into the church of a Unitarian minister a few years ago and shot him to death. The perpetrator of the worst act of domestic terrorism yet was Timothy McVeigh, an ultra-conservative. In the last few decades, some physicians who provided abortions were murdered by social conservatives. At some Tea Party rallies, signs caricaturing President Obama as a monkey were prominently displayed. If those signs were not racist, what is?

It is not my intent to characterize all conservatives as murderers, terrorists and racists. To do so would be an ad hominem attack and would neither be true nor representative. Metz should similarly recognize that not all liberals and progressives can be characterized by the actions of a few. Attacking the opposition for simply being the opposition damages the public conversation. Arguing the merits of one's position on the issues strengthens it.

David J. Cohen.

Henrico.

Thanks, Richmond, for the advertisements

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Recently commercials have been running that advertise the work being done on the downtown expressway toll booth. I would like to thank the Richmond city government for upgrading the way I am taxed on a daily basis.

Every day I take the Powhite Parkway to Interstate 95 in the morning and return home on the same route in the afternoon. I pay almost $3 a day in tolls. Am I paying for an upgrade in the toll system? Has this road not been paid for already? Richmond city government has become addicted to the income generated through this toll road. Downtown commuters are selectively taxed every day to get to a lifeless downtown. The poorly run city government has the highest taxes in the immediate area and the smallest return.

I pay an extra $100 a month in home property taxes a month for a poor public school system, dropping property value and, oh yeah, leaf collection. So thanks for running the commercial to tell me how much easier it will be for you to collect $3 in tolls from me every day.

Ben Dunham.

Richmond.


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


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Tampa Bay Times


April 11, 2012 Wednesday
0 South Pinellas Edition


WITH SANTORUM OUT, FOCUS SHIFTS


BYLINE: ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer


SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 1001 words


DATELINE: GETTYSBURG, Pa.



HIGHLIGHT: The question now becomes can Mitt Romney generate enthusiasm and unite Republicans.


Rick Santorum came to this storied battleground Tuesday and abruptly surrendered his campaign for president. But as Mitt Romney effectively seizes the Republican nomination, his rival's presence could linger in the tough months ahead.

More than any of the other contenders in the long, strange GOP primary, Santorum exposed Romney's core weaknesses: a difficulty connecting with voters and a moderate past that may win over independents in the general election but left many conservatives yearning for someone else.

"The real question for Romney now is, can Republicans unite? Can he get enthusiasm out of the base?" said Pennsylvania pollster Terry Madonna.

Romney already is feeling the effects of Santorum pushing birth control, abortion and other social issues to the forefront at a time when Romney wanted a laser focus on the economy. Women are peeling away from the GOP, polls show, providing a boost to President Barack Obama.

Santorum came from nothing, emerging from a crowded field to win the Iowa caucuses and 10 other states, all while delaying Romney's coronation and making him spend millions more than planned.

"People said 'How did this happen, how were we able to come from nowhere?'" Santorum asked at a news conference at the Gettysburg Hotel. "Because I was smart enough to figure out that if I understood and felt at a very deep level what you were experiencing across America and try to be a witness to that ... then your voice could be heard and miracles would happen.

"And so it did. Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as a race you'll ever see for president."

Santorum, 53, said he made the decision the same way he began the race: with his family gathered at the kitchen table. His wife, Karen, and four of his children stood with him Tuesday.

"While this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," said Santorum, who held back tears and vowed to help defeat Obama and win Republican control of Congress.

Santorum had virtually no chance to catch Romney, who overpowered him with organization, money and delegates. Santorum also faced the distinct prospect of losing the Pennsylvania primary April 24, which would be a humiliating defeat in the state he represented in Congress for 16 years.

It would have echoed Santorum's landslide loss in his 2006 U.S. Senate re-election bid and stained his political future. Romney was poised to unleash a $2.9 million spending blitz with a TV ad highlighting that loss to Democrat Bob Casey Jr. but pulled back after Santorum's 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized over the weekend.

Bella Santorum suffers from a rare genetic disorder and returned home Monday night.

Santorum had been expected to start Tuesday with a rally in Bedford, about two hours west of Gettysburg, but his campaign emailed reporters after midnight to say the schedule had been upended. In Gettysburg, Santorum implied his daughter played a role in his decision to suspend his campaign but never fully explained his decision.

"She is a fighter and doing exceptionally well," Santorum said, but noted it "did cause us to think." His daughter's illness drew widespread sympathy and provided the graceful exit many thought Santorum needed.

"A lot of Republican leaders are happy with him," Madonna said. "They avoid this divisive primary here, which would have been very high profile. In that sense, he lives to fight again."

Santorum did not mention Romney during his remarks and at one point said people, "even those at the White House," may now consider it "game over."

But the two men spoke and Romney requested a meeting. Santorum endorsed Romney in the 2008 election, and observers think he would stay true to his pledge to help defeat Obama.

Romney issued a statement praising Santorum as a "worthy competitor" and congratulating him on a good campaign. "He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation."

Two other candidates besides Romney remain - Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul - but neither can stop Romney, who sealed his future by sweeping primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia last week. He had twice as many delegates as Santorum and his lead is now insurmountable.

Freed from the rigors of a primary, Romney can now fully focus on Obama, who campaigned and raised money in Florida on Tuesday and will return to Tampa on Friday, pressing every advantage of his incumbency in a key battleground state.

Romney has to pivot to a broader message, and his past could help. He cut a more moderate profile as a politician in Massachusetts than he presented in the primary and that could be an asset in gaining independent voters.

At the same time, Santorum helped draw out many of those contrasts, heightening the image of Romney as a shape shifter. More than anything Santorum tried to drive home similarities between the health care plan Romney oversaw as governor and the law enacted under Obama. With Romney as the nominee, Santorum warned, Republicans would lose a central focus, though Romney has said he would seek to repeal "Obamacare" as well.

Santorum's Tuesday event hinted at the news before it was announced. It was held in a small room and the public was not invited, only reporters, though Gettysburg resident Chad Collie, 35, managed to squeeze in.

"I'm very stunned and disappointed," Collie said afterward. "He had tons of support coming up. In Texas, he was polling far ahead." Now he's not sure whether he'll support Romney or take a pass on the election.

Romney's "not genuine," Collie said. "He's not the one I want for president."

But the day brought a fresh wave of calls by prominent Republicans to back Romney. Herman Cain, who had a brief turn at the top of the presidential primary before dropping out, said he would throw support behind him. So did Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

"Mitt Romney will be our party's nominee, and it is critical that all Republicans coalesce behind (him) and focus on electing him as president."


LOAD-DATE: April 11, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTO - Associated Press: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum turns to his wife, Karen, after suspending his candidacy on Tuesday. PHOTO - Getty Images: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a town hall-style campaign event at RC Fabricators, a structural steel engineering company, on Tuesday in Wilmington, Del.


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The Washington Post


April 11, 2012 Wednesday
Regional Edition


Santorum's Gettysburg surrender


BYLINE: Dana Milbank


SECTION: EDITORIAL COPY; Pg. A19


LENGTH: 773 words


DATELINE: GETTYSBURG, PA.


GETTYSBURG, Pa.

Three weeks ago, Rick Santorum chose this Civil War town to give a defiant speech about his need to stay in the presidential race, linking his struggle against Mitt Romney to "the things that the people in this battlefield just down the road fought for."

Recalling the blood shed at Gettysburg, he exhorted more than 1,000 supporters: "That's why we must go out and fight this fight."

But if Santorum thought he was George Meade rallying the Union forces, he turned out to be leading Pickett's charge - the disastrous Confederate offensive here at which Gen. George Pickett lost half of his division and the war turned against the South. Santorum lost the Wisconsin and Maryland primaries, his poll numbers plunged, his money dried up, conservative and Republican Party leaders called on him to quit, and he canceled a string of campaign events.

After calling off his first two appearances Tuesday, Santorum rolled into the Gettysburg Hotel - the same spot where he gave his Gettysburg Address three weeks ago - for what the campaign had said in a Facebook posting would be a "Rally for Rick." This time, however, he was bumped from the ballroom by a convention of district attorneys and had to settle for a small conference room with seats for 20 reporters.

Even in defeat, Santorum sounded defiant, not even mentioning Romney in his 15-minute speech. "We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," he announced, standing with some family members in front of a wrinkled American flag (an aide brought an iron, but there hadn't been enough time to use it).

Recalling his "game on!" exclamation after the Iowa caucuses, Santorum added: "I know a lot of folks are going to write, maybe those even at the White House, 'game over.' But this game is a long, long, long way from over."

But for all the tough talk, Santorum's once-fiery presidential bid went out like a candle Tuesday here in his home state. His campaign, always a shoestring operation, lacked the finances and organization to keep pace with Romney for the Republican nomination. The campaign spent its final day in typical disarray. After a long weekend off while Santorum's young daughter Bella was treated in a hospital, the campaign canceled Tuesday's events overnight - so late that aides neglected to update the schedule on his Web site. Several of Santorum's remaining supporters showed up at his morning event at a sportsman's club in Bedford, Pa., but found not so much as a Santorum sign.

The campaign then scheduled its Gettysburg "rally" for 2 p.m. But this, too, turned out to be bad information. The few supporters who showed up were told by hotel workers that the event was only for the media. "They advertise it that he's going to be here so you can see him!" Santorum supporter Frank Johnston complained at the hotel's reception desk.

That was the least of the complaints Santorum has been hearing. Sen. John McCain said last week that "it's time for a graceful exit." Southern Baptist official Richard Land, who rallied a group of religious conservatives to endorse Santorum, said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Santorum "ought to seriously consider leaving the race." Even Newt Gingrich, who had attacked Romney savagely, has shifted to the past tense: "Turns out he had more things to hit with than I did."

Although he faced defeat in Pennsylvania's April 24 primary, Santorum was disinclined to listen - right up until the time he took the stage Tuesday afternoon at a lectern still bearing his "Join the Fight" slogan.

Santorum flashed a goofy grin and raised his eyebrows as he entered. He spoke about his ill daughter, his grandfather in the coal mines, his sweater vests and topics from Iran to the "moral enterprise that is America." The closest he came to supporting Romney was a vow to "make sure that we defeat President Barack Obama." (He ignored shouted questions about whether he would endorse Romney.)

With his trademark bravado, he boasted of accomplishing "things that no political expert would have ever expected." And he compared himself to another politician who once visited Gettysburg. "What I tried to bring to the battle was what Abraham Lincoln brought to this battlefield back in 1863 on November 19th," Santorum said. "He talked about this country being conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Yes, Santorum, like Lincoln, spoke at Gettysburg. But it's a safe bet that the world will little note nor long remember Santorum's version.

danamilbank@washpost.com


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The Washington Post


April 11, 2012 Wednesday
Suburban Edition


Anecdotes may be good antidote for Romney bid


BYLINE: Philip Rucker


SECTION: STYLE; Pg. C01


LENGTH: 1405 words


By now, many voters have heard that Mitt Romney once put the family dog, Seamus, in a crate and strapped him to the roof of a station wagon. But far fewer have heard that Romney and his sons once raced across a dark, placid lake on Jet Skis, "Baywatch"-style, to rescue strangers and their dog, McKenzie, after their boat capsized.

Or that Romney once temporarily closed the Boston headquarters of his private-equity firm to round up his co-workers, accountants and lawyers and fan out across Manhattan to search for Melissa Gay, his Bain Capital partner's missing 14-year-old daughter.

Or that as a volunteer lay pastor of his Mormon congregation, Romney spent years counseling neighbors on their marriages and adoptions, helping the unemployed feed their families, and ministering to the sick and the addicted.

The lesser-known stories have surfaced occasionally in profiles of the former Massachusetts governor. But they have not blossomed into any kind of gentler portrait of Romney, who emerged as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Tuesday after challenger Rick Santorum suspended his bid.

With the campaign's focus shifting toward independent voters, especially women, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this weekfound that President Obama holds a 2-to-1 advantage as the more friendly and likable of the two candidates.

The long and divisive primary campaign has left Romney shackled by a caricature of a stilted, distant multimillionaire - a quandary that increasingly frustrates some of his advisers and even his wife, Ann.

When Ann Romney recently was asked about her husbandcoming off as stiff, she said, "I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out, because he is not."

She told a Baltimore radio station: "It is so funny to me that that is the perception out there because he is funny, he is engaging, he is witty. He is always playing jokes. When I met him as a teenager, he was the life of the party."

That Romney's softer side has not stuck with voters may be partly his campaign's fault. Until now, his advisers thought his personal anecdotes got in the way of his economic message - that tales of altruism would appear frivolous amid an anemic economic recovery.

"This is not a 'Seinfeld' race," chief strategist Stuart Stevens said. "This is not a race about nothing."

"People care about what you're going to do for them," he added. "Will you be a strong leader? Will you be someone who is going to help me get a job? Will you be someone who's going to change the direction of the country? How off-putting is it when you meet someone for the first time and they pull out their family pictures and say, 'Let me tell you about my trip to the Grand Canyon'? No, you talk about mutual interests."

Knowing they are working with a private and sometimes uncomfortable man, Romney's advisers have not tried too hard to shape the public image of his personality. Instead, they have emphasized his managerial competency and economic plans.

But the reality is that, in modern presidential campaigns, voters expect a level of humanity and verve from their candidates. They gravitate toward those who seem relatable, as former Democratic nominees John F. Kerry and Al Gore learned the hard way. In every election since 1992, the more dynamic and down-to-earth candidate has won.

Now, as Romney prepares to face Obama - who with his recent NCAA brackets has been working even harder than usual to be seen as an everyman - he is trying to open up. He plans to weave more personal anecdotes into his speeches, and he and his family are weighing when to sit down for major magazine and network television profiles.

The campaign is beginning to expand the presence of Ann Romney, who offers moving testimony to her husband's constancy and character. She has narrated a series of videos about their home life featuring family snapshots.

In the latest video, titled "Family" and released Friday, she talks about her husband wrestling and throwing balls with their boys. "Often I had more than five sons. I had six sons," she said. "He would be as mischievous and as naughty as the other boys."

So far, however, the candidate has been reluctant to let down his guard. When he visited "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" recently, Romney began by talking about math. (He noted that he had picked up nine delegates in Guam and 20 in Puerto Rico.) One of his only jokes was about Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, making a good "press secretary."

At a town hall meeting last month in Ohio, a man told Romney, "I know you have a heart" and practically begged him to show it. But the candidate shared no specific anecdotes.

Romney is habitually cautious, and has said he knows that a single odd remark or misplaced metaphor can go viral and doom his candidacy. "You're on all the time when you're running for office," he told Leno. "Everything you say is being followed by, you know, a small camera of some kind that someone has."

But Romney's advisers said there's another reason he's loath to tell personal stories. As Stevens put it, he has "a natural aversion to that kind of braggadocio."

Alex Castellanos, who was Romney's media strategist in his 2008 presidential campaign but no longer works for him, said: "He's a private man in a public world. These days, where every intimate thing in your life is somehow exposed on television, it's like Madonna. If it doesn't happen in front of people, it didn't happen. But Mitt Romney is old school."

Romney's family and friends say that in private he can be warm, loose and endearingly goofy. Occasionally that side comes through in public, such as when he made light of a "Saturday Night Live" parody of him as being "raw and unleashed." The next morning, as he passed out sandwiches at a New Hampshire diner, he quipped, "This is me, just raw and unleashed."

But usually Romney sticks to his script. The few times he has chatted casually with reporters aboard his campaign plane, such as sharing family traditions like meatloaf cakes on his birthday, his aides required that the exchanges be off the record.

On the trail this year, Romney has not spoken of his 2003 rescue of a family from a sinking boat on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. It was Fourth of July weekend and Romney and two of his sons, Josh and Craig, were cleaning up the beach when they heard screams coming from the lake.

The Romneys hopped on their Jet Skis and, together with a few other good Samaritans, ferried the six passengers and their dog, who had been vacationing from New Jersey, back to shore. The story made headlines across New England.

As for the exhaustive search operation Romney helmed in 1996 to find his Bain Capital partner's daughter, he has spoken of it just once this year - and only after an Ohio voter asked him to. The story is perhaps better known among voters, however, because Romney made a television advertisementabout it during his 2008 race, and a pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, has aired a similar adthis year in some states.

As Romney told it, Robert Gay's daughter had gone to a party in New York City without permission and had not returned home to Connecticut. Immediately, Romney shut down Bain Capital's Boston headquarters and set up a command center at a New York hotel.

He had clerks at Duane Reade drugstores stuff fliers featuring a photo of the girl into shopping bags, and he and his team fanned out to find her. "There we were, a bunch of folks in suits walking around in the parks of New York and in the streets and showing pictures and saying, when we saw teenagers, 'Have you seen this girl?' " Romney recalled.

After their efforts made the local news, someone called the hotline Romney set up asking for a reward. He hung up, but Romney's team traced the call, went to his home in New Jersey and found Melissa in the basement.

Both anecdotes could help neutralize the stereotypical image Romney's political opponents are pushing of him as a heartless, super-rich technocrat.

"I call it the law of the car keys," Castellanos said. "Before I give you my car keys to take me somewhere, I want to know where you promise to take me - policy - but I also want to know: Can I trust you to take me there? Politics is not just about policy. It is about character and trust. Mitt Romney has told the policy part of the story, but that sense of who he is, and can you trust him to take you there, is important, too."

ruckerp@washpost.com


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The Washington Times


April 11, 2012 Wednesday


Republicans' secret weapon against Obama;
Revitalized RNC has the cash and staff to trigger elephant stampede


BYLINE: By Matt Mackowiak SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, COMMENTARY; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 892 words


Although we live in a post-Citizens United world of super PACs, the national party committees re- main relevant, in fact, vital, to winning national campaigns.

As any former or current party chairman will tell you, there are certain things that only a national party can do. It's important that it does them well.

As such, a functioning Republican National Committee is one of the key requirements for Republicans to unseat an incumbent president for only the second time in the past 100 years. (The first was Ronald Reagan over President Jimmy Carter in 1980.)

Reince Priebus, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, did not have a national profile when he won election to national party chairman on the seventh ballot on Jan. 14, 2011. More importantly, he was inheriting an epic disaster handed to him by Michael S. Steele, whose reign as party chairman was a disaster.

Upon taking over, Mr. Priebus inherited a $21 million debt, a bloated staff with low morale and few prospects for immediate fundraising. How bad were things? Political director Gentry Collins, a respected senior GOP operative who had run the Republican Party of Iowa and had been a senior campaign aide to Mitt Romney and John McCain in 2008, released an unusual and scathing four-page letter in November 2010 detailing how bad a job Mr. Steele did.

Had Mr. Priebus done a mediocre job, he would deserve sincere appreciation for taking on this exhausting role in a presidential cycle after the mess he was given.

But Mr. Priebus has quietly led a renaissance at the RNC, with a methodical, disciplined, hard-working, blue-collar approach that has paid major dividends at a critical time for the Republican Party nationally.

First, Mr. Priebus brought in respected operatives Ed Gillespie and Nick Ayers to oversee the transition. They quickly made drastic cuts to the staff and overhead and undertook a thoughtful strategic analysis to forge a path forward. Together, they convinced top staffers to come to the RNC, with Jeff Larson moving from Minnesota to become chief of staff, veteran operative Rick Wiley joining as political director, Sean Spicer leading the communications team, and eventually Joe Pounder leading the round-the-clock research shop. Former ambassador Ron Weiser, whose determination is legendary, was convinced to join as national finance chairman. The team was a significant upgrade and sent a signal to the political and finance community that there was a new sheriff in town.

In the past 15 months, the RNC has raised more than $110 million, which the New York Times reported they had banked "nearly half of it in cash and trust-fund reserves to be used in the upcoming general election," a staggering figure for being the party without the White House. About $22 million was placed into a presidential trust, chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, available to be transferred immediately to the campaign of the Republican nominee, a quick boost after this year's long, costly and divisive primary.

According to the New York Times, the Democratic National Committee raised $27 million more than the RNC over the same period, not unusual for the party with the White House, but its burn rate left it with less cash on hand ($21 million compared to $26.7 million at the end of March). The RNC has demonstrated greater discipline than its counterpart. The Republican nominee will benefit from it.

"There was a donor strike of sorts at the end of 2010," former RNC Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli said recently, adding that Mr. Priebus has "regained the confidence of those major donors." Strong fundraising has allowed the RNC to erase nearly half of its debt in 15 months.

True in a campaign of any size, strong finances allow for a strong ground organization.

The RNC already has campaign offices in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, with more planned in other states in the coming weeks. In Wisconsin alone, Republican volunteers have made more than 1 million voter contacts, which equals the total number of voter contacts repeatedly made by the Obama campaign nationally.

Efficient and effective voter contact requires first-rate data, and the RNC has made invested in updating and upgrading "Voter Vault," which had deteriorated from George W. Bush's re-election of 2004 to the McCain campaign in 2008.

One of the primary roles of the RNC when challenging a president of the opposing party is always to be on offense. Under Mr. Spicer, the RNC communications team has done this, bracketing President Obama's travel, organizing a team of surrogates and constantly unveiling new Web and television ads, as it did Monday with a new ad, "Obama 2012 from Hope and Hypocrisy." They set out to achieve "leaner but speedier" response efforts, as recently detailed by CNN.

The RNC appointed Bettina Inclan to manage its Hispanic voter outreach program nationally and in target states, which eventually will include field efforts, and already includes social media and a new website.

All this has been done in 15 months.

"We are at least 90 days ahead of where the RNC has ever been in history," Mr. Priebus recently said in a statement. Given the mess he inherited, that is quite an accomplishment.

If Republicans win the White House in 2012, the RNC will be a major reason why.

Matt Mackowiak is a Republican consultant and president of Potomac Strategy Group.


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The White House Bulletin


April 11, 2012 Wednesday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 466 words


President. Rick Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign yesterday is being viewed as the effective end of the GOP primary, though many news outlets are using the occasion to question the GOP support for Mitt Romney. For example, the AP says Santorum's "shoestring campaign, which ended Tuesday, was a constant reminder of Romney's trouble connecting with the party's conservative core."

... On NBC Nightly News, David Gregory reported that "there was a conversation between Romney and Santorum today. Romney wants his support, wants the endorsement. The Santorum team indicating...they're going to need a couple days before they get all that together," but Romney is "not wasting any time, speaking out and speaking very positively about the campaign that Santorum ran." ... The Hill reported a large number of Republicans immediately endorsed Romney, including Sens. Pat Toomey and Lindsey Graham, and Govs. Bobby Jindal, Rick Scott and Terry Branstad. ... Politico reports that Herman Cain "made clear Tuesday that he is ready to throw his support behind Mitt Romney, making no mention of his endorsement of Newt Gingrich." ... The AP reports President Obama told donors yesterday that "the choice facing voters this November will be as stark as in the milestone 1964 contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater -- one that ended up with one of the biggest Democratic landslides in history." ... The Hill reported on its website that the Karl Rove-backed super PAC Crossroads GPS "is going up with a new" TV ad, "backed by a $1.7 million ad buy," that slams Obama's energy policies.

Governors.

Speaking at the Bush Institute Conference on Taxes and Economic Growth on Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said "the US is turning into a 'paternalistic entitlement society' that will bankrupt the country financially and morally because 'we'll have a bunch of people sittin' on a couch waiting for their next government check,'" Politico reports. ... The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune reports former Rep. Jay Inslee (D) announced he raised $583,000 in March for his Washington State gubernatorial campaign, bringing his total fundraising to $4.8 million, ahead of state Attorney General Rob McKenna (R), his top rival, who has brought in $4 million.

Senate.

The Omaha World-Herald reports the Club for Growth, which is backing state Treasurer Don Stenberg (R) in Nebraska's Senate primary, "is taking aim at GOP contender Jon Bruning, accusing him of being a big spender in a statewide radio and television ad."

House.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that PA4 Rep. Jason Altmire and PA12 Rep. Mark Critz -- who are battling in the Democratic primary in the redrawn PA12 Congressional District -- on Tuesday debated for the second consecutive day, "repeatedly finding few policy differences."


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 11, 2012 Wednesday 7:10 PM GMT


NC GOP presidential fight fades with Santorum exit


BYLINE: By GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 693 words


DATELINE: RALEIGH N.C.


Rick Santorum's departure from the Republican presidential race means less should be at stake for the GOP nomination when North Carolina voters participate in the state's May 8 primary.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears well on his way to claiming the party's presidential nomination after Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, suspended his campaign Tuesday. Newt Gingrich vowed to remain in the national race and still planned to speak at a Greensboro tea party event Saturday, but the former U.S. House speaker badly trails in the delegate count.

While Gingrich could persuade Santorum supporters to support him during what Gingrich has called "the last stand for conservatives," Santorum's name will remain on the ballot. Other Santorum supporters in North Carolina are already uniting behind Romney. Gingrich is third in the delegate count and has won primaries in only two states, South Carolina and Georgia, which he represented in Congress. Texas congressman Ron Paul also plans to stay in the race.

Santorum's exit "might help Gingrich in terms of some numbers, but I don't think it will help with any kind of long-term chances," said Susan Roberts, associate professor of political science at Davidson College, north of Charlotte. Even a primary victory for Gingrich in North Carolina, Roberts added, "will be a rhetorical victory."

Gingrich was in New Bern on Tuesday wrapping up two days of events in North Carolina when word got out that Santorum was suspending his campaign. Gingrich said Wednesday in Delaware, where the GOP primary is April 24, that supporters are encouraging him to stay in the race. North Carolina has 55 delegates, nearly all of whom are awarded to the presidential candidates on a proportional basis.

State Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, who endorsed Gingrich for president, said Wednesday that Gingrich is in a better place than he was 48 hours earlier. Brubaker recalled 1976, the last time North Carolina GOP members played a significant role in choosing a nominee, when Ronald Reagan upset President Gerald Ford. Reagan didn't win the nomination, but he went on to a string of victories and battled Ford to the Republican party convention. Four years later, Reagan won the White House.

"The question with Santorum dropping out is where do those supporters go?" asked Brubaker, who has known Gingrich for more than 20 years. If they go to Gingrich, Brubaker added, "that could put him in pretty good shape in North Carolina."

Roberts said Gingrich will be hard-pressed to get on the airwaves in North Carolina because his campaign is at least $4.5 million in debt. He shouldn't expect TV assistance from Keep Conservatives United, which had started running commercials in Wilmington last week supporting Santorum and criticizing Romney and Gingrich. The independent committee is now backing Romney, organizers Bob Harris and Luther Snyder said.

"We felt Santorum had the best chance to beat (President Barack) Obama because he provided the clearest contrast," Harris and Snyder said in a statement. "We will support Romney in the fall because four more years of Obama ... can very well do irreparable damage to the nation."

Santorum's withdrawal could affect turnout for the May 8 referendum, when voters are also being asked to amend the North Carolina constitution to identify marriage between a man and a woman as the only domestic legal union recognized in the state.

Santorum's supporters include many social conservatives who could also be expected to back the amendment, but Roberts is not persuaded that his lack of active campaigning will change referendum turnout dramatically. There are competitive congressional GOP primaries in several regions that will bring out voters, too, she said.

Roberts said her biggest disappointment as a political scientist is not being in the middle of a hyper-competitive presidential primary, like the Democratic primary between Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008.

"I was looking forward to some campaigning, and having the campaign being vital in North Carolina," she said. North Carolina is still expected to be a battleground state during the general presidential race.


LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved



39 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 12, 2012 Thursday 11:49 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4217 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

North-Korea-Launch (will update)

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it appears to have broken apart shortly afterward, U.S. officials said.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

An affidavit of probable cause in Florida's case against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of an unarmed 17-year-old says that the neighborhood watch volunteer "profiled" the victim, Trayvon Martin, and disregarded a police dispatcher's request that he await the arrival of police.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria on Thursday after a truce cast relative calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

POL-Campaign-Wrap (will update)

A Democratic strategist's comment questioning Mitt Romney's stated reliance on his wife's advice regarding women's economic issues fueled a second day of efforts by the Romney campaign to fix a gender gap problem in his certain race against President Barack Obama in November.

Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama's trip to Cartagena, Colombia, will be historic from the moment Air Force One touches down on Friday. His weekend visit will mark the longest time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

Peru-Hostages

Peruvian authorities have deployed 1,500 troops to search for dozens of workers taken hostage by suspected Shining Path rebels this week. The rebels have demanded money in exchange for the hostages, the state-run Andina news agency said, but government officials have said they will not negotiate with terrorists.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

Florida-Shooting-Charge

TOP STORIES

North-Korea-Launch

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it appears to have broken apart shortly afterward, U.S. officials said.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

An affidavit of probable cause in Florida's case against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of an unarmed 17-year-old says that the neighborhood watch volunteer "profiled" the victim, Trayvon Martin, and disregarded a police dispatcher's request that he await the arrival of police.

Syria-Unrest

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria on Thursday after a truce cast relative calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

INTERNATIONAL

North-Korea-media-openness

Syria-Unrest

North Korea's opening of its launch pad to journalists has been a boon to North Korea watchers who have relied mostly on satellite imagery to take stock of the country's progress in developing long range missile and rocket capability. The flood of still photos and video have helped shape their understanding of what North Korea is up to.

ivan-watson-q-and-a

On Thursday, CNN correspondent Ivan Watson was at a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey. A stone's throw away, a barbed-wire fence marked the border with Syria, a porous frontier that has become a lifeline for the Syrian opposition inside the country. For hours, he watched Syrians, whole families even, crawl through a hole in the fence to go back and forth across the border. Most of them would eventually return to the refugee camp.

Pakistan-US-Relations

Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues.

Yemen-Militants-Clashes

At least 42 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in Loder, in Yemen's Abyan province, in continuous government bombardment on their hideouts over the last 24 hours, two security officials in the province told CNN on Thursday.

Egypt-Elections

Egypt's Parliament unanimously passed a bill Thursday that aims to ban former members of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for president for 10 years.

Munch-The-Scream-London

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" -- "the world's most stolen work of art" -- has gone on display in London ahead of its sale in New York next month, where it is expected to fetch more than $80 million.

SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-Schumacher-Webber

South-Korea-Elections

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has dismissed security fears ahead of next week's Bahrain Grand Prix.

North-Korea-Launch

A day after her ruling Saenuri (or New Frontier) party won a majority in general elections, Park Geun-hye, its leader and likely presidential candidate, pledged that people's lives will get better.

UK-US-Hacking-Claims

British lawyer Mark Lewis said Thursday he is preparing to take legal action on behalf of three clients who believe their phones were hacked while they were in the United States. One of his clients is a U.S. citizen, he told CNN, but he declined to reveal their identities.

UK-Met-Police-Hacking

A critical report Thursday into links between top officers at London's Metropolitan Police Service and a former deputy editor of the News of the World found professional boundaries were blurred and poor judgment shown.

Pakistan-US-Relations

Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues.

Mali-Unrest

Mali's new interim president vowed that he would not let the country be split by rebels as he was sworn in Thursday, restoring the country to civilian rule after a brief military coup.

MONEY-Lagarde-IMF

The director of the International Monetary Fund urged policymakers Thursday to remain vigilant in the face of a still fragile global economy.

Mexico-Viral-Video

A short video that has gone viral in Mexico asks a tough question of the country's presidential candidates: "Are you striving only for the (presidential) chair, or will you change the future of our country?"

UAE-Iran-Ambassador-Recall

The UAE recalled its ambassador to Iran on Thursday in protest of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island.

Indonesia-Earthquake

Five people died after two major earthquakes struck near Indonesia, authorities said Thursday.

Philippines-China-Naval-Standoff

The Philippines said Thursday that it had pulled its largest naval vessel away from a remote lagoon in the South China Sea where it was engaged in an uneasy standoff with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships.

Sudans-Conflict

South Sudan forces have captured a disputed oil-rich area along the border with Sudan, escalating tensions between the two longtime rivals and threatening a return to war.

MONEY-China-Economy

Though China's economy is slowing, it should be able to achieve the desired "soft landing," according to a new analysis from the World Bank.

US-North-Korea-Launch-Legality

Log on to the Korean Central News Agency's state-run website and you'll find a concise explanation of what North Korea's launch of an Unha-3 long-range missile is all about: It's not about the missile, it's about the satellite sitting on top of that missile.

North-Korea-Hunger

An aid worker's recent visit to North Korea shows how the decision to withhold food aid because of Pyongyang's planned rocket launch will affect malnourished people on the ground.

India-Maoist-Abductions

Maoist insurgents in the Indian state of Orissa have set free the second of two Italians they kidnapped almost a month ago, but a local legislator is still being held, a government spokesman said Thursday.

North-Korea-Grant-Kim-Cult

CNN's Stan Grant offers a first-person view of being a witness to the cult of North Korea's Kim dynasty

China-Florcruz-Bo-Xilai

China moves to contain the Bo Xilai scandal.

MONEY-Greece-Election-Explainer

What will Greek elections mean for the country's future? An explainer.

Myanmar-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron will arrive in Myanmar Friday accompanied by a delegation of 10 business leaders -- a measure of how quickly the once reclusive Southeast Asian country is reengaging with the world both diplomatically and economically.

Mexico-Earthquakes

A pair of strong earthquakes rocked Mexico's Gulf of California only minutes apart early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

MONEY-Japan-Sony-Explainer

Sony's new CEO has pledged to cut 10,000 jobs - about 6% of its workforce

MONEY-Africans-China-Business

China has stepped up its engagement with Africa in recent years, scouring the resource-rich continent in its bid to access natural resources and forge new trade routes. But the Asian powerhouse is also emerging as an attractive business destination for Africans.

SPORT-tennis-Petra-Kvitova-turkey

When Petra Kvitova won her first grand slam title at Wimbledon last year, many tipped the Czech to be the next world No.1.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Next

What's happens now that Zimmerman is charged in Trayvon Martin death?

Florida-Shooting-Charge

The second-degree murder charge George Zimmerman faces in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin surprised some observers, but it's typical in "heat of passion" slayings, a Florida defense lawyer said Thursday.

Florida-Zimmerman-Jail

George Michael Zimmerman, inmate #201200004452, is living in a cell with 67 square feet of floor space, is allowed to read the Bible and magazines, but has no access to TV, according to officials at the central Florida jail where he is being held.

US-Trayvon-Case-Rodney-King

When Florida authorities announced they were charging George Zimmerman with second degree murder in the killing of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, Rodney King told CNN he was not surprised.

Florida-Anthony-Gonzalez

A Florida judge ruled Thursday that a woman's defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony can go forward, contending that a jury should make the final decision on several contentious issues critical to the case.

Pennsylvania-Sandusky-Abuse-Case

A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday denied former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's attempts to dismiss the case against him, setting the stage for his trial in two months on a host of child sex abuse charges.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shootings

Two Coast Guard members have been shot dead on an island off Alaska's coast, prompting the lockdown Thursday of their base and at least one nearby school.

Massachusetts-Terror-Conviction

A pharmacy graduate from Massachusetts who sympathized with al-Qaeda, and traveled to Yemen in the hopes of linking up with the terrorist group, was sentenced Thursday to 17½ years in federal prison, court officials said.

Indiana-State-Fair-Reports

Scaffolding that collapsed during a storm and killed seven people during the Indiana State Fair last year was not up to standard, and the fair's commission did not have adequate emergency planning in place, according to two investigative reports presented Thursday.

Connecticut-Death-Penalty

Connecticut's governor says he will sign a bill abolishing the death penalty, making it the 17th state to abandon capital punishment. On Wednesday night, lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 86-63. The state Senate approved it last week.

US-New-Hampshire-Rwanda-Trial

A New Hampshire woman accused of lying her way into the United States after allegedly participating in the 1994 Rwanda genocide was released from federal custody and put under house arrest Thursday following a mistrial, attorneys from both sides said.

TECH-angry-birds-virus-android

Virus found in fake Android version of 'Angry Birds: Space'

TRAVEL-JetBlue-Pilot

A JetBlue pilot has been indicted, accused of interfering with a flight crew just over two weeks after several passengers wrestled him to the floor after he exhibited what authorities described as erratic behavior.

MONEY-Shell-Oil

Royal Dutch Shell says a sheen of oil, 10 square miles in size, has been spotted near its operations in the Gulf of Mexico, but the company claims it's not to blame.

MONEY-Federal-Reserve-Interest-Rates

When will the Fed hike interest rates?

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks finished higher for a second straight day Thursday, continuing to recover from a modest pullback at the start of April.

MONEY-Google-Earnings

Google is pulling one of the stranger technical maneuvers the stock market has seen for quite some time. The company effectively wants to split its stock, giving current shareholders two shares for every share they own. Here's the twist: The new shares will hold no voting powers, essentially giving the company's founders -- CEO Larry Page, Chairman Eric Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin -- more say over time in the company's management decisions.

MONEY-Ponzi-Scheme

Federal officials announced Thursday that they had charged a man who billed himself as the youngest-ever black CEO of a publicly traded company with running a Ponzi scheme.

MONEY-Mf-Global-Corzine

The trustee overseeing the liquidation of bankrupt brokerage firm MF Global says unnamed former officers, executives and directors of the firm could be on the hook personally for at least some of the $1.6 billion in missing client funds.

MONEY-Mortgage-Rates

Mortgage rates fell this week, with the 15-year fixed rate hitting yet another record low, amid news of weak job growth during the month of March.

US-New-York-Suspicious-Package

U.S.A.

Police say a novelty or inert grenade was responsible for the evacuation of a Manhattan skyscraper across the street from the former World Trade Center, the site of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

US-John-Edwards-Trial

Jury selection begins in a Greensboro, North Carolina, federal courtroom Thursday in the trial of 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

POL-GSA-Scandal

House Republicans released new documentation Thursday designed to undercut administration claims that the cost of past General Services Administration conferences increased at a far greater rate under President George W. Bush than under President Barack Obama.

POL-GSA-Employee-Millions

House Republicans released new information exposing excess spending by the General Services Administration beyond the now infamous 2010 Las Vegas convention.

POL-Florida-West-Communists

Florida Rep. Allen West's controversial comments have once again landed him in the headlines -- this time with the sort of accusation not seen in Congress since the 1950s.

MONEY-Jobless-Claims

POL-Lugar-Mourdock-Debate

Gven their long campaign mudslinging, Wednesday night's debate between Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock could have devolved into a bruising political smackdown. It didn't.

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose to 380,000 last week, another hiccup for the labor market following last week's disappointing monthly jobs report.

MONEY-John-Mack-Wall-Street

Morgan Stanley's former CEO isn't easing into retirement. John Mack has shifted his allegiance somewhat, joining companies that could steal business away from big Wall Street firms.

MONEY-Buffett-Rule

A lot gets lost in the rhetoric about the Buffett Rule, which would impose a minimum 30% tax on millionaires.

MONEY-Tarp-Housing-Program

A federal-state program aimed at helping homeowners in states hardest hit by the mortgage crisis is falling far short of its goals, a federal watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

MONEY-Bank-Earnings

Investors want to see something new from banks this earnings season: growth.

MONEY-Earned-Income-Tax-Credit

Many of the people who could use a little extra money the most are missing out on a tax credit worth up to nearly $6,000.

MONEY-marriott-hotel-industry

In 1957 Bill Marriott was a 25-year-old former navy officer urging his entrepreneur father to give him a shot at revitalizing the family's first hotel, outside Washington D.C. Fast forward 55 years and as executive chairman of Marriott International, Bill Marriott has built a world-renowned, multi-billion dollar hotel chain.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

A Democratic strategist's comment questioning Mitt Romney's stated reliance on his wife's advice regarding women's economic issues fueled a second day of efforts by the Romney campaign to fix a gender gap problem in his certain race against President Barack Obama in November.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney continued Thursday in the battleground state of New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Obama-Biden-Swing-States

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden tag team Thursday as they continue their push for the so-called "Buffett Rule," and they're making their pitches in crucial battleground states.

POL-Romney-Social-Conservative-Groups

Two leading national anti-abortion organizations Thursday endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president.

POL-Romney-Mormon-Issue

A top evangelical leader who is close to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says the candidate's Mormon faith will be even more of an issue in the general election than it has been in the primary, predicting that the focus on Romney's faith will present a challenge to Romney.

POL-2012-New-Jersey

If Mitt Romney is looking for an advantage in New Jersey, picking the state's governor Chris Christie as his running mate may help, though a new poll suggests it wouldn't be enough to create a winning Republican ticket.

POL-Barbour-Romney-2012

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has no plans to formally endorse Mitt Romney now that his fiercest challenger, Rick Santorum, is no longer in the presidential race.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney will continue Thursday in the battleground state New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Michelle-Obama-Ann-Romney

Michelle Obama became the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on the stirring controversy over comments made against Ann Romney.

POL-Romney-Surrogate-Charity

It was meant to be a prebuttal to Vice President Joe Biden's Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire, but former Granite State governor John Sununu, a Mitt Romney supporter, used the opportunity to slam the president for his record in donating to charity.

POL-Obama-Romney-Ad

Maybe you've heard the president's top aides call Mitt Romney the "godfather" of the Obama health care law? Now the Obama campaign is out with a web video that drives home their message.

POL-Romney-Health-Law-Anniversary

Six years to the day after then Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law his state's historic bipartisan health care bill, the anniversary over the controversial measure was overshadowed by another political controversy.

POL-Rosen-Apology

Responding to a downpour of criticism over comments she made about Ann Romney, top Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said Thursday she was not taking the heat too personally-even that coming from within her own party.

POL-Rosen-Romney-Reaction

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apologized on Thursday for her Wednesday comment about Ann Romney after the controversy went viral and drew bipartisan criticism on Twitter.

POL-Romney-Campaign-Rosen

The Mitt Romney campaign sought to further capitalize politically on the swirling controversy over the remark from Hilary Rosen that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life," by dispatching female surrogates to accuse Rosen of speaking for the White House.

POL-Obama-Rosen-Ann-Romney

Less than 24 hours after Hilary Rosen made a comment about Ann Romney's history as a stay-at-home mother, President Barack Obama joined other political heavyweights in taking a swing at the Democratic strategist's controversial remarks.

COMMENTARY-Christoph-Terrell-Rosen-Romney

Democrats fear that Ann Romney's message resonates with voters skeptical of Obama policies

COMMENTARY-Bamberger-Ann-Romney

Does one slip of the tongue by a Democratic strategist equal a left-wing assault on stay-at-home moms? That's what the Mitt Romney campaign would like us to think.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Cabinet

Don't expect Newt Gingrich to join the Mitt Romney administration, should he capture the White House in the next election.

FEATURES

ENT-Gibson-Alleged-Rants

Mel Gibson frequently spews "looney, rancid" anti-Semitism, has talked about killing his former girlfriend, and is prone to hate-filled diatribes slamming everyone from John Lennon to Walter Cronkite, according to a screenwriter who has been working with him.

ENT-Alec-Baldwin-Tweet-30Rock

Alec Baldwin tweet causes '30 Rock' fans to worry

ENT-Biggest-Loser-Michelle-Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama racked up major cool points with contestants for "The Biggest Loser" when she hung out with them at the White House.

ENT-Avengers-World-Premiere

Samuel L. Jackson is cool with being part of an ensemble cast for the upcoming "Avengers," but he'd still like his character to star in his own film. The actor told CNN Wednesday that after two "Iron Man" films starring Robert Downey Jr. and movies focused on "Captain America" and "Thor," he wouldn't mind having some of the spotlight on his character, Nick Fury.

ENT-Three-Stooges-Throwback

The Throwback: Greatest hits (and pokes, and nyuks) from 'Three Stooges'

FEA-spoiler-culture

When "Firefly" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon introduced the film "The Cabin in the Woods" last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, he told the audience, "I hope you enjoy it, and then sorta keep it to yourself."

Georgia-Locomotive-Chase

Georgia cities remember madcap 'Great Locomotive Chase' 150 years later

US-CNNHeroes-Wing-Kovarik-gay-adoption

Breaking down barriers so foster kids can find a family

TRAVEL-American-Stories-Exhibit

Reinforcing identity and learning more about who we are: That's the theme of "American Stories," a new exhibit now open at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen? Doctors at the Perrando Hospital in northeast Argentina can't explain how several doctors pronounced the child dead or how the premature infant born three months early survived for so many hours inside a chilly coffin.

FEA-Grilled-Cheese-Day

Hot off the press: April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Day!

TRAVEL-American-Stories-Exhibit

Reinforcing identity and learning more about who we are: That's the theme of "American Stories," a new exhibit now open at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

FEA-buffett-secretary-assistant

POL-Poll-Michelle-Obama

A new poll released Thursday indicated almost two-thirds of voters continue to have a favorable view of Michelle Obama.

If the word "secretary" doesn't conjure up an image for you, just run a quick Google Image search. The pencil in the mouth is a recurring motif, as are beaming women in headsets seated in front of computers. Images abound of women in low-cut blouses, legs crossed under tiny skirts, alongside head shots of Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton. The women of "Mad Men" hold their ground next to bondage shots of Maggie Gyllenhaal from the movie "Secretary."

ENT-JKRowling-Adult-Novel-Details

When J.K. Rowling announced in February that she was working on her first novel specifically geared toward adults, the demographic was about all fans had to go on. But now we have more details - and a title.

TRAVEL-malaysia-airlines-babies

If you want to stir up a fiery debate -- or maybe even a fist fight -- start talking about air travel and children. Inevitably, someone will declare that airlines should offer "kid-free flights."

TRAVEL-Celebrity-Inspired-Getaways

Do you find yourself enviously clicking through pictures of celebrity homes on your lunch hour? Instead of turning green over the multibillion-dollar estates of George Clooney or Brad and Angelina, why not follow their lead? Plan your own getaway in a place where the stars have found solace, far from the fray.

Mammoth-hong-kong

From the ice age to the modern age, a 42,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth debuted on the world stage in Hong Kong.

TECH-Instagram-users-Facebook

Every morning, Dirk Dallas takes a trip around the world. With his own eyes, he studies artful, real-time images of life in New York, Paris and Hong Kong. But Dallas, a graphic designer, doesn't actually leave his Riverside, California, neighborhood, or even his front door. He just needs his phone and a digital portal called Instagram.

SPORT-motorsport-f1-williams-female-driver

Susie Wolff, the second woman to join Formula One in recent weeks, hopes her new role will pave the way for more females in the elite level of motorsport.

COMMENTARY-Navarrette-divide-trayvon-martin-case

Nation divided over Trayvon Martin case?

COMMENTARY-Chin-Trayvon-Martin-Case-Future

Why the Trayvon Martin case charges are a victory for the legal system.

COMMENTARY-Owens-Boomerang-generation

My life as a boomeranger.

COMMENTARY-Brazile-Romney-negative

Romney bought the nomination with flood of nasty ads

COMMENTARY-Wood-lottery-winners

You won the lottery? Stay anonymous

COMMENTARY-carpentier-secretaries-buffett

'Secretary' title is a blast from the past.


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



40 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 12, 2012 Thursday 6:27 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3199 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-Shooting-Charge

The second-degree murder charge George Zimmerman faces in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin surprised some observers, but it's typical in "heat-of-passion" slayings, a Florida defense lawyer said Thursday.

Egypt-Election

Egypt's Parliament voted unanimously Thursday against allowing former members of the Mubarak regime to run for office and banned them from practicing politics for ten years.

TRAVEL-JetBlue-Pilot

A JetBlue pilot has been formally indicted for interfering with a flight crew, two weeks after several passengers wrestled him to the ground after what authorities described as his erratic behavior.

Florida-Anthony-Gonzalez

A Florida judge issued a judgment Thursday in the lawsuit against Casey Anthony filed by Zenaida Gonzalez, who claimed she'd had her reputation damaged after Anthony falsely accused her of kidnapping her 2-year-old daughter.

Pennsylvania-Sandusky-Abuse-Case

Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of child sexual abuse, lost several battles in court after a Pennsylvania judge denied several motions his defense team had filed ahead of his upcoming trial.

US-Humane-Society-Chicken-Farm

Humane Society released what they say is undercover video Monday showing gruesome images of many dead and in some cases, mummified chicken carcasses at a farm in southeastern Pennsylvania.

POL-Campaign-Wrap (will update)

A Democratic strategist's comment questioning Mitt Romney's stated reliance on his wife's advice regarding women's economic issues fueled a second day of efforts by the Romney campaign to fix a gender gap problem in his certain race against President Barack Obama in November.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (Will update)

A solemn George Zimmerman, wearing gray jail coveralls, appeared before a Seminole County, Florida, judge Thursday, speaking only a few words as his arraignment was set for next month.

Florida-Zimmerman-Lawyer (Will update)

The attorney representing a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed, black teen is no stranger to high-profile cases and TV cameras.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria Thursday after a tenuous truce took effect and cast an eerie calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

Georgia-Locomotive-Chase

It was the most famous high-speed chase of its day. The pursuers didn't have flashing blue lights or the ability to cut off the hijacked vehicle. They didn't have to. The locomotive General weighed more than 20 tons and was confined to a single iron track between Atlanta, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its top speed was about 60 miles per hour. "The Great Locomotive Chase," which occurred 150 years ago Thursday, made heroes of the pursuing Southern train crews and the Union soldiers who tried to knock a railroad line out of commission. Nineteen members of the raiding party earned some of the nation's first Medals of Honor. The suburban Atlanta town where the chase began and other communities along the 80-mile chase route this week are commemorating the wild, failed escapade that was featured in two movies.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Florida-Teen-Shooting

A solemn George Zimmerman, wearing gray jail coveralls, appeared before a Seminole County, Florida, judge Thursday, speaking only a few words as his arraignment was set for next month.

Syria-Unrest

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria Thursday after a tenuous truce took effect and cast an eerie calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria Thursday after a tenuous truce took effect and cast an eerie calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

South-Korea-Elections

A day after her ruling Saenuri (or New Frontier) party won a majority in general elections, Park Geun-hye, its leader and likely presidential candidate, pledged that people's lives will get better.

US-UK-US-Hacking-Claims

British lawyer Mark Lewis said Thursday he is preparing to take legal action on behalf of three clients who believe their phones were hacked while they were in the United States. One of his clients is a U.S. citizen, he told CNN, but he declined to reveal their identities.

UK-Met-Police-Hacking

A critical report Thursday into links between top officers at London's Metropolitan Police Service and a former deputy editor of the News of the World found professional boundaries were blurred and poor judgment shown.

Pakistan-US-Relations

Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues.

Mali-Unrest

Mali's new interim president vowed that he would not let the country be split by rebels as he was sworn in Thursday, restoring the country to civilian rule after a brief military coup.

MONEY-Lagarde-IMF

The director of the International Monetary Fund urged policymakers Thursday to remain vigilant in the face of a still fragile global economy.

Mexico-Viral-Video

A short video that has gone viral in Mexico asks a tough question of the country's presidential candidates: "Are you striving only for the (presidential) chair, or will you change the future of our country?"

UAE-Iran-Ambassador-Recall

The UAE recalled its ambassador to Iran on Thursday in protest of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island.

Indonesia-Earthquake

Five people died after two major earthquakes struck near Indonesia, authorities said Thursday.

Philippines-China-Naval-Standoff

The Philippines said Thursday that it had pulled its largest naval vessel away from a remote lagoon in the South China Sea where it was engaged in an uneasy standoff with two Chinese maritime surveillance ships.

Sudans-Conflict

South Sudan forces have captured a disputed oil-rich area along the border with Sudan, escalating tensions between the two longtime rivals and threatening a return to war.

MONEY-China-Economy

Though China's economy is slowing, it should be able to achieve the desired "soft landing," according to a new analysis from the World Bank.

North-Korea-Launch

The first opportunity for North Korea to launch its controversial rocket passed uneventfully Thursday, keeping the region on tenterhooks for at least another day.

US-North-Korea-Launch-Legality

Log on to the Korean Central News Agency's state-run website and you'll find a concise explanation of what North Korea's launch of an Unha-3 long-range missile is all about: It's not about the missile, it's about the satellite sitting on top of that missile.

North-Korea-Hunger

An aid worker's recent visit to North Korea shows how the decision to withhold food aid because of Pyongyang's planned rocket launch will affect malnourished people on the ground.

India-Maoist-Abductions

Maoist insurgents in the Indian state of Orissa have set free the second of two Italians they kidnapped almost a month ago, but a local legislator is still being held, a government spokesman said Thursday.

North-Korea-Grant-Kim-Cult

CNN's Stan Grant offers a first-person view of being a witness to the cult of North Korea's Kim dynasty

Venezuela-Chavez

President Hugo Chavez returned home to Venezuela late Wednesday after his latest round of cancer treatment in Cuba.

China-Florcruz-Bo-Xilai

China moves to contain the Bo Xilai scandal.

MONEY-Greece-Election-Explainer

What will Greek elections mean for the country's future? An explainer.

Myanmar-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron will arrive in Myanmar Friday accompanied by a delegation of 10 business leaders -- a measure of how quickly the once reclusive Southeast Asian country is reengaging with the world both diplomatically and economically.

Mexico-Earthquakes

A pair of strong earthquakes rocked Mexico's Gulf of California only minutes apart early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

MONEY-Japan-Sony-Explainer

Sony's new CEO has pledged to cut 10,000 jobs - about 6% of its workforce

MONEY-Africans-China-Business

China has stepped up its engagement with Africa in recent years, scouring the resource-rich continent in its bid to access natural resources and forge new trade routes. But the Asian powerhouse is also emerging as an attractive business destination for Africans.

SPORT-tennis-Petra-Kvitova-turkey

When Petra Kvitova won her first grand slam title at Wimbledon last year, many tipped the Czech to be the next world No.1.

U.S.A.

Massachusetts-Terror-Conviction

A Massachusetts man will be sentenced Thursday after his conviction on multiple terrorism conspiracy charges in a case that raised questions about how terror suspects can be prosecuted.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

The attorney for George Zimmerman plans to ask a judge as early as Thursday to allow the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed, black teen to post bond -- though he believes it will be difficult.

Florida-Zimmerman-Lawyer

The attorney representing George Zimmerman, who is charged with killing an unarmed, black teen, is no stranger to high-profile cases and TV cameras.

US-New-York-Suspicious-Package

Police say a novelty or inert grenade was responsible for the evacuation of a Manhattan skyscraper across the street from the former World Trade Center, the site of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

ENT-Gibson-Alleged-Rants

Mel Gibson frequently spews "looney, rancid" anti-Semitism, has talked about killing his former girlfriend, and is prone to hate-filled diatribes slamming everyone from John Lennon to Walter Cronkite, according to a screenwriter who has been working with him.

US-John-Edwards-Trial

Jury selection begins in a Greensboro, North Carolina, federal courtroom Thursday in the trial of 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

POL-GSA-Scandal

House Republicans released new documentation Thursday designed to undercut administration claims that the cost of past General Services Administration conferences increased at a far greater rate under President George W. Bush than under President Barack Obama.

POL-GSA-Employee-Millions

House Republicans released new information exposing excess spending by the General Services Administration beyond the now infamous 2010 Las Vegas convention.

Connecticut-Death-Penalty

Connecticut's governor says he will sign a bill abolishing the death penalty, making it the 17th state to abandon capital punishment. On Wednesday night, lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 86-63. The state Senate approved it last week.

POL-Florida-West-Communists

Florida Rep. Allen West's controversial comments have once again landed him in the headlines -- this time with the sort of accusation not seen in Congress since the 1950s.

POL-Lugar-Mourdock-Debate

Given their long campaign mudslinging, Wednesday night's debate between Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock could have devolved into a bruising political smackdown. It didn't.

MONEY-Stocks

Stocks edged higher at the open Thursday as worries about Europe took a backseat to U.S. economic and corporate results.

MONEY-Jobless-Claims

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose to 380,000 last week, another hiccup for the labor market following last week's disappointing monthly jobs report.

MONEY-Shell-Oil

Royal Dutch Shell says a sheen of oil, 10 square miles in size, has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.

MONEY-Mortgage-Rates

Mortgage rates fell this week, with the 15-year fixed rate hitting yet another record low, amid news of weak job growth during the month of March.

MONEY-John-Mack-Wall-Street

Morgan Stanley's former CEO isn't easing into retirement. John Mack has shifted his allegiance somewhat, joining companies that could steal business away from big Wall Street firms.

MONEY-Buffett-Rule

A lot gets lost in the rhetoric about the Buffett Rule, which would impose a minimum 30% tax on millionaires.

MONEY-Tarp-Housing-Program

A federal-state program aimed at helping homeowners in states hardest hit by the mortgage crisis is falling far short of its goals, a federal watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

MONEY-Bank-Earnings

Investors want to see something new from banks this earnings season: growth.

MONEY-Earned-Income-Tax-Credit

Many of the people who could use a little extra money the most are missing out on a tax credit worth up to nearly $6,000.

MONEY-marriott-hotel-industry

In 1957 Bill Marriott was a 25-year-old former navy officer urging his entrepreneur father to give him a shot at revitalizing the family's first hotel, outside Washington D.C. Fast forward 55 years and as executive chairman of Marriott International, Bill Marriott has built a world-renowned, multi-billion dollar hotel chain.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

A Democratic strategist's comment questioning Mitt Romney's stated reliance on his wife's advice regarding women's economic issues fueled a second day of efforts by the Romney campaign to fix a gender gap problem in his certain race against President Barack Obama in November.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney continued Thursday in the battleground state of New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Obama-Biden-Swing-States

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden tag team Thursday as they continue their push for the so-called "Buffett Rule," and they're making their pitches in crucial battleground states.

POL-Romney-Social-Conservative-Groups

Two leading national anti-abortion organizations Thursday endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president.

POL-Romney-Mormon-Issue

A top evangelical leader who is close to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says the candidate's Mormon faith will be even more of an issue in the general election than it has been in the primary, predicting that the focus on Romney's faith will present a challenge to Romney.

POL-2012-New-Jersey

If Mitt Romney is looking for an advantage in New Jersey, picking the state's governor Chris Christie as his running mate may help, though a new poll suggests it wouldn't be enough to create a winning Republican ticket.

POL-Barbour-Romney-2012

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has no plans to formally endorse Mitt Romney now that his fiercest challenger, Rick Santorum, is no longer in the presidential race.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney will continue Thursday in the battleground state New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Michelle-Obama-Ann-Romney

Michelle Obama became the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on the stirring controversy over comments made against Ann Romney.

POL-Romney-Campaign-Rosen

The Mitt Romney campaign sought to further capitalize politically on the swirling controversy over the remark from Hilary Rosen that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life," by dispatching female surrogates to accuse Rosen of speaking for the White House.

POL-Rosen-Romney-Reaction

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen defended her controversial comments about Ann Romney Thursday, claiming Republicans were attacking her to divert attention from what she said were policies that negatively impacted women. Rosen generated instant bipartisan criticism Wednesday night for her statement that Romney has "actually never worked a day in her life." On CNN Thursday, she said the conversation shouldn't be about working moms versus stay-at-home moms, but rather about creating economic opportunity.

POL-Romney-Surrogate-Charity

It was meant to be a prebuttal to Vice President Joe Biden's Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire, but former Granite State governor John Sununu, a Mitt Romney supporter, used the opportunity to slam the president for his record in donating to charity.

POL-Obama-Romney-Ad

Maybe you've heard the president's top aides call Mitt Romney the "godfather" of the Obama health care law? Now the Obama campaign is out with a web video that drives home their message.

POL-Poll-Michelle-Obama

A new poll released Thursday indicated almost two-thirds of voters continue to have a favorable view of Michelle Obama.

FEATURES

TRAVEL-American-Stories-Exhibit

Reinforcing identity and learning more about who we are: That's the theme of "American Stories," a new exhibit now open at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

FEA-buffett-secretary-assistant

If the word "secretary" doesn't conjure up an image for you, just run a quick Google Image search. The pencil in the mouth is a recurring motif, as are beaming women in headsets seated in front of computers. Images abound of women in low-cut blouses, legs crossed under tiny skirts, alongside head shots of Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton. The women of "Mad Men" hold their ground next to bondage shots of Maggie Gyllenhaal from the movie "Secretary."

ENT-JKRowling-Adult-Novel-Details

When J.K. Rowling announced in February that she was working on her first novel specifically geared toward adults, the demographic was about all fans had to go on. But now we have more details - and a title.

TRAVEL-malaysia-airlines-babies

If you want to stir up a fiery debate -- or maybe even a fist fight -- start talking about air travel and children. Inevitably, someone will declare that airlines should offer "kid-free flights."

TRAVEL-Celebrity-Inspired-Getaways

Do you find yourself enviously clicking through pictures of celebrity homes on your lunch hour? Instead of turning green over the multibillion-dollar estates of George Clooney or Brad and Angelina, why not follow their lead? Plan your own getaway in a place where the stars have found solace, far from the fray.

Mammoth-hong-kong

From the ice age to the modern age, a 42,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth debuted on the world stage in Hong Kong.

TECH-Instagram-users-Facebook

Every morning, Dirk Dallas takes a trip around the world. With his own eyes, he studies artful, real-time images of life in New York, Paris and Hong Kong. But Dallas, a graphic designer, doesn't actually leave his Riverside, California, neighborhood, or even his front door. He just needs his phone and a digital portal called Instagram.

SPORT-motorsport-f1-williams-female-driver

Susie Wolff, the second woman to join Formula One in recent weeks, hopes her new role will pave the way for more females in the elite level of motorsport.

COMMENTARY-Navarrette-divide-trayvon-martin-case

Nation divided over Trayvon Martin case?

COMMENTARY-Chin-Trayvon-Martin-Case-Future

Why the Trayvon Martin case charges are a victory for the legal system.

COMMENTARY-Owens-Boomerang-generation

My life as a boomeranger.

COMMENTARY-Brazile-Romney-negative

Romney bought the nomination with flood of nasty ads

COMMENTARY-Wood-lottery-winners

You won the lottery? Stay anonymous

COMMENTARY-carpentier-secretaries-buffett

'Secretary' title is a blast from the past.


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


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CNN Wire


April 12, 2012 Thursday 11:46 AM EST


Romney bought the nomination with flood of nasty ads


BYLINE: By Donna Brazile, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 882 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and author of "Cooking with Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) -- Maybe money can't buy you love, but it buys a nomination.

Ask Mitt Romney. He outspent Rick Santorum 7-1 to win Illinois, outspent Newt Gingrich 4-1 to take Florida, and more than doubled the competition's spending in Wisconsin. In Pennsylvania, the next big state, Romney had bought nearly $2 million in TV ads even though his main rival, Santorum, had yet to spend a dollar in his home state.

Now he won't have to, having suspended his campaign and vindicated Romney's tactics.

Santorum's national communications director, Hogan Gidley, said that Romney's tactics "shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. This is Mitt Romney's pattern. He comes in and carpet bombs his opponents in every state with massive ad buys."

But knowing Romney's strategy and doing something about it are two different things, as his Republican opponents have learned.

When Mark Twain said, "We have the best government that money can buy," I suspect he said it with sarcasm, and some disgust. Romney, though, takes it literally.

Of course, over-spending on election campaigns hardly constitutes a breach of propriety, especially these days. Mass media buys are expensive, and niche voter groups can be difficult to reach. But the way Romney, supported by his super PAC allies, has bought the Republican nomination should give us all pause, for three reasons.

First, there's who he bought. I'm not talking just about the delegates; that's obvious. I'm talking about the kind of political base he and his super PACs purchased. Second, there's what he bought -- the overwhelmingly negative ads. And third, there's why he bought what he bought.

With his eye on the general election, Romney wasn't so much buying the new Republican base -- the ultraconservative, once-and-future tea partiers -- as he was bribing them. It was part of a tried-and-true Nixonian strategy: Run to the extreme right in the primaries, then run as fast as you can to the middle in the general election.

Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom infamously compared the strategy to an Etch A Sketch, saying, "You hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes."

But there's a critical difference between Nixon's strategy and the one Romney now owns: Nixon had credibility with the far right and didn't put it at risk when he rushed to the center. The strategy works only if you've at least shared an ideological beer before crashing the extremist party.

The Etch A Sketch comment was so telling because it rang so true. It remains to be seen how loyal or enthusiastic the very conservative Republican voters will be when Romney sounds more moderate tones.

Second, we should be concerned about the kind of ads Romney bought. Unable to present conservative bona fides based on his record, Romney's voter outreach was almost exclusively negative. Yes, he won big in Florida, but he did so because a jaw-dropping 99% of his ads were negative.

Before Santorum suspended his campaign, Romney planned to humiliate the former senator with an ad that reminded voters of Santorum's embarrassing loss in 2006. It was to be the blitzkrieg's opening salvo. We'll never know how much influence that ad -- temporarily suspended when Santorum's daughter was hospitalized -- or the even nastier ads that would surely have followed had on Santorum's decision. Judging from the primary debris Romney has left behind, his less-well-funded opponent had enough.

Why does that matter? It matters because life isn't an Etch A Sketch and the currency that determines an election should be a candidate's ideas.

You can't erase your past or run from your record or evade accountability to the truth. Romney's negative, vicious approach to the primary has affected the all-important "swing independents." In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 64% said Obama "seems more friendly and likeable" than Romney. Only 26% felt the other way. And 55% found Obama more inspiring than Romney; 29% had the opposite view.

Romney should recognize that running for president is more like a tattoo than an Etch A Sketch: The image you create will stick on you, and you can't just shake it off.

This brings us to the third point: Why did Romney buy the election by carpet-bombing his opponents with negative ads and pretending for the first time in his political life to be "severely conservative"? The hypocrisy -- and distortions of the truth -- are so blatant, so obvious, that not only Democrats, but even Romney's Republican opponents are astounded at the audacity, and that he gets away with it.

Romney might have bought the nomination, but voters may well make him pay for the way he did it. Whether they buy his expensive, negative and opportunistic transformation in the fall will be a test of more than just the candidate -- it will be a test of our democracy.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.


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April 12, 2012 Thursday 10:02 AM EST


Obama Campaign salutes RomneyCare Anniversary


BYLINE: By By CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin and Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser


LENGTH: 402 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Maybe you've heard the president's top aides call Mitt Romney the "godfather" of the Obama health care law?

Now the Obama campaign is out with a web video that drives home the message.

"I helped Gov. Romney develop his health care reform or Romneycare, before going down to Washington to help President Obama develop his national version of that law," says Jonathan Gruber a bright eyed MIT Health Consultant featured prominently in the video. The spot includes old footage of Romney thanking Gruber for his work on the Massachusetts health bill.

Gruber's verdict: "The core of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare and what we did in Massachusetts are identical."

Get the point?

John McDonough, also identified as an architect of both health care plans, questions Romney's opposition to the president's Affordable Care Act.

"People have him recorded as promoting Massachusetts health reform, promoting it as a national model. And now he is saying he wants to tear down the very model he was promoting," he says.

Gruber puts it succinctly: "all of a sudden Mitt Romney started attacking basically what he had done."

The new web ad comes on the anniversary of the Massachusetts health care law Romney signed as governor. Like the plan Barack Obama put his signature to, the Massachusetts health care bill included a mandate that required residents to purchase health insurance or pay a fine.

The video from 2007 quotes Romney saying that he believes the Massachusetts plan could be "a national model," but Romney also maintains that he believes only a state can impose such a mandate. He insists if elected president he would work to repeal the federal health care law. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering the constitutionality of the national individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

The Obama campaign's web video also includes footage of then-Gov. Romney at an official event with a woman identified as Madeline Rhenisch the first person enrolled in Massachusetts "core health plan under Romneycare". In a current-day interview, Rhenisch says her life improved after she got health coverage and asks plaintively of Romney's call for the repeal of Obamacare, "I think, don't you remember me? Don't you remember my story?... Don't we matter?"

Left unsaid: even if Obamacare goes down presumably Rhenisch and others in Massachusetts will continue to get coverage under the state plan Romney passed.


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April 12, 2012 Thursday 6:55 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 635 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Saeed Ahmed - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-Teen-Shooting (3:30 a.m.)

The attorney for George Zimmerman plans to ask a judge as early as Thursday to allow the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to go free on bail, though believes it will be an uphill battle given the intense public interest in the case. "I think nobody would deny the fact that if George Zimmerman is walking down the street today he would be at risk," attorney Mark O'Mara said.

US-John-Edwards-Trial (4 a.m.)

Jury selection begins in a Greensboro, North Carolina, federal courtroom Thursday in the trial of 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts related to donations to and payments from his failed 2008 campaign. His former mistress is expected to testify at the trial.

Sudans-Conflict (4:30 a.m.)

South Sudan has captured an oil-rich border town claimed by Sudan, officials said, escalating tensions between the two longtime rivals.

India-Maoist-Abductions (5 a.m.)

Maoist insurgents in the Indian state of Orissa have set free the second of two Italians they kidnapped almost a month ago

POL-Obama-Romney-Ad (6 a.m.)

Maybe youve heard the president's top aides call Mitt Romney the "godfather" of the Obama health care law? Now the Obama campaign is out with a web video that drives home their message.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

South-Korea-Elections

A day after her ruling Saenuri (or New Frontier) party won a majority in general elections, Park Geun-hye, its leader and likely presidential candidate, pledged that people's lives will get better.

Syria-Unrest

A cease-fire deadline passed early Thursday without reports of major attacks in Syria, opposition activists said, prompting dim hopes the warring sides will silence their guns and end more than a year of bloodshed.

North-Korea-Launch

The first opportunity for North Korea to launch its controversial rocket passed uneventfully Thursday, keeping the region on tenterhooks for at least another day.

US-North-Korea-Launch-Legality

Log on to the Korean Central News Agency's state-run website and you'll find a concise explanation of what North Korea's launch of an Unha-3 long-range missile is all about: It's not about the missile, it's about the satellite sitting on top of that missile.

North Korea Hunger

An aid worker's recent visit to North Korea shows how the decision to withhold food aid because of Pyongyang's planned rocket launch will affect malnourished people on the ground.

Venezuela-Chavez

President Hugo Chavez returned home to Venezuela late Wednesday after his latest round of cancer treatment in Cuba.

China-Florcruz-Bo-Xilai

China moves to contain the Bo Xilai scandal.

U.S.A.

POL-Romney-Rosen

Democratic Strategist Hilary Rosen generated instant bipartisan criticism Wednesday night for her statement that Ann Romney has "actually never worked a day in her life."

Connecticut-Death-Penalty

Connecticut's governor says he will sign a bill abolishing the death penalty, making it the 17th state to abandon capital punishment. On Wednesday night, lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 86-63. The state Senate approved it last week.

POL-Florida-West-Communists

Florida Rep. Allen West's controversial comments have once again landed him in the headlines -- this time with the sort of accusation not seen in Congress since the 1950s.

POL-Lugar-Mourdock-Debate

Given their long campaign mudslinging, Wednesday night's debate between Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock could have devolved into a bruising political smackdown. It didn't.

FEATURES

COMMENTARY-Chin-Trayvon-Martin-Case-Future

Why the Trayvon Martin case charges are a victory for the legal system.


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


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The New York Times


April 12, 2012 Thursday
Late Edition - Final


Romney Taking Steps to Narrow His Gender Gap


BYLINE: By ASHLEY PARKER and TRIP GABRIEL; Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Confessore, Alison Kopicki, Michael D. Shear, and Catherine Rampell.


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 1226 words


Mitt Romney moved Wednesday to confront one of his most vexing general election problems -- how to narrow the gender gap he faces against President Obama -- but his campaign immediately found itself squeezed between its intensifying efforts to appeal to women and its need to avoid alienating conservatives.

Female voters have emerged as one of Mr. Romney's largest vulnerabilities. A Washington Post/ABC News poll this week showed that women preferred Mr. Obama to Mr. Romney by 19 percentage points, and an earlier Gallup/USA Today poll of voters in 12 key swing states showed Mr. Obama leading over all, buoyed by independents and women -- two critical voting blocs.

Now, in the face of mounting attacks from Democrats and the Obama campaign, Mr. Romney is taking steps to address that gender gap head on. In the past week, his campaign has devised a three-pronged strategy, which it finalized Tuesday night, advisers familiar with the internal discussions said. They will try to debunk the notion that Mr. Romney's policies have hurt women, turn the criticism back on Mr. Obama and outline how they believe women have suffered under his administration, and brand those issues in a memorable way.

But the campaign stumbled Wednesday just as it was rolling out its new focus: top Romney policy aides, questioned on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed by Mr. Obama, which makes it easier for women to sue in equal pay cases, seemed uncertain of how to respond when a reporter asked about Mr. Romney's position on it during a campaign conference call.

While the campaign later released a statement saying Mr. Romney supports pay equity, the law is opposed by conservatives whom Mr. Romney is trying to rally for the general election. The Democrats, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to e-mail news releases citing Ms. Ledbetter's ''shocked and disappointed'' reaction.

As the Romney campaign shifts to the general election, his aides will reintroduce him to voters, warming up his image by emphasizing his role as a devoted father and husband. Mr. Romney's wife, Ann, has already made several Web videos that feature her reminiscences, along with gauzy family photos; voters are likely to see more of these. Mrs. Romney will also increase her campaign appearances; she has already begun to talk about how women tell her they care deeply about the economy, where the campaign wants to keep its focus. Polls showed that as the Republican primary campaign dragged on, Mr. Romney began losing support with women, who may have been put off by the contest's focus on social issues like Planned Parenthood, immigration and contraception.

''Women voters are pocketbook voters, and the highest casualties of President Obama's failures on the economy have been among women,'' said Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. ''Governor Romney has a good record on women's issues. When he was in office, he was judged to have the best record of all governors in hiring women into senior positions.''

On the campaign trail on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr. Romney began highlighting how under Mr. Obama, women have suffered disproportionate job losses, repeatedly citing the figure of 92.3 percent, which he said was women's share of all the jobs lost since the president's inauguration in January 2009.

The net number of jobs held by women has in fact fallen by 683,000 since Mr. Obama's inauguration, while those held by men have fallen by 57,000. But the statistic is misleading for several reasons. For one, while women have lost many jobs in the past three years, men lost far more jobs during the recession which officially started in December 2007, as men are disproportionately employed in industries sensitive to early swings in the business cycle, like manufacturing and construction.

But as the Romney campaign began aggressively fighting for women's votes, the Obama campaign was simultaneously preparing to make sure voters hear about every conservative stance -- especially those involving women's issues -- that Mr. Romney took during his party's bruising primary race. On Wednesday, they released a ''greatest hits'' video featuring some of his oft-repeated comments -- ''Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that'' -- that will surely be repeated by his opponents as he tries to appeal to swing voters in November.

''Women are the majority of the electorate, and they believe that Mitt Romney doesn't understand them and doesn't even care to try,'' said Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager of Mr. Obama's re-election team. ''He's absolutely right that women care about the economy, but that begs the question: Why did he skew his policies against them, and why did he spend so much time playing to the right wing by committing to get rid of Planned Parenthood and giving employers the right to deny women contraceptive coverage?''

In addition to focusing on the economy, Romney advisers said they would also play up the strong professional relationships Mr. Romney has had with women, including from his time as governor. They are considering both ads and testimonials from women -- including minorities -- who worked with him in the Statehouse, and have already started rolling out female surrogates to vouch for his record on women's issues.

But Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said Mr. Romney's statement about pay equity was potentially troubling to conservatives who were already worried about Mr. Romney being sympathetic to issues like the Ledbetter Act.

''It depends on if he was being Clintonian and saying something that can be interpreted in multiple ways, because every free market person will say they're in favor of equal pay,'' Mr. Mitchell said. ''But the suspicion among free market people is that Romney won't contest the left's framing and narrative on this issue.''

Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney ''super PAC,'' is preparing to run positive ads reintroducing Mr. Romney to the electorate. If necessary, they will also run ads attacking Mr. Obama's record with women, mirroring the argument that Mr. Romney and his staff unveiled on the trail this week. Brandishing a glossy graphic in Hartford on Wednesday, Mr. Romney spoke at a women-owned business for the second straight day and cited a series of statistics that he said showed how Mr. Obama's economic policies have had a devastating impact on women.

''I was disappointed by listening to the president as he said, 'Oh, Republicans are waging a war on women,' '' Mr. Romney said at Alpha Graphics, a woman-owned commercial printing business. ''The real war on women is being waged by the president's failed economic policies.''

In the coming days, the Romney campaign plans to lay out more details about the ''real'' war on women, especially as it relates to Mr. Romney's favorite topic -- jobs and the economy. The issue of energy, for instance, could be used to talk about how rising gas prices will affect soccer moms who need to drop their children at practice, or commute to work.

''The point we're trying to make is that women should know exactly what this administration has done and what's happened to women in the workplace under this president's leadership,'' said Lanhee Chen, Mr. Romney's policy director. ''There is something unique about this recession that has hammered women in the work force.''


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


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GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Mitt Romney, campaigning in Hartford on Wednesday. (A1)
Mitt Romney made a campaign stop Wednesday at Alpha Graphics, a Hartford printing company owned by women. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY OZIER MUHAMMAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (A18) CHARTS: Comparing Job Losses: The number of jobs held by women is 683,000 lower than it was in January 2009, while there are only 57,000 fewer jobs held by men. But that comparison is somewhat misleading, because men lost far more jobs at the beginning of the recession. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) (A18)


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


April 12, 2012 Thursday
WEB Edition


Letters to the Editor


SECTION: NEWS; P-com Nav Inquirer Opinion; Pg. WEB


LENGTH: 1208 words


Romney election a long shot

Yes, Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential candidate, but a more consistent Romney will not be enough to sway independent, female, and Hispanic voters to back him in November ('Santorum bows out of race, clearing path for Romney,” Wednesday). And if he does not continue his highly conservative bombast and moves too far to the center, he will disinflate the far-right base and look even more like a supreme flip-flopper than he has in the past.

Romney's election will be a long shot. If the economy and stock market are growing, he can kiss the election goodbye.

Ken Derow, Wallingford

Move to the center

Remember in 2008 when The Inquirer had the editorial suggesting that Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama move more to the center for the general election ('Santorum's out, so Romney's in,” Wednesday)? Me neither.

Fran Steffler, Philadelphia

Fight for extreme right wing

Like many Americans, I have decided who I will vote for in November's election and it certainly isn't the Republican contenders or party. It's not that I think President Obama has shown much fight for his base. It's just that the Repiblican party and its candidates have not shown any taste for the truth.

The spectacle this political season indicates that the Republican fight for the extreme right wing of the party has left little room for independents and thoughtful people who read widely. Even a thoughtful U.S. senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, is not seeking reelection because Rockefeller Republicans are not able to withstand a primary fight.

Richard Nixon seemed to be better than the current field of pretenders and that's saying a great deal. In fact, I doubt Barry Goldwater could get nominated in today's GOP.

Phyllis Berlant Abrams, Plymouth Meeting

Obama's attack on the successful

According to President Obama, the answer to all of our financial woes is to raise taxes on millionaires ('Obama advocating tax-rate ‘fairness',” Wednesday). Unfortunately, his own Treasury Department has concluded that his proposal wouldn't be enough to pay the interest on this year's deficit, let alone put a dent in our $16 trillion national debt. As a practical matter, it probably wouldn't produce any increase in revenues because millionaires will always find loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying more.

Instead of continuing to vilify the successful people who own businesses that employ middle-class folks, wouldn't it make more sense to encourage more people to become wealthy so there would be even more people to pay their 'fair share”? The president's policy of borrowing our way out of debt is more likely to eliminate 'income inequality” by sharply reducing the number of millionaires. When that happens, who will bail out the United States?

Jack Penders, Media

Rohrer's record of leadership

A recent ad suggests that GOP Senate candidate Steve Welch is supported by the 'grassroots” ('Welch for Senate is GOP's best choice,” Sunday). Not so. When word circulated that Gov. Corbett was going to press for the party's endorsement of Welch, the grassroots worked hard to head this off, believing that Republican voters - not powerful GOP leaders - should choose the best candidate. Since the endorsement, the 'grassroots” have been almost unanimous in their opposition to Welch.

Tom Smith's ads portray a winsome grandfatherly figure who sounds eminently conservative. He does not mention that he only recently converted to the Republican Party.

Sam Rohrer is the only Republican with experience in office in this race. He has a record of integrity and principled leadership. His commitment to the Constitution, to fiscal responsibility, and to individual freedom have often put him at odds with his own party leadership. No wonder he didn't get their endorsement.

Jaime Faucette, Sellersville, jdeefaucette@gmail.com

Maher for auditor general

The race for auditor general, Pennsylvania's fiscal watchdog, is critically important to the future of our state. And voters should be aware that there is an excellent candidate on the Republican primary ballot: John Maher ('Maher for auditor better for GOP,” Tuesday).

In the past, the auditor general post has been held by lawyers, a former nurse, a safety manager, and others, but never by a certified public accountant or auditor. Maher is both. As a state legislator since 1997, Maher has shown independence, fairness, intelligence, leadership, and compassion.

Maher is precisely the type of candidate worthy of the support of all voters regardless of party affiliation.

Elissa B. Katz, Elkins Park, elissakatz@comcast.net

Philly's parking surcharge

I'm in complete agreement with Inquirer staff writer Melissa Dribben's opinion piece on parking tickets in Philadelphia entitled 'You can fight, but you can't win” (Sunday).

After reading the article, I was inclined to skip my scheduled April 9 hearing, but it would have been too late to cancel and I would have incurred additional penalties for not showing up. As the article indicated, it cost me almost $10 to park, plus gas and two hours of my time just to have the hearing officer brush aside my evidence and find me liable to pay a $51 parking ticket.

I had come into Philadelphia from my Bucks County home to attend a football game and have dinner on Germantown Avenue. The new businesses there seem to be struggling, and the tactics of the Philadelphia Parking Authority can't be helping.

My suggestion to anyone thinking of driving into Philadelphia to spend their hard-earned money is to forget it, unless you factor in the parking surcharge.

Jack Zubris, Holland, jz2528@yahoo.com

Questioning ‘merit' selections

After many years of observing the appointment of judges in New Jersey, I'm in complete agreement with Chris Bonneau about the flaws in the process ('Merit selection no guarantee of good judges,” Sunday).

The problem begins before retention elections, however, in the initial 'merit” selection itself, which far too often is more of a political decision than one based on a candidate's ability.

Those lawyers who have contributed liberally, worked assiduously for their party, and are in agreement with the party line, are far more likely to win the prize of a judgeship - whether it's an appellate, superior, or supreme court seat - than the person who has just done an excellent job and exhibits the qualities that would qualify one for the higher office. This partisan process is not limited to any one state; it is prevalent on the federal level also, no matter which party is in power.

It would appear that the solution for the problem of merit selection of judges is to be found in the merit election of the officials who make these appointments.

Marlene Lieber, Medford

Clearing the record

An editorial Wednesday incorrectly stated the year in which Rick Santorum lost his 2006 bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate.


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The Salt Lake Tribune


April 12, 2012 Thursday


With Rick Santorum out, it's finally Obama vs. Romney


BYLINE: By David Lightman And William Douglas Mcclatchy Newspapers


SECTION: NEWS; National; World; Local


LENGTH: 1313 words


Washington » The general election campaign -- President Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney -- officially began Tuesday afternoon.

It's been stirring for a while, as the two combatants have been blasting away at each other. But with Rick Santorum, Romney's chief rival for the Republican nomination, leaving the race, the former Massachusetts governor is now free to aim squarely at Obama.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul remain GOP contenders, but neither has shown much ability to win votes.

"Dr. Paul is now the last -- and real -- conservative alternative to Mitt Romney," Paul's campaign said in a statement on Santorum's exit from the race. Gingrich tweeted, "It's now a two person race."

The convention delegate count suggests otherwise. Romney has 661 delegates to August's Republican National Convention so far, according to an Associated Press count, and he needs 1,144 to win. He praised Santorum on Tuesday as an "able and worthy competitor." Santorum won 285 delegates, Gingrich has 136 and Paul has 51.

So the brawl to the November finish is on. Just before Santorum announced his decision, Obama was eyeing Romney, telling a campaign event in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., "There are contrasting visions here."

The president said, "This election will probably have the biggest contrast that we've seen maybe since the Johnson-Goldwater election. Maybe before that."

The late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, a staunch conservative Republican, ran against President Lyndon Johnson, who had strong liberal support, in 1964. Johnson won in a landslide.

While Obama didn't mention Romney by name Tuesday, his campaign did.

"It's no surprise that Mitt Romney finally was able to grind down his opponents under an avalanche of negative ads. But neither he nor his special interest allies will be able to buy the presidency with their negative attacks," campaign manager Jim Messina said.

"The more the American people see of Mitt Romney, the less they like him and the less they trust him," he said.

At roughly the same time that Obama spoke Tuesday, Romney supporters were briefing the news media on the differences between the candidates.

"There's a sense of a lack of opportunity in the country," former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent charged. "The president's policies have burdened the economy."

Obama defends his major initiatives -- the 2009 economic stimulus and the 2010 federal health care law among them -- while saying that the economy is improving.

Romney counters that the Obama measures were nothing more than big government initiatives funded by out-of-control spending and the economy isn't as robust as it could be.

At the moment, Obama is the race's slight favorite, but Romney is very much in the running. An ABC News-Washington Post poll taken from last Thursday through Sunday found that by 49 percent to 37 percent, voters thought that Obama better understands the economic problems that people in the country are having.

The margin shrunk to a 46 percent to 43 percent advantage when voters were asked whom they trusted to do a better job creating employment.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Tuesday's chief drama came from Santorum, who had shocked the political world by rising from the back of the GOP presidential pack to threaten Romney. He told a rally in Gettysburg, Pa., that he'd decided to suspend his campaign over a weekend in which he'd tended to his gravely ill daughter, Bella, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder.

With streaks of confidence and defiance that typified his improbable campaign, the former two-term Pennsylvania senator told a news conference, "We will suspend our campaign effective today. We are not done fighting."

In the end, Santorum was forced to end his campaign because he failed to do what he said no other 2012 Republican presidential candidate could do in the general election: win in Rust Belt states such as Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and his home state.

He'd touted his ability to win two Senate terms in what was then a largely Democratic state. But his exit came two weeks before Pennsylvania's primary, and he'd lost his bid for a third Senate term in 2006 in a crushing 18-point defeat to Democrat Bob Casey.

Polls in the Keystone State had found Santorum slipping even before Romney and his supporters dipped into the former Massachusetts' governor's campaign war chest to unleash a barrage of television ads against his rival.

In February, Santorum led Romney 46 percent to 16 percent in a poll by Pennsylvania's Franklin & Marshall College. By March, Santorum's lead had evaporated, and he led Romney by 2 percentage points, a statistical dead heat.

"A month ago he was on top of the world with the wins in Alabama and Mississippi," said G. Terry Madonna, the director of the college's Center for Politics and Public Affairs. "A month later he goes off message talking about men's and women's emotions in combat, about Obama's religion, about contraceptives. I think one-third of voters being moderate and liberal, where does that leave him?"

The 53-year-old former senator's rise and fall proved a spectacular story this year. He traveled around Iowa, the site of the nation's first 2012 caucus, throughout last year, stopping to talk to handfuls of people at a time.

One by one, his chief rivals for the conservative mantle faded. Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann won August's Iowa straw poll, usually a launch pad for a strong candidacy. But as Texas Gov. Rick Perry began his presidential bid the same day, Bachmann found herself buried under the publicity that the newest party curiosity attracted.

Perry faded, too, after a series of brutal debate performances. Then would come businessman Herman Cain, felled by allegations of sexual harassment and marital infidelity, and Gingrich, who led briefly in most polls. Santorum's message of unapologetic conservatism -- and his long record of activism against abortion and other social issues dear to conservatives -- made him a serious contender.

He won Iowa -- though it originally was reported as a loss -- and found himself in a battle with Gingrich for conservatives.

Gingrich faded, and a pattern emerged: In states such as Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, where evangelical Christians make up a large chunk of the GOP primary vote, Santorum won.

But in states where they were less influential -- notably Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin -- he lost. He could never broaden his appeal to the more mainstream voters whom Romney was able to attract. Nor was he able to counter Romney's ad blitz effectively. Romney and his supporters outspent Santorum by massive amounts in many states.

The pattern kept repeating in state after state: losses in more diverse states, victories in more conservative states.

------

(c)2012 the McClatchy Washington Bureau

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau atwww.mcclatchydc.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services Alt Heads:

With Rick Santorum out, it's finally Obama versus Romney

Obama campaign: Romney can't 'buy the presidency'

Washington » President Barack Obama's campaign manager says Republican Mitt Romney has been able to grind down his opponents for the GOP presidential nomination but won't be able to "buy the presidency."

Campaign leader Jim Messina issued a written statement reacting to Republican Rick Santorum's withdrawal from the race without ever mentioning Santorum or his decision. Messina instead referred to "developments in the campaign" and focused a sharp critique on Romney, who is now essentially cleared for the GOP nomination.

In doing so, Messina signaled the Obama campaign was immediately escalating its offensive on Romney.

Messina said it was not surprising that Romney outlasted his Republican competition with negative ads.

He said the more the American people see of Romney, "the less they like him and the less they trust him."

The Associated Press


LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: President Barack Obama speaks at Florida Atlantic University, Tuesday, April 10, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Surrounded by members of his family Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum announces he is suspending his candidacy effective today in Gettysburg, Pa., Tuesday, April 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)


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States News Service


April 12, 2012 Thursday


MAGICAL MISERY TOUR RETURNS TO THE AIRWAVES


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 694 words


DATELINE: BOSTON, MA


The following information was released by Mitt Romney for President:

While President Obama blankets the airwaves in Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, and Missouri, he may want to answer some questions about his Administration's failed energy policies. After three years of promising change, the only thing that the President has delivered is gas prices twice as high as the day he took office." -Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson

On President Obama's Magical Misery Stop In Ohio, Will He Answer Whether He Agrees With Vice President Biden That "Our Energy Policy Is The Best It's Ever Been"?

Under President Obama, Ohio's Gas Prices Nearly Doubled From $1.90 Per Gallon In January 2009 To $3.71 Per Gallon Today. (AAA Website, www.aaa.com, Accessed 4/12/12)

Vice President Biden: "I Think Our Energy Policy Is The Best It's Ever Been." REPORTER: "Gas prices are above $4.00 a gallon, you were asked this question, and you gave an answer. But there's a new commercial out that says "since Obama has become president, prices have nearly doubled. Four years in, should you all have a better energy policy in America?" BIDEN: "I think our energy policy is the best it's ever been." (WAVY-TV, 4/3/12)

On President Obama's Magical Misery Stop In Nevada, Will He Address The Repeated Criticism That He's Made "No Progress" On Energy Policies While Gas Prices Skyrocket?

Under President Obama, Nevada's Gas Prices Have More Than Doubled From $1.96 Per Gallon In January 2009 To $3.98 Per Gallon Today. (AAA Website, www.aaa.com, Accessed 4/12/12)

NBC's Chuck Todd, On President Obama's Energy Policy: "He's Made No Progress." TODD: "There is no issue that has been a, I guess, a bigger bust for the president than energy policy in general. There's a lot of, we can come up with a lot of excuses as to why, but boy, it's just like you can't - he's made no progress." (MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown," 2/23/12)

The Washington Post's Nia-Malika Henderson: "He's Made No Progress." HENDERSON: "No, he's made no progress. I remember covering him on the campaign and he would talk about, you know, turning these manufacturing plants into wind turbine plants and it seemed to work then, but, you know, in terms of the reality and on the ground actually success during his presidency, absolutely none." (MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown," 2/23/12)

On President Obama's Magical Misery Stop In Iowa, Will He Address Whether He Still Thinks His Energy Policy Is Just A "Hodgepodge"?

Under President Obama, Iowa's Gas Prices Have More Than Doubled From $1.85 Per Gallon In January 2009 To $3.77 Per Gallon Today. (AAA Website, www.aaa.com, Accessed 4/12/12)

President Obama: "Our Energy Policy Still Is Just A Hodgepodge." OBAMA: "Our energy policy still is just a hodgepodge, and for all the progress we've made, we're not where we need to be in making sure that this is an energy-efficient economy that is running on all cylinders." (President Barack Obama, Remarks At DNC Event, Miami, FL, 6/13/11)

On President Obama's Magical Misery Stop In Missouri, Will He Address Whether He Still Supports A "Gradual" Increase In Gas Prices?

Under President Obama, Missouri's Gas Prices Have More Than Doubled From $1.68 Per Gallon In January 2009 To $3.70 Per Gallon Today. (AAA Website, www.aaa.com, Accessed 4/12/12)

In 2008, Obama Said He Would Have Preferred A Gradual Increase In Gas Prices To Help Shift To Alternative Energy Sources. HARWOOD: "As difficult as this is for consumers right now, is, in fact, high gas prices what we need to let the market work, a line incentive so that we do shift to alternative means of energy?" OBAMA: "Well, I think that we have been slow to move in a better direction when it comes to energy usage. And the president, frankly, hasn't had an energy policy. And as a consequence, we've been consuming energy as if it's infinite. We now know that our demand is badly outstripping supply with China and India growing as rapidly as they are. So..." HARWOOD: "So could these high prices help us?" OBAMA: "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing." (CNBC's "Your Money, Your Vote," 6/10/08)

###


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The Washington Post


April 12, 2012 Thursday
Suburban Edition


Cartagena travel tip: Shout at a strongman


BYLINE: Al Kamen


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A15


LENGTH: 878 words


President Obama is off on Air Force One to attend the Summit of the Americas this weekend in the beautiful seaside city of Cartagena, Colombia.

Secretary of State Hillary "The Texter" Clinton will be taking her plane - then heading from there to meetings in Brasilia and Brussels.

And Hill folks will also be headed to the quadrennial mega-gabfest to grip and grin with 30 or more other heads of government.

(The fun will be to see how things go when they run into lefty anti-Americans such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez or Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.)

A couple of House congressional delegations - including a bipartisan group headed by House Foreign Affairs subcommittee chairman Connie Mack(R-Fla.) - are packing to go. Also signed up are Reps. David Rivera(R-Fla.), Albio Sires(D-N.J.), Jeff Duncan(R-S.C.),Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), Sheila Jackson Lee(D-Tex.) and Sander M. Levin(D-Mich.).

Curiously, not many senators seem to be going. In fact, it may be that the only one going from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a possible vice presidential pick, who we're told is flying commercial to attend.

Seems as if he's going through a lot of trouble. "Senator Rubio has pushed to promote democracy" in the region, spokesman Alex Conant explained. "This summit is a good opportunity for Senator Rubio to discuss the importance of democracy with leaders from around the region."

Well, if handled properly, it could also help boost his foreign-policy chops.

Reminds us of a foreign jaunt made by another potential vice presidential pick back in 2004. That would be John Edwards, whose criminal trial is set to begin Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.

Edwards is charged with violating campaign finance laws related to the payment by two wealthy donors of nearly $1 million to help hide his pregnant mistress while he was running for president. (What was he going to do with her and the kid if he won?)

Edwards gave a speech in June 2004 at the Bilderberg conference that was widely credited as one reason John Kerrychose him.

Edwards told the uber-secret global power brokers of "the insecurity of American workers that persists even when economic statistics" get better, the New York Times reported. (Might be a theme for Mitt Romneyto pick up on if the economy is improving in the fall.)

Okay. So a nice shouting match with Hugo or Danny, appropriately videotaped, would be excellent.

The stuff that memesare made of

Even Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is embracing the viral "Texts from Hillary" meme - which mashed up a photo of a sunglasses-wearing Clinton with captions that imagine her text conversations with everyone from Mitt Romney to Ryan Gosling. But not everyone was as thrilled, namely, the photographer who snapped the iconic image.

Diana Walker, the award-winning photographer who shot the picture while on assignment with Time magazine, was concerned when her photo started swirling around the Internet. She hadn't been asked, paid or credited for the use of her work, she says.

But the story has a happy ending: The creators of the site finally added a credit line for the photos, and that's enough for Walker.

"I'm following Secretary Clinton's lead and being amused and taken with the idea that this picture is all over the world," she says. Still, she notes, the incident underscores the conflictsbetween photographers, who want to control their work, and the wide world of the Internet, where everything seems free. "There needs to be a dialogue about this," she says.

Walker insists that she didn't realize how powerful the image would be when she captured the black-and-white photo, which she - along with Reuters photographer Kevin Lamarque, who shot a color version that's also being used on the Tumblr site - took during a flight to Libya late last year.

And she wishes that people who want to grab photos from the Internet and use them for their own purposes would make an effort to contact their creators. "Before they used it, how about a call to me?" she asked. But, she admits, that might have resulted in no such memorable meme. "I'm not sure I would have said yes."

Stop calling them 'rich'

This week's Loop Quote of the Week award goes to former president George W. Bush, who reminds us to use the proper terminology when referring to certain Americans who have more access to money than other Americans do.

Bush spoke Tuesday at a tax-policy conferencein New York hosted by his presidential institute.

"If you raise taxes on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators," he explained. So if you want "private-sector growth," the best thing to do "is to leave capital in the treasuries of the job creators," Bush said.

We thought those folks were called "rich" because, well, they are. But that, apparently, is not the proper term. They are the "job creators." So President Obama's deplorable class-warfare rhetoric pits the so-called poor and middle classes against the job-creator class.

And don't try to sneak around that by calling them wealthy, bigwigs, plutocrats, oligarchs, fat cats, tycoons or robber barons.

They are the true working class, going 24-7 to create jobs for you and other ingrates.

kamena@washpost.com

With Emily Heil

The blog: washingtonpost.com/intheloop; Twitter: @InTheLoopWP


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The Washington Times


April 12, 2012 Thursday


Inside the Beltway


BYLINE: By Jennifer Harper THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, NATION; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 979 words


GINGRICH SOLDIERS ON

Despite a hair-raising week, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich now bills himself as "the last conservative standing," touting a crowded agenda that defies gleeful coverage claiming that he's out of money and low on voter favorability. Mr. Gingrich campaigns Thursday in Delaware, hosting town halls and appearing on local talk radio. Then it's on to the real big show.

On Friday, he arrives in St. Louis for the annual National Rifle Association convention, serving as a keynote speaker for the "Celebration of American Values Conference." Mr. Gingrich has much company for the afternoon event. Also appearing: rival Mitt Romney, former-rival-turned-supporter Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Republican Sens. Roy Blunt and Chuck Grassley, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Rep. Darrell E. Issa, plus John Bolton, Ken Blackwell and Oliver North.

Still, the big convention is a family affair. Mr. Gingrich's wife, Callista, also appears at the Women's Leadership Luncheon on Friday for a public "Conversation Off the Campaign Trail," organizers say. Her companion on the dais? That would be Mr. Romney's wife, Ann.

HISTORIC MUDSLINGING

"A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan on President Jimmy Carter, during the presidential campaign of 1980.

FOOD STAMP GAS

Rep. Allen B. West is disturbed that food stamps buy much more than food these days. "I happened to drive by a gas station in Pompano Beach, Fla., in the heart of Congressional District 22, the district I represent. In front of the gas station were large banners proclaiming, 'We accept EBT SNAP cards.' This is not something we should be proud to promote," the Florida Republican says.

The aforementioned acronym stands for "Electronic Benefit Transfer Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," a system that allows state governments to provide food and cash benefits through a debit card. Originally created 48 years ago, the program was intended to provide funds for low-income families to buy healthy food, and ultimately boost domestic agriculture. The scope has grown, the lawmaker says.

"Now we see a growing number of businesses in this country, including sit-down and fast food restaurants, standalone and gas station convenience markets, and even pharmacies eager to accept SNAP benefits," Mr. West observes, noting that since President Obama's inauguration, the number of Americans receiving assistance has increased by 45 percent, to 46 million.

"The measure of success for our social safety net programs should be that fewer and fewer Americans must rely on them, not more and more," he adds.

POLITICAL PROWESS

"How much do you know about political parties?" demands the Pew Research Center. Find out how you stand against the rest of America by taking the group's official 13-question "News IQ" quiz here: http://pewresearch.org

BLOOMBERG MOMENT

The legal and cultural complexities following the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin has taken yet another political turn. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has now launched a campaign to challenge "Stand Your Ground" laws that have passed in 25 states

Mr. Bloomberg intends to "reform or repeal Florida-style 'shoot first' laws," he says, and has dubbed his effort "Second Chance on Shoot First." The mayor intends to target state lawmakers who voted for the laws, which he says has led to an increase in justifiable homicides.

Mr. Bloomberg, who is funding the effort himself, has high-profile partners. Among them: the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with Chris Smith, incoming Florida Senate minority leader; National Urban League President Marc H. Morial, NAACP Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy Hilary Shelton, Color of Change Executive Director Rashad Robinson, Vote Vets Chairman Jon Soltz and Glenn Ivey, a former federal and state prosecutor for the state of Maryland.

AD EXODUS

Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's exit from the 2012 race has generated some collateral damage.

"That sniffling sound you hear is not Rick Santorum's supporters bemoaning his decision Tuesday to pull the plug on his presidential campaign but the managers of the Keystone State's television stations counting the ad dollars they have lost," observes Kathy Kiely, managing editor for the Sunlight Foundation reporting group, a nonprofit that tracks government openness and transparency.

In the recent Wisconsin primary, presidential super PACs alone pumped $3.7 million into the local economy, much of it for media buys, she says. In Florida, they spent $19.1 million; in South Carolina, $8.7 million, in Ohio, $5.1 million.

"Local station managers had to be licking their chops at reports that Mitt Romney was planning to launch a multimillion-dollar ad war to finish Santorum off," Ms. Kiely notes.

POLL DU JOUR

* 85 percent of Americans know that Ronald Reagan was a Republican; 92 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats know that information.

* 73 percent overall know that Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Democrat; 73 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Democrats also know it.

* 71 percent overall identify Republicans as "the more conservative" party; 90 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats agree.

* 68 percent overall know the initials "GOP" are associated with Republicans; 78 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Democrats know that information.

* 65 percent overall know that the donkey is the Democratic Party symbol; 76 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Democrats also know it.

* 61 percent overall know that Rep. Nancy Pelosi is a Democrat; 75 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of Democrats also know it.

Source: A Pew Research Center survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted March 29-April 1 and released Wednesday.

* Quizzes, quizzical banter, press releases to jharper@washingtontimes.com


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The Associated Press


April 13, 2012 Friday 07:50 PM GMT


In Colombia, Obama seeks to focus on US economy


BYLINE: By JULIE PACE and JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press


SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS


LENGTH: 913 words


DATELINE: TAMPA, Fla.


Putting an election year spin on his international agenda, President Barack Obama on Friday cast Latin America's rapid rise as a business opportunity for the U.S. economy. On his way to a regional summit in Colombia, he told voters in Florida, "While I'm in Colombia talking with other leaders, I'm going to be thinking about you."

Obama's stop in Florida, a crucial state in the election, underscored White House efforts to keep the president's three-day trip to the Summit of the Americas focused squarely on the economy, the top issue for voters in a general election now fully under way.

But if some Latin American leaders get their way, Obama will be forced to engage on issues that are less politically palatable in the U.S.; namely, Washington's strained relationship with Cuba and the prospect of legalizing drugs.

The president steered clear of those matters as he kicked off his trip at the Port of Tampa, where about 40 percent of exports go to Latin America. Obama said economic growth in Central and South America has created a booming middle class with money to spend.

"We want them spending money on American-made goods so that American businesses can put more Americans back to work," said Obama, his shirt sleeves rolled up, surrounded by cranes and shipping containers.

Obama's re-election prospects are largely tied to the nation's unemployment rate, which has dipped to 8.2 percent. Yet, the job market remains fragile and millions of Americans are still out of work.

From Tampa, Air Force One continued south to the Colombian colonial-era port city of Cartagena, where the president was joining more than 30 leaders from the Western Hemisphere for the regional summit. Obama was to attend a leaders' dinner at the base of Cartagena's historic Spanish fortress, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas.

Obama's stop in Colombia is emblematic of his election-year foreign travel itinerary, which is limited to the international meetings U.S. presidents traditionally attend. The president had little planned in Cartagena outside the official summit events, except for meetings with some of the summit leaders and a visit to a historic church.

Obama's goal: Get in, get out and don't do anything that can create a political distraction back home.

Still, the president's focus on Latin America this weekend was expected to catch the attention of Hispanics in the U.S., an increasingly important voting bloc, especially in battleground states like Florida, Nevada and Colorado. More than 20 million Hispanics in the U.S. are eligible to vote.

Obama carried 67 percent of the Latino vote over Republican challenger John McCain in the 2008 election. With Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney having staked out a hard-line position on immigration during the GOP primary, the Obama campaign hopes to score overwhelming support from Hispanics again this November.

A Quinnipiac poll conducted earlier this year showed Obama with a sizeable 58 percent to 35 percent lead over Romney among registered Hispanic voters.

In Tampa, Obama acknowledged the commercial ties many Hispanics in the U.S. have with Latin American countries. He announced new initiatives to help Latino-owned small businesses, as well as other U.S. companies, get financing to expand their exports throughout the Western Hemisphere. And he pitched programs to help small businesses link up with foreign partners in the Americas.

The White House sees increases in the U.S. export market as a bright spot in an economic recovery that has weathered plenty of ups and downs. Administration officials say U.S. exports with the Western Hemisphere have grown by about 17 percent since 2010, with Latin America accounting for much of that increase.

Officials say new trade agreements Obama signed last year with Colombia and Panama will further boost U.S. economic ties with the region. Implementation of the Colombian accord is contingent on Colombia's government meeting certain labor rights conditions. The U.S. business community and many Colombian officials are hoping Obama will use his trip to announce that implementation of the trade deal can proceed.

Republicans say Obama allowed the trade agreements to languish during his first two years in office because of pressure from unions, which are generally skeptical of free trade. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday that the delay in passing the trade deals "weakened our relationship with Latin America to the detriment of the national economy and Florida's economy."

The U.S. has continuously sought to block Cuba from the Summit of the Americas, saying the communist-run island does not abide by the meeting's democratic standards. But some Latin American leaders have grown increasingly impatient with the tensions between Washington and Havana and have made a fresh push for Cuba to be included in future meetings.

Obama was likely to be at odds with some regional partners on the issue of drug legalization. Some Latin American leaders increasingly see decriminalization as a possible path for containing the region's violent drug cartels.

The White House says that while Obama does not support decriminalization, he does think the debate is worth having, if only to highlight the problems that would arise from legalizing drugs.

Kuhnhenn reported from Tampa, Pace reported from Cartagena, Colombia. AP Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved



53 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 13, 2012 Friday 10:30 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3498 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

North-Korea-Launch (will update)

The U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss North Korea's botched rocket launch amid concerns that the secretive and often unpredictable regime will try to recover from its embarrassing failure with a nuclear test or military move.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, will ask to get out of jail on bond while he awaits trial, his attorney said Friday.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

ENT-Lionel-Richie-Tax-Lien

The IRS has issued a tax lien against singer Lionel Richie for unpaid taxes, the performer said through his publicist. "I was recently made aware of the situation by my new team and it's being handled immediately," Richie said.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt (will update)

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., a military spokesman said, in a coup that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Oklahoma-Shootings (will update)

An Oklahoma district attorney on Friday filed a host of charges -- including murder and malicious harassment, which is a hate crime in the state -- against two men accused of fatally shooting three people last week in Tulsa.

GSA-Scandal-Neely

A top official at the scandal-plagued General Services Administration is now facing the prospect of a federal criminal investigation, CNN confirmed Friday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

North-Korea-Launch

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said. The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet Friday to discuss the launch, which North Korea insists was intended to put an observation satellite in orbit. The United States, South Korea and Japan say the operation is a cover for a ballistic missile test.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, will ask to get out of jail on bond while he awaits trial, his attorney said Friday.

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

INTERNATIONAL

North-Korea-Launch-Kim

When it comes to North Korea, nothing is ever clear. You can double down on that bet when it comes to trying to foresee what the catastrophic failure of its rocket launch means for the country's new ruler and his military. North Korea experts say how Kim Jong Un reacts to this humiliating setback, however, could be an open window into the strength of his hold on leadership.

North-Korea-Strategy

After North Korea's failed satellite launch in defiance of the international community, U.S. officials and experts say the Obama administration could move away from a policy of engagement toward one of containment.

North-Korea-neighbor-reaction

The North Korean rocket launch that threw its neighbors in the Asian region into high alert was greeted with relief on Friday as previously jittery stock markets gained ground and bans on activities in its projected flight path were relaxed. Meanwhile, China state media labeled Japanese missile defense plans against the launch as a "pretext" to contain Beijing.

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-nuclear-test

It was meant to be a show-stopping display of military might, a rocket poised to enter orbit to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the man who founded North Korea. But while the rapid disintegration of Unha-3 may have drawn sighs of relief from countries along its planned trajectory, one analyst says in this case failure may be more dangerous than success.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., a military spokesman said, in a coup that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Iran-Nuclear

Iranian nuclear negotiators arrived Friday and began consultations with Chinese and Russian counterparts on the eve of international talks on the country's nuclear program, state media reported.

Iran-Ebadi

"If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it." The Persian proverb opens a book about the Iranian revolution by Shirin Ebadi, a human rights lawyer who became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. But there could not be a more appropriate line to sum up Ebadi's own life.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four people accused in what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia went on trial Friday in Copenhagen.

Israel-aerial-flotilla-protest

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Widows

Pakistan will deport the widows and children of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia next week, their attorney said Friday.

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs. At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama landed in Cartagena, Colombia, Friday, opening a weekend visit that will mark the most time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

France-Sarkozy-Profile

Until last month the conventional wisdom was that Nicolas Sarkozy would fail in his bid for a second term as French president. Mocked for his lavish lifestyle, and a private life that saw him divorce his second wife immediately after his election in 2007 and go on to marry singer Carla Bruni, the French have never warmed to "Sarko." He is often known as "quel q'un qui derange," someone who drives you crazy. The reason for their mixed feelings about Sarkozy is his apparent desire to ruffle feathers and challenge the established order. His presidency has been in constant motion: the 35-hour week? Sarkozy worked against it. Delay the retirement age beyond 60? Sarkozy achieved it, despite strikes and demonstrations. A bloated public sector? Sarkozy eliminated 160,000 civil service jobs. None of these reforms was universally popular and some, at least initially, were almost universally condemned. But Sarkozy believed them necessary and persisted in his belief that his countrymen would come round to his way of thinking. However, as the eurozone crisis swirled, the president received a jolt in January when one of the world's top credit ratings agencies, Standard & Poor's, downgraded France's rating from the maximum Triple A status. Sarkozy's main rival, center left candidate Francois Hollande, launched a scathing attack on the government's policies, saying: "We are no longer in the first division."

Germany-Train-Crash

Three people died and 13 were injured when a German commuter train collided with a maintenance crane Friday morning, German police said.

Germany-Incest-Court

A German man sent to prison over an incestuous relationship with his sister has lost his case that the conviction violated his right to a private and family life at the European Court of Human Rights.

Sudans-UN-Demand

The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over a disputed oil-rich border region. The border clashes have threatened to return the neighbors to a full-scale war.

Myanmar-Britain-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Myanmar Friday on the first visit by a high-profile Western leader to the nation in decades.

MONEY-China-Gdp

China's economic growth lost more momentum at the beginning of the year, but experts aren't too worried that the slowdown will continue for long.

Cairo-pigeon-breeders-politics

On a rooftop high above Cairo, Moustafa Hassan tenderly cares for his babies -- all 350 of them. Hassan keeps a rooftop loft with both racing and "fancy" pigeons, and his birds are like family to him. "This is my son," he said, picking up his favorite pigeon. "I deal with all the pigeons like my son or my children."

SPORT-motorsport-f1-bahrain-ecclestone

Should sport and politics mix? Bernie Ecclestone has told CNN that they should not -- and that is why he is happy for Bahrain to host a Formula One race next weekend despite protests from human rights groups unhappy with the kingdom's regime.

U.S.A.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shooting

State and federal authorities are investigating the apparent double homicide of two Coast Guard members shot dead on an island off Alaska's coast, prompting the lockdown of their base and at least one nearby school.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

Mayor Corey Booker of Newark, New Jersey dashed into a burning building Thursday night to help rescue a trapped woman, an act of heroism that sent him to the hospital.

New-York-Zach-Tomaselli

A man who accused a Syracuse University assistant basketball coach of sexually molesting him as a child said Friday that it was all a lie.

Virginia-Terror-Sentencing

A Pakistani man living in Virginia was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Oklahoma-Shootings

An Oklahoma district attorney on Friday filed a host of charges -- including murder and malicious harassment, which is a hate crime in the state -- against two men accused of fatally shooting three people last week in Tulsa.

Ohio-Shooting

An apparent domestic dispute left three people dead at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant near Cleveland on Thursday, according to Ohio police.

California-Deputy-Killed

A California sheriff's deputy serving an eviction notice was shot and killed Thursday along with a civilian who was helping in the eviction, authorities said. The incident, that occurred in Modesto California, continued late Thursday evening as the alleged shooter barricaded himself into the home and did not leave despite a large blaze erupting there.

Former-CIA-Officer-pleads-not-guilty

A former CIA officer entered a not guilty plea on Friday to charges he gave classified information to reporters and lied to a CIA review board about material in a book he wrote.

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.

US-Alex-Karras-NFL-Lawsuit

Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom "Webster" -- and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia -- has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.

TRAVEL-TSA-New-Technology

The Transportation Security Administration is unveiling new technology this month at several airports aimed at verifying boarding passes and IDs of passengers.

TECH-apple-mac-virus-fix

Apple says a new software update provides tools to get rid of the so-called "Flashback" virus that has infected hundreds of thousands of Mac computers.

SPORT-Arkansas-Petrino-Crash

The University of Arkansas has suspended a woman whose relationship with former football coach Bobby Petrino came to light after his motorcycle crashed this month, a school spokesman said Friday.

MONEY-Apple-Doj-Ebooks

Apple has responded to an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, saying it fostered, not quelled, competition in the electronic publishing industry.

MONEY-Bernanke-Federal-Reserve

The Federal Reserve needs to focus just as heavily on its regulatory role as its monetary policy operations, Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed Friday.

MONEY-Carriercompare

A new app hit the iTunes store Friday morning that your carrier probably isn't too thrilled about. It's called CarrierCompare. Developed by Boston-based startup SwayMarkets, it allows you to see which carrier offers the best service for your iPhone in any given location.

MONEY-Tax-Day-April-17

Tax Day is drawing near, but you still have a little time left to get your return filed to Uncle Sam. While the tax filing deadline typically falls on April 15, this year taxes are due Tuesday, April 17.

MONEY-Foreclosures

The golden age for foreclosure squatters may soon be coming to an end now that the $26 billion mortgage settlement has been approved. The settlement, agreed to by the nation's five largest mortgage lenders, is expected to speed up the foreclosure process by providing stricter guidelines for the banks to follow when repossessing homes.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

After one of the fastest and steepest runups in recent memory, it's possible gasoline prices may have peaked. Retail gas prices fell more than half a cent Friday to a nationwide average just above $3.90 a gallon, according to AAA, continuing a decline started late last week that has shaved almost 4 cents off the price of gas.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks stumbled Friday, following a two-day rally, closing lower for a second straight week with the worst declines of the year.

POL-Religious-Freedom-Campaign

The Roman Catholic Church announced a major campaign Thursday aimed at bringing attention to what it said were growing threats to religious liberty in the United States, including the pending White House rule requiring health insurance companies to provide free contraceptive coverage to employees of Catholic organizations.

POL-West-Communist-Controversy

Standing by his controversial remarks this week targeting certain members of Congress as communists, Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida called on supporters Friday to donate toward his fight against "extreme left-wing positions."

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a conservative audience what it wanted to hear Friday, accusing President Barack Obama of leading the country away from the founding fathers' vision and "toward limited freedom and limited opportunity."

MONEY-Obama-Tax-Return

President Obama and the first family saw their income drop by almost $1 million in 2011 as sales from his best-selling books slowed.

MONEY-Obama-Secretary-Taxes

Move over Warren Buffett. The White House said Friday that President Obama has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.

POL-Obama-Romney-Taxes

The fight over how best to tax the American people turned to the personal finances of the two competing presidential candidates Friday, as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2011 tax returns and called for all-but-certain GOP nominee Mitt Romney to do the same.

POL-Romney-Florida-Obama

Florida surrogates for the likely GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, gave a not-so-warm welcome to President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to the Sunshine State on Friday.

POL-Romney-NRA-Speech

In his first major speech to conservatives since his Republican rival Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, Mitt Romney turned his sights on the general election and accused President Barack Obama of waging "an assault on our freedoms."

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Romney-Hilary-Rosen

Mitt Romney made his first public remarks Friday on the controversy over a top Democratic strategist criticizing his wife for her pasta stay-at-home mother.

POL-Romney-Speech-General-Election

Mitt Romney's speech Friday to the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis will be mark the launch of the general election campaign against President Barack Obama, his advisers said.

POL-Crossroads-Ad-Obama

American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, announced its latest ad buy against President Barack Obama on Friday, taking a swing at the administration's coal industry policies.

POL-RNC-March-Fundraising

The Republican National Committee said Friday it raised $13.7 million in March, the highest monthly amount the group has pulled in during the 2012 election cycle.

FEATURES

ENT-Pitt-Jolie-Engaged

Angelina Jolie, 36, and Brad Pitt, 48, a Hollywood megastar couple since 2005, are engaged, Pitt's representative said Friday.

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen?

MED-side-effects-sports-fan

Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood. Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite. "It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."

TRAVEL-National-Mall-Designs

How about an ice skating rink on the National Mall, just a stone's throw from the Lincoln Memorial? Or a new, expanded outdoor amphitheater next to the Washington Monument, where people sit on the grass and watch a performance?

TECH-Draw-Something-app-appeal

Chris Pirillo is many things: a self-proclaimed geek, a blogger, an entrepreneur -- and according to him, an average gamer. The 38-year-old founder of blogging network Lockergnome loves the casual game. The pick-it-up, put-it-down, stress-free app.

US-petrino-social-media

Where have you gone Walter Cronkite, and why have you been replaced by the likes of woopig.net? Well, at least in the world of sports journalism. Bobby Petrino is no longer calling Hogs at the University of Arkansas, because somebody by the handle of "hoggrad" on that popular woopig.net website for Razorback fans first reported that the Arkansas football coach wasn't exactly watching game film that evening.

US-My-View:-Why-libraries-matter-more-than-ever

Why libraries matter more than ever

Mountain-gorillas-rwanda-inside-africa

Hidden high among the forested volcanoes of central Africa, the mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were first encountered by a German explorer -- and promptly killed. It set the tone for the relationship. For much of the time since, due to deforestation and poaching, it has seemed the mountain gorilla was swiftly destined to be lost to the world again. Not long after the species' greatest champion, the American zoologist Dian Fossey, was killed in Rwanda in 1985, there were fewer than 300 of the giant primates left in the wild.

FEA-hollywood-ruins-myths

When Hollywood gets in the way of a perfectly good myth

FEA-japan-maid-culture

Cuteness is served: Exploring Japan's maid culture

COMMENTARY-Ghitis-North-Korea

North Korea's message to Washington and Iran.

COMMENTARY-matalin-hilary-rosen

Obama campaign quick to condemn a loyal supporter.

COMMENTARY-Garcia-Cuban-Americans-Guillen

Is Castro Cuban-Americans' Hitler?


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



54 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 13, 2012 Friday 6:32 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3237 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Maggie Leung- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Campaign-Wrap (will update)

After a war over women dominated presidential politics this week, the campaign focus moved to guns and taxes Friday with President Barack Obama releasing his 2011 returns and certain Republican rival Mitt Romney addressing the National Rifle Association convention.

Oklahoma-Shootings (will update)

An Oklahoma district attorney on Friday filed a host of charges -- including murder and malicious harassment based on race -- against two men accused of shooting dead three African-Americans last week in Tulsa.

Iran-Shirin-Ebadi

Iran's Nobel Peace prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, was stripped of her rights as a woman after the Iranian revolution. In an interview Friday, she reflected on the revolts in the Arab world and warned it was too early to judge whether democracy would come to these countries. And of her homeland, she said she remained optimistic that peaceful change would come one day.

North-Korea-Launch (will update)

The U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss North Korea's botched rocket launch amid concerns that the secretive and often unpredictable regime will try to recover from its embarrassing failure with a nuclear test or military move.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, will ask to get out of jail on bond until the charges against him are resolved, his attorney said Friday.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

North-Korea-Launch

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said. The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet Friday to discuss the launch, which North Korea insists was intended to put an observation satellite in orbit. The United States, South Korea and Japan say the operation is a cover for a ballistic missile test.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

With the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer jailed on a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen, the next big question: What now?

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior during an apparent coup, said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

North-Korea-Launch

The U.N. Security Council met Friday to discuss North Korea's botched rocket launch amid concerns that the secretive and often unpredictable regime will try to recover from its embarrassing failure with a nuclear test or military move.

North-Korea-Strategy

After North Korea's failed satellite launch in defiance of the international community, U.S. officials and experts say the Obama administration could move away from a policy of engagement toward one of containment.

North-Korea-neighbor-reaction

The North Korean rocket launch that threw its neighbors in the Asian region into high alert was greeted with relief on Friday as previously jittery stock markets gained ground and bans on activities in its projected flight path were relaxed. Meanwhile, China state media labeled Japanese missile defense plans against the launch as a "pretext" to contain Beijing.

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-media-openness

North Korea's opening of its launch pad to journalists has been a boon to North Korea watchers who have relied mostly on satellite imagery to take stock of the country's progress in developing long range missile and rocket capability. The flood of still photos and video have helped shape their understanding of what North Korea is up to.

North-Korea-nuclear-test

It was meant to be a show-stopping display of military might, a rocket poised to enter orbit to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the man who founded North Korea. But while the rapid disintegration of Unha-3 may have drawn sighs of relief from countries along its planned trajectory, one analyst says in this case failure may be more dangerous than success.

Iran-Nuclear

Iranian nuclear negotiators arrived Friday and began consultations with Chinese and Russian counterparts on the eve of international talks on the country's nuclear program, state media reported.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four people accused in what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia went on trial Friday in Copenhagen.

Israel-aerial-flotilla-protest

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Widows

Pakistan will deport the widows and children of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia next week, their attorney said Friday.

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs. At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

France-Sarkozy-Profile

Until last month the conventional wisdom was that Nicolas Sarkozy would fail in his bid for a second term as French president. Mocked for his lavish lifestyle, and a private life that saw him divorce his second wife immediately after his election in 2007 and go on to marry singer Carla Bruni, the French have never warmed to "Sarko." He is often known as "quel q'un qui derange," someone who drives you crazy. The reason for their mixed feelings about Sarkozy is his apparent desire to ruffle feathers and challenge the established order. His presidency has been in constant motion: the 35-hour week? Sarkozy worked against it. Delay the retirement age beyond 60? Sarkozy achieved it, despite strikes and demonstrations. A bloated public sector? Sarkozy eliminated 160,000 civil service jobs. None of these reforms was universally popular and some, at least initially, were almost universally condemned. But Sarkozy believed them necessary and persisted in his belief that his countrymen would come round to his way of thinking. However, as the eurozone crisis swirled, the president received a jolt in January when one of the world's top credit ratings agencies, Standard & Poor's, downgraded France's rating from the maximum Triple A status. Sarkozy's main rival, center left candidate Francois Hollande, launched a scathing attack on the government's policies, saying: "We are no longer in the first division."

Cairo-pigeon-breeders-politics

On a rooftop high above Cairo, Moustafa Hassan tenderly cares for his babies -- all 350 of them. Hassan keeps a rooftop loft with both racing and "fancy" pigeons, and his birds are like family to him. "This is my son," he said, picking up his favorite pigeon. "I deal with all the pigeons like my son or my children."

Germany-Train-Crash

Three people died and 13 were injured when a German commuter train collided with a maintenance crane Friday morning, German police said.

Germany-Incest-Court

A German man sent to prison over an incestuous relationship with his sister has lost his case that the conviction violated his right to a private and family life at the European Court of Human Rights.

Sudans-UN-Demand

The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over a disputed oil-rich border region. The border clashes have threatened to return the neighbors to a full-scale war.

Myanmar-Britain-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Myanmar Friday on the first visit by a high-profile Western leader to the nation in decades.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama's trip to Cartagena, Colombia, will be historic from the moment Air Force One touches down on Friday. His weekend visit will mark the longest time a U.S. president will have spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

MONEY-China-Gdp

China's economic growth lost more momentum at the beginning of the year, but experts aren't too worried that the slowdown will continue for long.

SPORT-motorsport-f1-bahrain-ecclestone

Should sport and politics mix? Bernie Ecclestone has told CNN that they should not -- and that is why he is happy for Bahrain to host a Formula One race next weekend despite protests from human rights groups unhappy with the kingdom's regime.

U.S.A.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, will ask to get out of jail on bond until the charges against him are resolved, his attorney said Friday.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

Mayor Corey Booker of Newark, New Jersey dashed into a burning building Thursday night to help rescue a trapped woman, an act of heroism that sent him to the hospital.

SPORT-Arkansas-Petrino-Crash

The University of Arkansas has suspended a woman whose relationship with former football coach Bobby Petrino came to light after his motorcycle crashed this month, a school spokesman said Friday.

Former-CIA-Officer-pleads-not-guilty

A former CIA officer entered a not guilty plea on Friday to charges he gave classified information to reporters and lied to a CIA review board about material in a book he wrote.

US-Alex-Karras-NFL-Lawsuit

Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom "Webster" -- and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia -- has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.

POL-Religious-Freedom-Campaign

The Roman Catholic Church announced a major campaign Thursday aimed at bringing attention to what it said were growing threats to religious liberty in the United States, including the pending White House rule requiring health insurance companies to provide free contraceptive coverage to employees of Catholic organizations.

POL-West-Communist-Controversy

Standing by his controversial remarks this week targeting certain members of Congress as communists, Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida called on supporters Friday to donate toward his fight against "extreme left-wing positions."

MONEY-Apple-Doj-Ebooks

Apple has responded to an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, saying it fostered, not quelled, competition in the electronic publishing industry.

MONEY-Bernanke-Federal-Reserve

The Federal Reserve needs to focus just as heavily on its regulatory role as its monetary policy operations, Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed Friday.

MONEY-Carriercompare

A new app hit the iTunes store Friday morning that your carrier probably isn't too thrilled about. It's called CarrierCompare. Developed by Boston-based startup SwayMarkets, it allows you to see which carrier offers the best service for your iPhone in any given location.

MONEY-Tax-Day-April-17

Tax Day is drawing near, but you still have a little time left to get your return filed to Uncle Sam. While the tax filing deadline typically falls on April 15, this year taxes are due Tuesday, April 17.

MONEY-Foreclosures

The golden age for foreclosure squatters may soon be coming to an end now that the $26 billion mortgage settlement has been approved. The settlement, agreed to by the nation's five largest mortgage lenders, is expected to speed up the foreclosure process by providing stricter guidelines for the banks to follow when repossessing homes.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

After one of the fastest and steepest runups in recent memory, it's possible gasoline prices may have peaked. Retail gas prices fell more than half a cent Friday to a nationwide average just above $3.90 a gallon, according to AAA, continuing a decline started late last week that has shaved almost 4 cents off the price of gas.

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.

Ohio-Shooting

An apparent domestic dispute left three people dead at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant near Cleveland on Thursday, according to Ohio police.

California-Deputy-Killed

A California sheriff's deputy serving an eviction notice was shot and killed Thursday along with a civilian who was helping in the eviction, authorities said. The incident, that occurred in Modesto California, continued late Thursday evening as the alleged shooter barricaded himself into the home and did not leave despite a large blaze erupting there.

Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama's trip to Cartagena, Colombia, will be historic from the moment Air Force One touches down on Friday. His weekend visit will mark the longest time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

After a war over women dominated presidential politics this week, the campaign focus moved to guns and taxes Friday with President Barack Obama releasing his 2011 returns and certain Republican rival Mitt Romney addressing the National Rifle Association convention.

MONEY-Obama-Tax-Return

President Obama and the first family saw their income drop by almost $1 million in 2011 as sales from his best-selling books slowed.

POL-Obama-Romney-Taxes

The fight over how best to tax the American people turned to the personal finances of the two competing presidential candidates Friday, as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2011 tax returns and called for all-but-certain GOP nominee Mitt Romney to do the same.

POL-Romney-Florida-Obama

Florida surrogates for the likely GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, gave a not-so-warm welcome to President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to the Sunshine State on Friday.

POL-Romney-NRA-Speech

America's gun laws, brought into sharp relief this spring after the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager in Florida, will be the focus of likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney Friday at the annual meeting of the powerful National Rifle Association.

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Romney-Speech-General-Election

Mitt Romney's speech Friday to the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis will be mark the launch of the general election campaign against President Barack Obama, his advisers said.

POL-Crossroads-Ad-Obama

American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, announced its latest ad buy against President Barack Obama on Friday, taking a swing at the administration's coal industry policies.

FEATURES

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen?

MED-side-effects-sports-fan

Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood. Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite. "It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."

TRAVEL-National-Mall-Designs

How about an ice skating rink on the National Mall, just a stone's throw from the Lincoln Memorial? Or a new, expanded outdoor amphitheater next to the Washington Monument, where people sit on the grass and watch a performance?

TECH-Draw-Something-app-appeal

Chris Pirillo is many things: a self-proclaimed geek, a blogger, an entrepreneur -- and according to him, an average gamer. The 38-year-old founder of blogging network Lockergnome loves the casual game. The pick-it-up, put-it-down, stress-free app.

US-petrino-social-media

Where have you gone Walter Cronkite, and why have you been replaced by the likes of woopig.net? Well, at least in the world of sports journalism. Bobby Petrino is no longer calling Hogs at the University of Arkansas, because somebody by the handle of "hoggrad" on that popular woopig.net website for Razorback fans first reported that the Arkansas football coach wasn't exactly watching game film that evening.

Mountain-gorillas-rwanda-inside-africa

Hidden high among the forested volcanoes of central Africa, the mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were first encountered by a German explorer -- and promptly killed. It set the tone for the relationship. For much of the time since, due to deforestation and poaching, it has seemed the mountain gorilla was swiftly destined to be lost to the world again. Not long after the species' greatest champion, the American zoologist Dian Fossey, was killed in Rwanda in 1985, there were fewer than 300 of the giant primates left in the wild.

COMMENTARY-Ghitis-North-Korea

North Korea's message to Washington and Iran.

COMMENTARY-matalin-hilary-rosen

Obama campaign quick to condemn a loyal supporter.

COMMENTARY-Garcia-Cuban-Americans-Guillen

Is Castro Cuban-Americans' Hitler?


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



55 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 13, 2012 Friday 2:14 PM EST


Obama campaign quick to condemn a loyal supporter


BYLINE: By Mary Matalin, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 656 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Mary Matalin, a Republican strategist, is a CNN political contributor. She has worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and was counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney.

(CNN) -- Every syllable that could have possibly been uttered on Rosen v. Romney, the latest offshoot of the demonstrably dopey Democrat-fabricated "War on Women" has already been said.

So this post is not a reiteration of what every common-sense person knows, regardless of their party affiliation:

First and foremost: Ann Romney is a quiet hero, a woman of indomitable fortitude and the epitome of a proud and productive modern woman; (2) President Barack Obama's policies hurt women equally, if not worse than, all Americans. (3) Whether they work in or out of the home, women have more contact with the real-world everyday problems the president's policies have made worse -- from the rising cost of daily staples -- including but not limited to, energy, groceries and health care premiums -- to the plummeting value of their homes and retirement, to a job-stifling recovery with the velocity of a belly crawl.

And the liberal Potemkin Village philosophy has long been exposed: Liberal feminism is not -- and never has been about -- promoting and effectuating policies that provide options and opportunity for all American women; it has always been about divisive identity politics and mindless, spineless group think.

What has been less explored is how Obama Democrats and apparatchiks lack a fundamental ethic of good campaigns, (not to mention, good people): loyalty and dare I say it ... fairness.

There are plenty of vicious, hateful, vacuous liberals who regularly vomit venomous, vile diatribes against anyone remotely associated with a conservative thought. Hilary Rosen is not one of those liberals.

High ranking among those kind of loudmouth liberals are some of her "Kumbaya" comrades who drop-kicked her under an 18-wheeler for uncharacteristically using poorly chosen punditry one-tenth of 1% as egregious as their putrid hourly utterances.

Rosen is a liberal to be sure, but in my work with her on CNN and when she is a substitute host for Arianna Huffington on our radio show, "Both Sides Now," she is consistently a civil and articulate advocate of her philosophy. She has even been known to concede a capitalist point now and then!

Rosen is a big girl and knows politics ain't beanbag, but she deserved some face-saving space and time to come to the only right conclusion -- to apologize to Mrs. Romney for saying she "had never worked a day in her life" -- which were she her own client, she would have demanded immediately, as she is one smart cookie.

Yet before the commercial break, the Obama high command was in high dudgeon. Let's do a little exercise in decoding Obama-world: Have you ever seen them horsewhip a blundering man with the ferocity they laid into Rosen? A bit of irony in the War on Women world, no?

Just for comparison's sake to make my point about the character of an operation, when I made a notoriously stupid blunder (one of too many to count) in the Bush 41 campaign, and the chattering classes' hairs were ablaze demanding my immediate tar-and-feathering, President Bush himself called me and told me to keep fighting, and to make just a tad fewer wild throws; he put out the word that our own staff was to lay off.

This is all insider stuff, and likely of little interest to the wider CNN audience, but here is the point, which every political veteran will recognize: The character of a campaign flows from the top; it is a reflection of the values of the leadership. While relentlessly extolling how caring and fair it is about every last citizen, when it came to its own foxhole sister, the Obama team showed its true character.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion.

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mary Matalin.


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Corrected spelling of "Kumbaya" in 7th para, 10:14 am


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



56 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 13, 2012 Friday 7:34 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3557 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ed Payne - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue (4 a.m.)

Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker ran into a burning home Thursday night to try and rescue a trapped woman, an act of heroism that sent him to the hospital.

Ohio-Shooting (4 a.m.)

Ohio Police shot and killed a gunman at a restaurant near Cleveland Thursday evening, where two people were killed in an apparent domestic dispute, authorities said.

North-Korea-Launch (will update)

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (will update)

An affidavit of probable cause in Florida's case against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of an unarmed 17-year-old says that the neighborhood watch volunteer "profiled" the victim, Trayvon Martin, and disregarded a police dispatcher's request that he await the arrival of police.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian troops clashed with defecting soldiers Friday near the border with Turkey in an apparent violation of an internationally- brokered cease-fire, opposition activists said.The cease-fire went into effect Thursday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

North-Korea-Launch

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

An affidavit of probable cause in Florida's case against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of an unarmed 17-year-old says that the neighborhood watch volunteer "profiled" the victim, Trayvon Martin, and disregarded a police dispatcher's request that he await the arrival of police.

Syria-Unrest

The world turned a skeptical eye toward Syria on Thursday after a truce cast relative calm over restive cities and towns previously pounded by government forces.

INTERNATIONAL

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

Argentina-Baby-Survivor

A premature baby who survived hours in a morgue refrigerator in Argentina was in "very serious" condition after doctors detected an infection, state media reported. The infection could compromise Luz Milagros Veron's neurological system and kidney function, the Telam news agency reported Thursday.

Peru-Hostages

Peruvian authorities have deployed 1,500 troops to search for dozens of workers taken hostage by suspected Shining Path rebels this week. The rebels have demanded money in exchange for the hostages, the state-run Andina news agency said, but government officials have said they will not negotiate with terrorists.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-media-openness

North Korea's opening of its launch pad to journalists has been a boon to North Korea watchers who have relied mostly on satellite imagery to take stock of the country's progress in developing long range missile and rocket capability. The flood of still photos and video have helped shape their understanding of what North Korea is up to.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama's trip to Cartagena, Colombia, will be historic from the moment Air Force One touches down on Friday. His weekend visit will mark the longest time a U.S. president will have spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

MONEY-China-Gdp

China's economic growth lost more momentum at the beginning of the year, but experts aren't too worried that the slowdown will continue for long.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four Swedish nationals will stand trial in Copenhagen Friday in what officials describe as the most serious ever Islamist terrorist plot in Scandinavia. The alleged plot, which counter-terrorism officials in the United States and Scandinavia believe was directed by al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, targeted Jyllands Posten, the Copenhagen-based newspaper responsible for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

ivan-watson-q-and-a

On Thursday, CNN correspondent Ivan Watson was at a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey. A stone's throw away, a barbed-wire fence marked the border with Syria, a porous frontier that has become a lifeline for the Syrian opposition inside the country. For hours, he watched Syrians, whole families even, crawl through a hole in the fence to go back and forth across the border. Most of them would eventually return to the refugee camp.

Pakistan-US-Relations

Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues.

Mali-Revolt

Africa has seen some ugly divorces in recent times: Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. Now Mali is threatened with partition as a rebellion flares in the north and political uncertainty grips the capital, Bamako. Mali's neighbors and western governments are looking on anxiously as drug traffickers and Islamist groups affiliated with al Qaeda take advantage of the vacuum -- in a region already blighted by hunger, poverty and weak government.

Yemen-Militants-Clashes

At least 42 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed in Loder, in Yemen's Abyan province, in continuous government bombardment on their hideouts over the last 24 hours, two security officials in the province told CNN on Thursday.

Egypt-Elections

Egypt's Parliament unanimously passed a bill Thursday that aims to ban former members of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for president for 10 years.

Munch-The-Scream-London

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" -- "the world's most stolen work of art" -- has gone on display in London ahead of its sale in New York next month, where it is expected to fetch more than $80 million.

SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-Schumacher-Webber

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has dismissed security fears ahead of next week's Bahrain Grand Prix.

South-Korea-Elections

A day after her ruling Saenuri (or New Frontier) party won a majority in general elections, Park Geun-hye, its leader and likely presidential candidate, pledged that people's lives will get better.

UK-US-Hacking-Claims

British lawyer Mark Lewis said Thursday he is preparing to take legal action on behalf of three clients who believe their phones were hacked while they were in the United States. One of his clients is a U.S. citizen, he told CNN, but he declined to reveal their identities.

UK-Met-Police-Hacking

A critical report Thursday into links between top officers at London's Metropolitan Police Service and a former deputy editor of the News of the World found professional boundaries were blurred and poor judgment shown.

Pakistan-US-Relations

Pakistan's parliament set out new guidelines for its relations with the United States, as it agreed to re-engage with Washington after months of tension over deadly airstrikes on a Pakistani border post by NATO forces and other issues.

Mali-Unrest

Mali's new interim president vowed that he would not let the country be split by rebels as he was sworn in Thursday, restoring the country to civilian rule after a brief military coup.

U.S.A.

California-Deputy-Killed

A California sheriff's deputy serving an eviction notice was shot and killed Thursday along with a civilian who was helping in the eviction, authorities said. The incident, that occurred in Modesto California, continued late Thursday evening as the alleged shooter barricaded himself into the home and did not leave despite a large blaze erupting there.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker ran into a burning home Thursday night to try and rescue a trapped woman, an act of heroism that sent him to the hospital.

Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama's trip to Cartagena, Colombia, will be historic from the moment Air Force One touches down on Friday. His weekend visit will mark the longest time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Next

What's happens now that Zimmerman is charged in Trayvon Martin death?

Florida-Shooting-Charge

The second-degree murder charge George Zimmerman faces in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin surprised some observers, but it's typical in "heat of passion" slayings, a Florida defense lawyer said Thursday.

Florida-Zimmerman-Jail

George Michael Zimmerman, inmate #201200004452, is living in a cell with 67 square feet of floor space, is allowed to read the Bible and magazines, but has no access to TV, according to officials at the central Florida jail where he is being held.

US-Trayvon-Case-Rodney-King

When Florida authorities announced they were charging George Zimmerman with second degree murder in the killing of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, Rodney King told CNN he was not surprised.

Florida-Anthony-Gonzalez

A Florida judge ruled Thursday that a woman's defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony can go forward, contending that a jury should make the final decision on several contentious issues critical to the case.

Pennsylvania-Sandusky-Abuse-Case

A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday denied former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's attempts to dismiss the case against him, setting the stage for his trial in two months on a host of child sex abuse charges.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shootings

Two Coast Guard members have been shot dead on an island off Alaska's coast, prompting the lockdown Thursday of their base and at least one nearby school.

Massachusetts-Terror-Conviction

A pharmacy graduate from Massachusetts who sympathized with al-Qaeda, and traveled to Yemen in the hopes of linking up with the terrorist group, was sentenced Thursday to 17½ years in federal prison, court officials said.

Indiana-State-Fair-Reports

Scaffolding that collapsed during a storm and killed seven people during the Indiana State Fair last year was not up to standard, and the fair's commission did not have adequate emergency planning in place, according to two investigative reports presented Thursday.

Connecticut-Death-Penalty

Connecticut's governor says he will sign a bill abolishing the death penalty, making it the 17th state to abandon capital punishment. On Wednesday night, lawmakers in Connecticut's House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 86-63. The state Senate approved it last week.

Kentucky-Gay-Hate-Crime-Case

Two Kentucky men pleaded not guilty Thursday to kidnapping and assaulting a gay man because of his sexual orientation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

DC-National-Mall

Proposed pavilions and pools would spruce up National Mall

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

Law enforcement were engaged Thursday night in "an active, armed standoff" with two people inside a southeastern New Hampshire home where, hours earlier, one police officer was killed and four others wounded, the state's attorney general said.

US-Humane-Society-Chicken-Farm

The Humane Society released Thursday what it says is video showing gruesome images of many dead chickens -- and in some cases, mummified chicken carcasses -- at a farm in southeastern Pennsylvania.

US-New-Hampshire-Rwanda-Trial

A New Hampshire woman accused of lying her way into the United States after allegedly participating in the 1994 Rwanda genocide was released from federal custody and put under house arrest Thursday following a mistrial, attorneys from both sides said.

US-New-York-Suspicious-Package

Police say a novelty or inert grenade was responsible for the evacuation of a Manhattan skyscraper across the street from the former World Trade Center, the site of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

US-John-Edwards-Trial

Jury selection begins in a Greensboro, North Carolina, federal courtroom Thursday in the trial of 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

TECH-angry-birds-virus-android

Virus found in fake Android version of 'Angry Birds: Space'

TRAVEL-JetBlue-Pilot

A JetBlue pilot has been indicted, accused of interfering with a flight crew just over two weeks after several passengers wrestled him to the floor after he exhibited what authorities described as erratic behavior.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

A Democratic strategist apologized Thursday for a comment questioning Ann Romney's qualifications to advise her husband on women's economic issues, while the Romney campaign sought to exploit the controversy to help fix a gender gap problem in the race against President Barack Obama.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney continued Thursday in the battleground state of New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Obama-Biden-Swing-States

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden tag team Thursday as they continue their push for the so-called "Buffett Rule," and they're making their pitches in crucial battleground states.

POL-Romney-Social-Conservative-Groups

Two leading national anti-abortion organizations Thursday endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president.

POL-Romney-Mormon-Issue

A top evangelical leader who is close to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says the candidate's Mormon faith will be even more of an issue in the general election than it has been in the primary, predicting that the focus on Romney's faith will present a challenge to Romney.

POL-2012-New-Jersey

If Mitt Romney is looking for an advantage in New Jersey, picking the state's governor Chris Christie as his running mate may help, though a new poll suggests it wouldn't be enough to create a winning Republican ticket.

POL-Barbour-Romney-2012

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has no plans to formally endorse Mitt Romney now that his fiercest challenger, Rick Santorum, is no longer in the presidential race.

POL-Biden-Romney-New-Hampshire

Vice President Joe Biden's campaign attacks on Mitt Romney will continue Thursday in the battleground state New Hampshire, a state Biden and President Barack Obama won in 2008 but where Romney made significant inroads during the GOP primary in January.

POL-Michelle-Obama-Ann-Romney

Michelle Obama became the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on the stirring controversy over comments made against Ann Romney.

POL-Romney-Surrogate-Charity

It was meant to be a prebuttal to Vice President Joe Biden's Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire, but former Granite State governor John Sununu, a Mitt Romney supporter, used the opportunity to slam the president for his record in donating to charity.

POL-Obama-Romney-Ad

Maybe you've heard the president's top aides call Mitt Romney the "godfather" of the Obama health care law? Now the Obama campaign is out with a web video that drives home their message.

POL-Poll-Michelle-Obama

A new poll released Thursday indicated almost two-thirds of voters continue to have a favorable view of Michelle Obama.

POL-Romney-Health-Law-Anniversary

Six years to the day after then Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law his state's historic bipartisan health care bill, the anniversary over the controversial measure was overshadowed by another political controversy.

POL-Rosen-Apology

Responding to a downpour of criticism over comments she made about Ann Romney, top Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said Thursday she was not taking the heat too personally-even that coming from within her own party.

POL-Rosen-Romney-Reaction

Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apologized on Thursday for her Wednesday comment about Ann Romney after the controversy went viral and drew bipartisan criticism on Twitter.

POL-Romney-Campaign-Rosen

The Mitt Romney campaign sought to further capitalize politically on the swirling controversy over the remark from Hilary Rosen that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life," by dispatching female surrogates to accuse Rosen of speaking for the White House.

POL-Obama-Rosen-Ann-Romney

Less than 24 hours after Hilary Rosen made a comment about Ann Romney's history as a stay-at-home mother, President Barack Obama joined other political heavyweights in taking a swing at the Democratic strategist's controversial remarks.

FEATURES

ENT-Gibson-Alleged-Rants

Mel Gibson frequently spews "looney, rancid" anti-Semitism, has talked about killing his former girlfriend, and is prone to hate-filled diatribes slamming everyone from John Lennon to Walter Cronkite, according to a screenwriter who has been working with him.

ENT-Alec-Baldwin-Tweet-30Rock

Alec Baldwin tweet causes '30 Rock' fans to worry

ENT-Biggest-Loser-Michelle-Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama racked up major cool points with contestants for "The Biggest Loser" when she hung out with them at the White House.

ENT-Avengers-World-Premiere

Samuel L. Jackson is cool with being part of an ensemble cast for the upcoming "Avengers," but he'd still like his character to star in his own film. The actor told CNN Wednesday that after two "Iron Man" films starring Robert Downey Jr. and movies focused on "Captain America" and "Thor," he wouldn't mind having some of the spotlight on his character, Nick Fury.

ENT-Three-Stooges-Throwback

The Throwback: Greatest hits (and pokes, and nyuks) from 'Three Stooges'

ENT-JKRowling-Adult-Novel-Details

When J.K. Rowling announced in February that she was working on her first novel specifically geared toward adults, the demographic was about all fans had to go on. But now we have more details - and a title.

Georgia-Locomotive-Chase

Georgia cities remember madcap 'Great Locomotive Chase' 150 years later

Mammoth-hong-kong

From the ice age to the modern age, a 42,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth debuted on the world stage in Hong Kong.

US-CNNHeroes-Wing-Kovarik-gay-adoption

Breaking down barriers so foster kids can find a family

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen? Doctors at the Perrando Hospital in northeast Argentina can't explain how several doctors pronounced the child dead or how the premature infant born three months early survived for so many hours inside a chilly coffin.

TRAVEL-American-Stories-Exhibit

Reinforcing identity and learning more about who we are: That's the theme of "American Stories," a new exhibit now open at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

FEA-buffett-secretary-assistant

If the word "secretary" doesn't conjure up an image for you, just run a quick Google Image search. The pencil in the mouth is a recurring motif, as are beaming women in headsets seated in front of computers. Images abound of women in low-cut blouses, legs crossed under tiny skirts, alongside head shots of Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton. The women of "Mad Men" hold their ground next to bondage shots of Maggie Gyllenhaal from the movie "Secretary."

FEA-spoiler-culture

When "Firefly" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon introduced the film "The Cabin in the Woods" last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, he told the audience, "I hope you enjoy it, and then sorta keep it to yourself."

FEA-Grilled-Cheese-Day

Hot off the press: April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Day!

TRAVEL-American-Stories-Exhibit

Reinforcing identity and learning more about who we are: That's the theme of "American Stories," a new exhibit now open at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

TRAVEL-malaysia-airlines-babies

If you want to stir up a fiery debate -- or maybe even a fist fight -- start talking about air travel and children. Inevitably, someone will declare that airlines should offer "kid-free flights."

TRAVEL-Celebrity-Inspired-Getaways

Do you find yourself enviously clicking through pictures of celebrity homes on your lunch hour? Instead of turning green over the multibillion-dollar estates of George Clooney or Brad and Angelina, why not follow their lead? Plan your own getaway in a place where the stars have found solace, far from the fray.


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)


April 13, 2012 Friday


Time For Rick, Mitt To Play Nice


BYLINE: Tom Murse / Politically Speaking


SECTION: B; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 574 words


DATELINE: Lancaster, PA


Rick Santorum made the right move at the right time.

But just barely.

His campaign is nearly $1 million in debt, and there was no reason for him to endure the reels of negative attack ads awaiting him in Pennsylvania or to risk the humiliation of losing his home state on April 24.

So he quit the race Tuesday.

A day later, a statewide poll of likely Republican voters showed Mitt Romney, who had barely unleashed nearly $3 million in ad spending here, beating him by 4 percentage points.

Santorum, ever defiant, promised to press on in other ways.

"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign today, we are not done fighting," Santorum told supporters in Gettysburg on Tuesday.

But Santorum's job, as of today, is still only half finished.

He has to repair the damage he's done to the presumed nominee.

And if you think there isn't any, a walk around the Good Shepherd Chapel at Lancaster Bible College, where the former U.S. senator spoke later Tuesday, suggested otherwise.

Many Republican voters said they will have a hard time supporting the man Santorum has been calling a "liar" and a "flip-flopper" for the past several months, the man Santorum said would be the "worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama" on the issue of health-care reform.

Words matter.

No, those voters won't vote for President Obama in the fall.

Some just might not vote at all.

Romney and the Republican establishment are now waiting for Santorum to endorse the former Massachusetts governor, to send a signal to evangelicals and tea party conservatives that Romney is their best chance at winning the White House in November.

But, so far, the characteristically stubborn Santorum can't even manage to say Romney's name; he didn't utter it at a private fundraiser in Ephrata on Tuesday, and he didn't use it at the Good Shepherd Chapel, either.

Yo, Rick. Just say it.

Romney.

He's going to be the nominee.

The sooner you endorse him, the better - for both the nominee-in-waiting and for your own future aspirations in the party. But surely you know that.

Romney, for his part, said he fully expects to campaign alongside Santorum.

And soon.

"I expect when I finally become the nominee - I hope that happens soon - that we'll be campaigning together, we'll be working together," Romney said.

Santorum will have the perfect chance, and the perfect setting, to deliver his endorsement to Romney next week, when the two appear at the Republican Committee of Lancaster County's spring banquet in downtown Lancaster.

It will, in fact, be the first time the two Republicans have been in the same room since late March, by my calculation.

It was absolutely fitting that Santorum's first couple of appearances following his decision to quit the race Tuesday were in Lancaster County, where he's always enjoyed support from Republican voters.

He called this the "conservative heartland" of the state.

"When I was a senator from Pennsylvania, I used to come to Lancaster County to recharge my batteries," Santorum told the crowd of about 600 at Lancaster Bible College.

It would be just as fitting, then, for Santorum to step up to the dais in Lancaster this coming Tuesday night, before an expected crowd of some 1,200 Republicans, including Newt Gingrich (who might just get the message himself), and deliver that endorsement.

I believe it will happen.

The timing would be perfect.

tmurse@lnpnews.com


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: Tom Murse Politically Speaking


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved



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The New York Times


April 13, 2012 Friday
Late Edition - Final


Campaigns Plan Maximum Push to Raise Money


BYLINE: By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 1128 words


The big money in presidential politics is about to get a whole lot bigger.

Aides and leading donors to Mitt Romney are preparing a major expansion of the campaign's fund-raising efforts to prepare for a general election contest against President Obama, with the goal of raising up to $600 million, according to several people involved in the discussions.

Republican-leaning outside groups and Democratic-leaning unions are planning to spend hundreds of millions more.

And Mr. Obama, who raised $750 million in 2008, is likely to meet or exceed that this year, according to people involved in his fund-raising operation.

Those goals make it virtually certain that neither party's nominee will accept public funds for the general election or the spending limits that come with them -- the likely death knell for a cornerstone of the post-Watergate campaign finance reforms intended to limit the influence of money in federal elections.

Mr. Obama opted out of the public financing program in 2008, breaking a campaign pledge, and went on to outspend the Republican nominee, John McCain, by four to one.

''This is going to be the most moneyed election in the history of the United States,'' said Bob Edgar, the president of Common Cause, a group that favors greater restrictions on campaign spending. Mr. Edgar, a former congressman who was among the Democratic ''Watergate babies'' elected in the wake of the scandal, added, ''There is a sense of coming full circle, of forgetting our history -- the reason we installed a system for financing campaigns that didn't rely on corporate or wealthy money.''

Mr. Obama has already held over a hundred major fund-raisers for his campaign, jointly raising large amounts with the Democratic National Committee, and Mr. Romney is moving quickly to catch up. His campaign is planning dozens of fund-raisers through the end of June, high-dollar events that will feature Mr. Romney as well as the campaign's top allies and other elected officials.

The campaign is setting a goal of raising at least $1 million for most events featuring Mr. Romney personally.

Those efforts will be aided by a new joint fund-raising agreement with the Republican National Committee that allows Mr. Romney to command far larger checks than he has during the primaries, when his campaign was limited to increments of $2,500 or less. Under the agreement, guests at major Romney events will be able to write checks as large as $75,000 to a ''Romney Victory'' committee.

About half of that sum would go Mr. Romney's campaign or the Republican committee, mimicking the arrangement under which Mr. Obama, as an incumbent, has been raising money since last spring for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The remainder will be split among Republican state parties in Massachusetts, Idaho, Oklahoma and Vermont -- where party leaders are deemed loyal to Mr. Romney -- and later re-allocated to the most critical battleground states.

''It's going to ramp up dramatically,'' said Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets and one of Mr. Romney's national finance co-chairmen. ''The response I've been getting, of people willing to max out on the victory side, has been very very good, very enthusiastic.''

Restore Our Future, the ''super PAC'' whose millions of dollars in negative advertising helped bury Mr. Romney's Republican rivals, will also shift its focus to the general election, officials familiar with its plans said. The group, which raised more than $43 million through the end of February, is hoping to reach the $100 million mark by the end of the cycle.

The super PAC will also have help from Mr. Romney's allies and backers: Jim Talent, the former United States senator and a key surrogate for Mr. Romney during the primaries, appeared at a Restore Our Future briefing for donors in New York on Wednesday.

And people involved with the group's fund-raising have in recent days approached Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner whose family contributed over $16 million to a rival super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, to consider contributing to Restore Our Future. They have also approached Charles and David Koch, the wealthy conservative businessmen who founded Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.

Restore Our Future's political director, Carl Forti, is also an official with American Crossroads, a pro-Republican super PAC that is planning to raise as much as $300 million to spend on the 2012 elections. Federal rules permit the two super PACs to coordinate directly with each other on raising and spending money, and Mr. Romney's allies expect that Crossroads and other outside groups, like Americans for Prosperity, will spend up to $100 million against Mr. Obama.

But people involved in the Romney fund-raising efforts emphasized that much about the plans remained fluid, as both the campaign and officials at outside groups who support Mr. Romney grapple with the new world of super PACs. The PACs are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising this year and have tested programs more traditionally associated with campaigns, like voter identification and turnout.

''This is so different,'' said one Romney adviser, who asked for anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations. ''I think this is uncharted waters.''

Romney advisers said the first wave of attack ads from Mr. Obama's campaign -- which sought to tie Mr. Romney to oil companies -- would soon be countered by commercials from Mr. Romney.

They also suggested that the combined fund-raising would make his campaign competitive with Mr. Obama and other pro-Democratic groups, chiefly unions, which are planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on federal, state and local elections this year. Mr. Obama's own supportive super PAC, Priorities USA Action, has had difficulty raising large contributions, though officials there hope they will increase significantly as the general election approaches.

Exactly how much Mr. Obama will raise this year is a matter of speculation and dispute. Mr. Romney's campaign and other Republicans have suggested that Mr. Obama -- the most successful presidential fund-raiser in history -- will bring in a billion dollars, a figure Mr. Obama's campaign has called little more than a myth intended to motivate conservative donors.

Some of Mr. Romney's own donors believe that figure is more likely for Mr. Obama in combination with the Democratic National Committee and other outside groups, like Priorities USA.

In briefings with potential donors, officials at Priorities USA have estimated that Mr. Romney and the Republican National Committee would bring in a combined $750 million, while Restore Our Future would bring in $250 million.


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LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


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Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company



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San Jose Mercury News (California)


April 13, 2012 Friday


Peninsula readers' letters: April 14


BYLINE: From Daily News Group readers


SECTION: COMMUNITIES; Peninsula; News; Local


LENGTH: 539 words


Cargill's ruse

Dear Editor: I was amazed but not surprised to find Redwood City Council Member Rosanne Foust publicly advocate on behalf of the Cargill development during the city council meeting this week.

The massively misguided project only got as far as it has because of her strong support for it as mayor in 2008-2009. She was warned by the Fair Political Practices Commission in 2010 not to continue to violate conflict of interest laws. Her remarks this week indicate she has not taken that warning seriously.

Redwood City residents deserve council members who promote the public interest and welfare over corporations. Cargill's fill-the-bay vision under the pretext of "needed affordable housing" is a ruse.

Gloria Maldonado,

Redwood City

Facebook expansion

Dear Editor: Recently a letter suggested possible purchases by Facebook to enhance shareholder value. All good ideas, but perhaps the best would be for Facebook to buy Menlo Park. This would allow the company to build out El Camino Real with residential and commercial uses that complement it and leave the downtown as a quiet local serving village, as intended. Perhaps Mark Zuckerberg would also see fit to synchronize the stoplights through the town as well. A grateful community would then readily buy shares in "their" company. All problems solved.

Leon G. Campbell,

Palo Alto

Ann Romney no 'working mom'

Dear Editor: Ann Romney, who in the past has stated that she finds the whole political process "distasteful," this week said she made a choice to stay home and raise her children. Having been a single, working mother who was also very involved in every aspect of raising my child, I find her recent attempt in coming to the rescue of stay-at-home mothers equally distasteful. Why? Well, if most working mothers, single or married, were worth $250 million and had a staff of 26 to help out with the house and kids, some might consider staying home too.

Equally disturbing is her self-described therapy of "horse riding," which for millionaires is doublespeak for "equestrianism," or "I own a bunch of horses worth more then your house." Yes I know she is a cancer survivor and has multiple sclerosis and God bless her and keep her well. Still, that does not excuse her recent stance of acting like she or Mitt Romney actually care about the struggles of a working mom or for that matter what many stay-at-home moms go through each day.

Toni M. Villa,

Mountain View

Insensitive?

Dear Editor: CNN Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen said that Ann Romney, who was a stay-at-home mother of five, "never worked a day in her life." Democrats, including President and Mrs. Obama, immediately condemned Rosen for her comments.

Almost as fast as the GOP presidential candidates condemned Rush Limbaugh for his "slut" etc. comments. Oh wait, that's right, they didn't. Never mind ...

Janice Hough,

Palo Alto

Double standard

Dear Editor: When Sarah Palin was the Republican vice presidential candidate, she was criticized by the left because she did not stay at home and take care of her children. Now that Mitt Romney is the apparent Republican presidential nominee, the left is criticizing his wife Ann because she did stay at home and take care of her children. Go figure.

Mylan Mann,

Mountain View


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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All Rights Reserved



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States News Service


April 13, 2012 Friday


FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWS CLIPS - APRIL 13


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 769 words


DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FL


The following information was released by the Florida Democratic Party:

FDP RELEASES NEW VIDEO: "SH** ALLEN WEST SAYS" CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Cue the Cee-Lo: Dems release new web vid, 'Sh** Allen West says' [Miami Herald] "The Florida Democratic Party is portraying Plantation Congressman Allen West as crazy -- both in the words of talking heads and in the underlying music track, "Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley/Cee-Lo"

Florida Dems release 'Sh** Allen West Says' video after 'communist' remarks [The Hill] "The Florida Democratic Party released a video Friday titled "Sh** Allen West Says," in the style of the viral YouTube meme, slamming the Florida congressman for his controversial comments."

Dem video attacks Allen West remarks [Sun Sentinel] "The Florida Democratic Party released an attack video on Friday rounding up some of Allen West's most controversial remarks to try to depict him as an unhinged right-wing radical."

What you might have missed on Allen West: Cold War Update - Alleged Congressional Communists [Colbert Nation]The Tea Party's Allen West spills secret hearsay about some Democratic Congress members.

ALSO BREAKING TODAY: FDP RELEASES MARCH VOTER REGISTRATION DATA, BEATING GOP BY 8 POINTS Fla Dems edge out Republicans in voter registrations last month [Palm Beach Post] "Florida Democrats are picking up steam heading into the general election, beating the GOP in lassoing new voters last month by 8 percent, according to data released by the Florida Democratic Party today."

Race before the race: Fla Dems claiming momentum in voter registration [Orlando Sentinel] "The Florida Democratic Party today released their March voter registration data, claiming an 8-percentage point advantage over what Florida Republicans had done. A release from the Democrats called it a 'further sign that voters are fleeing the GOP.' It stated that Republican trailed Democrats in voter registration for the second consecutive month. Democrats continue to maintain an overall voter registration advantage of 4-percent."

POLITIFACT: CONNIE MACK IV AD "MOSTLY FALSE" Connie Mack says Bill Nelson voted to study monkeys on cocaine [Politifact] "Mack's claim is pretty bananas"Even a critic who calls the project wasteful says you can't blame Nelson. We rate the statement Mostly False."

MEANWHILE"George LeMieux wins another U.S. Senate straw poll [Orlando Sentinel] "GOP U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux won the East Manatee straw poll today with U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, who's lead in all the broad voter polls, finishing a distant third after not showing up"LeMieux also recently won two other straw polls, one of a Tea Party convention last month, and one of the Florida Federation of Republican Women earlier this winter."

OBAMA TALKS TRADE IN FLORIDA

Obama keeps message on economy during Florida stop [CNN] "Touching down in the key campaign state of Florida for the second time this week, President Obama pledged to further promote trade with Latin America and unveiled a new federal program to aide small businesses exporting south of the border."

First Lady praises military families on Fla. Stop [AP] "Mrs. Obama visited Naval Air Station Jacksonville as part of the one-year anniversary of her "joining forces" program, which aims to help veterans and their families"

Happy 6th birthday, RomneyCare! Obama's campaign releases video [Miami Herald] "Lots of interesting quotes here. "This is a politicians dream... Romney's people built a stage on top of a stage....Massachusetts is a model for getting everyone insured....'"

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Counties agree to sue over state Medicaid repayment law [Times/Herald] "The Florida Association of Counties said Thursday that it will sue the state over a new law that requires counties to pay $323.5 million in disputed Medicaid bills."

FAU students find budget cuts hit home [Sun Sentinel] "At Florida Atlantic University, nearly a third of classes in the normally bustling summer session have been canceled, after the school took a nearly $25 million hit. Florida International University is deferring some maintenance projects and delaying hiring while the University of Florida has asked its departments to cut about 5 percent from their budgets."

Scott gets it wrong [PNJ Editorial] "This week the governor vetoed a bill that passed, on a total vote of 152-4, through one of the more conservative legislatures in the country. Yes, it was a remarkably progressive bill to get through the Florida Legislature, but it just goes to show that you should never give up hope. Of course, governors like Scott seem to exist to squash hope."


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 States News Service



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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=12311&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
The Washington Post


April 13, 2012 Friday
Suburban Edition


BYLINE: - Chris Cillizza


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A04


LENGTH: 458 words


Beware the recorded word

It's a strategy as old as American politics: You run toward the party base - on the left or right - in the primary and then move to the ideological middle once you become your party's standard-bearer.

But the explosion of video-sharing sites such as YouTube and microblogging technology such as Twitter badly complicates this age-old formula.

Take Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. After being dragged to the ideological right during the primary season by the likes of former senator Rick Santorum and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Romney is in the early stages of moving back to the center in hopes of courting electorally critical independents.

Nothing new there. But because basically every phrase that Romney uttered during the primary races (and well before that) is available either on YouTube or Twitter, President Obama's reelection team has tons of ammunition as it tries to hold Romney to some of the things he has said in the past.

Wednesday, the Obama campaign released a video splicing together Romney's greatest hits (or, more accurately, misses) from the Republican primaries.

Here's what senior Obama strategist David Axelrod tweeted about the Web ad: "As the GOP primary season closes, lots of enduring memories! (Put another way, video is the enemy of Etch-a-Sketch.)"

Think about what a sea change that video represents. Ten years ago (or maybe even five years ago), the ability for anyone to quickly and easily upload video and share it was nonexistent. Finding quotes - or images - from candidates in obscure places or at anything other than sanctioned campaign events was virtually impossible.

Given those limitations, it was far easier for candidates to put their primary rhetoric behind them when they became the nominee. To call them on contradictions involved A) finding some tape (audio or video) of their remarks, B) persuading a news operation to run it and C) hoping that average voters saw the report. All of those barriers have now fallen.

"Presidential elections reveal the character of the candidates," said Steve Schmidt, John McCain's top aide in the 2008 presidential race. "All of the elaborate strategies designed by the campaigns to obscure the positions, core beliefs and character of the candidates from public view will give way under the intense and unrelenting scrutiny of an interconnected, fast-changing social media universe."

While that brave new world is a complication for Romney in the near term as he seeks to slough off some of the more conservative positions he embraced in the primaries, it's also a potential problem for Obama, who ran on "hope" and "change" in 2008 and, for many, has delivered less of both than they had hoped.

- Chris Cillizza


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


DISTRIBUTION: Every Zone


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Company, LLC d/b/a Washington Post Digital
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The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)


April 14, 2012 Saturday


Milton Bass Politics from afar


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 611 words


Sunday April 15, 2012

The Lively World

RICHMOND

Everybody needs a vacation from whatever they do on a regular basis. Since I have been concentrating on politics for innumerable months, I decided to combine our annual, month-long motor trip to the South with a disregard for the pandemonium of the Republican version of the Four Horsemen that has been occupying all our attentions since Hector was a pup.

It was easier than I thought it was going to be. As a matter of fact, too easy. First of all, discarded newspapers aren't scattered around everywhere as they used to be. At some of the motels, USA Today was either delivered or available in the breakfast room but because you want to resume the road trek as soon as possible, the front page headlines are scrutinized briefly and then the buzzer goes off on the waffle machine.

Secondly, many of our hosts don't get newspapers anymore, relying on their iPhones to keep them up to date. When we hunkered down for the evening, it was past time for the national news shows and in the south they mainly seem interested in local news rather than national or international. As is the case here, crime rules the roost and the warnings were enough to keep us in so-called safe surroundings.

What surprised me most was how many stores had large signs saying "No Cash Over $50." Delivery trucks also had signs saying "We Have No Cash on Board." Cash seems to be in great demand down south.

None of our hosts wanted to talk politics. They were mostly discouraged Democrats but we did have some visits where my wife said, "Don't talk politics" before we went through the door.

On a couple of occasions in restaurants, the people at the next table could be heard discussing the Republican candidates and the gist seemed to be whether they would live up to Tea Party specifications but there was no hullabaloo attached to the discussions.

Meanwhile, on television screens I could see the faces of the Republican candidates but we were always a little too far away to make out what they were saying. By this time they had all repeated their stump speeches so many times that you could almost read their lips. Mitt Romney was saying he was a regular guy just like you, Rick Santorum was saying the world might come to an end if he was not elected and Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were being good sports.

We did have a surprise in one Delaware town where some fanatic had planted signs for Ron Paul seemingly everywhere. The signs had been hand-lettered with a stencil kit and we could only assume there was a young person with energy who wanted Paul do or die.

n

The media have given up trying to report the same speeches day after day after day and seem to be spending their time waiting for either a candidate or a member of his staff to make a faux pas. Sad to say, there are more than enough to go around and each one is more ridiculous than the one behind it.

The mega-PACs hand-fashioned by our Supreme Court were in full play wherever we went because if some one's polls dropped a point or two, TV saturation ads would be immediately forthcoming. We would see the same ad time after time after time. It's good to see the billionaires throwing away their money like this but at the same time it's bad because they eventually take it out of our hides.

So now I am back to politics and listening to these guys again. The only difference is that Romney has decided he is the eventual winner and is going after President Barack Obama for his sins. Santorum still considers us a bunch of sinners and Gingrich and Paul are being gentle and nice. But, best of all, I am monitoring them from the Berkshires.

Milton Bass is a regular Eagle
contributor.


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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CNN Wire


April 14, 2012 Saturday 11:04 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2793 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas (will update)

President Barack Obama is putting an international spin on his domestic economic agenda with planned trade talks at a weekend summit in Colombia, which is bringing together most of the hemisphere's leaders.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian forces targeted opposition neighborhoods Saturday, activists said, days into a fragile cease-fire aimed at ending a bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters.

US-Midwest-Storms (will update)

A tornado touched down late Friday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma, bringing scattered structural damage and a taste of more severe weather -- including a tornado outbreak -- expected Saturday in the Plains.

Iran-Nuclear (will update)

Talks got under way Saturday in Turkey between Iran and six world powers, as international diplomats seek to persuade Tehran to rein in its nuclear program. Iran's top negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said ahead of the talks that he intended to bring "new initiatives" to the table.

Colombia-Summit-Secret-Service

Secret Service agents sent to Colombia ahead of President Barack Obama have been relieved of duty and returned home amid allegations of misconduct, officials said. The incident in Cartagena was one of two security issues -- the other involved bomb blasts -- that overshadowed the start of the sixth Summit of the Americas, where the president was to focus on trade, energy and regional security with 33 of the region's 35 leaders.

Titanic-Anniversary-Cruise

Morgan Mullinix was laughed at when she'd tell friends where she was headed. They thought she was crazy when she signed up for the eight-day Titanic Memorial Cruise chartered to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship's demise. But for the 450 aboard the Azamara Journey, this trip is a once-in-a-a lifetime opportunity. They say it's the closest thing they'll ever have to experiencing what led to the fateful ship's demise on that cold April night in the North Atlantic.

MED-Battery-Powered-Brain

The first time Edi Guyton tried to commit suicide, she was 19 years old, wracked with depression and unable to deal with the social and academic pressure of college. Her depression controlled her life for the next 40 years -- until she decided to volunteer for an experimental treatment. A neurosurgeon would drill two holes in Guyton's skull and implant a pair of battery-powered electrodes deep inside her brain.

FEA-Bubba-Southern-Stereotypes

We've got a Masters champ named Bubba, presidential candidates eating grits, "Deliverance" celebrating 40 years -- and mockery of it all. Why do Southern stereotypes persist?

FEA-Belief-Pilgrimage-Frat-House

A 19-year-old on break from college walks nearly 70 miles to a community of Catholic nuns to pray for a friend, though he's not Catholic or especially religious.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama is putting an international spin on his domestic economic agenda with planned trade talks at a weekend summit in Colombia, which is bringing together most of the hemisphere's leaders.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman's newly hired attorney told CNN's "AC360" on Friday that he didn't initially seek bond for his client because he first needed more time to become familiar with the case.

INTERNATIONAL

Iran-Nuclear

Talks got under way Saturday in Turkey between Iran and six world powers, as international diplomats seek to persuade Tehran to rein in its nuclear program. Iran's top negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said ahead of the talks that he intended to bring "new initiatives" to the table.

Russia-Wikileaks

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to debut a talk show, "The World Tomorrow," on Russia's state-funded television network next week.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup

A group of Portuguese-speaking countries plans to meet Saturday to discuss a coup that roiled the tiny nation of Guinea-Bissau, plunging it into more chaos after nearly four decades of instability.

North-Korea-Launch-Kim

When it comes to North Korea, nothing is ever clear. You can double down on that bet when it comes to trying to foresee what the catastrophic failure of its rocket launch means for the country's new ruler and his military. North Korea experts say how Kim Jong Un reacts to this humiliating setback, however, could be an open window into the strength of his hold on leadership.

North-Korea-Strategy

After North Korea's failed satellite launch in defiance of the international community, U.S. officials and experts say the Obama administration could move away from a policy of engagement toward one of containment.

North-Korea-neighbor-reaction

The North Korean rocket launch that threw its neighbors in the Asian region into high alert was greeted with relief on Friday as previously jittery stock markets gained ground and bans on activities in its projected flight path were relaxed. Meanwhile, China state media labeled Japanese missile defense plans against the launch as a "pretext" to contain Beijing.

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-nuclear-test

It was meant to be a show-stopping display of military might, a rocket poised to enter orbit to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the man who founded North Korea. But while the rapid disintegration of Unha-3 may have drawn sighs of relief from countries along its planned trajectory, one analyst says in this case failure may be more dangerous than success.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., a military spokesman said, in a coup that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Iran-Ebadi

"If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it." The Persian proverb opens a book about the Iranian revolution by Shirin Ebadi, a human rights lawyer who became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. But there could not be a more appropriate line to sum up Ebadi's own life.

Bahrain-Clashes

Thousands of mourners defied government forces and took to the streets Friday in Salmabad, Bahrain, to attend the funeral of Ahmed Ismaeel, who was killed last week in anti-government protests, witnesses told CNN.

Yemen-al-Qaeda

Twenty-eight suspected members of al-Qaeda were killed Friday in the city of Lord, in Yemen's Abyan province, in military operations, state media reported.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four people accused in what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia went on trial Friday in Copenhagen.

Israel-aerial-flotilla-protest

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

U.S.A.

ENT-California-Latino-Producers

A new cable network for Latino audiences will mark the culmination of two decades of filmmaking for writer-director Robert Rodriguez, who is leading the ambitious effort.

Maryland-Beating-Arrest

Baltimore police say they made an arrest in a violent robbery last month that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes on a street while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

Florida-Trayvon-Brother

Trayvon Martin should be remembered as a happy, smiling teenager, says his soft-spoken older brother. Martin, 17, was an honors student who wanted to follow his sibling to college. But his life ended on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, during an encounter with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shooting

State and federal authorities are investigating the apparent double homicide of a U.S. Coast Guard member and a civilian shot dead Thursday on an island off Alaska's coast.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

To the family of Zina Hodge, the man who dashed into their burning home and pulled their loved one to safety through intense heat, falling embers and dense smoke could just be Superman. But Newark Mayor Cory Booker most definitely did not feel like the Man of Steel on Friday as he recovered from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns suffered during the rescue of his 47-year-old neighbor the previous night.

New-York-Zach-Tomaselli

A man who accused a Syracuse University assistant basketball coach of sexually molesting him as a child said Friday that it was all a lie.

Mississippi-Pardons-DUI-emails

E-mails show that Mississippi governor's office was urged not to pardon Harry Bostick, a convicted DUI felon, who was involved in a crash that killed an 18-year-old.

Kentucky-Hate-Crime

Two Kentucky women have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping and hate-crime assault involving a gay man, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Virginia-Terror-Sentencing

A Pakistani man living in Virginia was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Oklahoma-Shootings

An Oklahoma man said he doesn't hate African-Americans and counts some of them among his best friends. Murder and hate crime charges were filed on Friday accusing him and another man of killing three strangers because they were black.

Ohio-Shooting

An apparent domestic dispute left three people dead at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant near Cleveland on Thursday, according to Ohio police.

California-Deputy-Killed

A locksmith hired to help in the process of evicting a California tenant was shot dead, along with the sheriff's deputy serving the eviction notice, police said Friday.

Former-CIA-Officer-pleads-not-guilty

A former CIA officer entered a not guilty plea on Friday to charges he gave classified information to reporters and lied to a CIA review board about material in a book he wrote.

US-Midwest-Storms

A tornado touched down late Friday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma, bringing scattered structural damage and a taste of more severe weather -- including a tornado outbreak -- expected Saturday in the Plains.

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.

US-Military-Sexual-Assaults

Reports of violent sexual crimes against U.S. troops have leveled off in the military since 2009, according to a new study released by the Pentagon on Friday.

US-Alex-Karras-NFL-Lawsuit

Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom "Webster" -- and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia -- has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.

SPORT-California-Dodgers-Sale-Approved

A bankruptcy court Friday approved the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team to a group that includes former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The price is the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise, according to MLB.com.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Weekly-Address

President Barack Obama used his weekly address to argue for the so-called Buffett Rule, a provision that millionaires and billionaires should pay a tax rate no less than that paid by middle income families.

"It's wrong that middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires," Obama said as the federal income tax deadline looms.

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a conservative audience what it wanted to hear Friday, accusing President Barack Obama of leading the country away from the founding fathers' vision and "toward limited freedom and limited opportunity."

MONEY-Obama-Tax-Return

President Obama and the first family saw their income drop by almost $1 million in 2011 as sales from his best-selling books slowed.

MONEY-Obama-Secretary-Taxes

Move over Warren Buffett. The White House said Friday that President Obama has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.

POL-Obama-Romney-Taxes

The fight over how best to tax the American people turned to the personal finances of the two competing presidential candidates Friday, as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2011 tax returns and called for all-but-certain GOP nominee Mitt Romney to do the same.

MONEY-Romney-Files-Tax-Extension

Like millions of other Americans, Mitt Romney isn't going to be ready to file his taxes on time this year. The former Massachusetts governor and his wife Ann filed for an extension for their 2011 taxes, according to tax forms released by the Romney campaign on Friday.

POL-Romney-Florida-Obama

Florida surrogates for the likely GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, gave a not-so-warm welcome to President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to the Sunshine State on Friday.

POL-Romney-NRA-Speech

In his first major speech to conservatives since his Republican rival Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, Mitt Romney turned his sights on the general election and accused President Barack Obama of waging "an assault on our freedoms."

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Romney-Hilary-Rosen

Mitt Romney made his first public remarks Friday on the controversy over a top Democratic strategist criticizing his wife for her pasta stay-at-home mother.

POL-Romney-Speech-General-Election

Mitt Romney's speech Friday to the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis will be mark the launch of the general election campaign against President Barack Obama, his advisers said.

POL-Crossroads-Ad-Obama

American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, announced its latest ad buy against President Barack Obama on Friday, taking a swing at the administration's coal industry policies.

POL-RNC-March-Fundraising

The Republican National Committee said Friday it raised $13.7 million in March, the highest monthly amount the group has pulled in during the 2012 election cycle.

FEATURES

MED-Military-Sexual-Assaults-Personality-Disorder

Stephanie Schroeder joined the U.S. Marine Corps not long after 9/11. She was a 21-year-old with an associate's degree when she reported for boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. "I felt like it was the right thing to do," Schroeder recalls.

ENT-Pitt-Jolie-Engaged

Angelina Jolie, 36, and Brad Pitt, 48, a Hollywood megastar couple since 2005, are engaged, Pitt's representative said Friday.

ENT-Lionel-Richie-Tax-Lien

The IRS has issued a tax lien against singer Lionel Richie for unpaid taxes, the performer said through his publicist Friday.

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen?

MED-side-effects-sports-fan

Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood. Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite. "It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."

TRAVEL-National-Mall-Designs

How about an ice skating rink on the National Mall, just a stone's throw from the Lincoln Memorial? Or a new, expanded outdoor amphitheater next to the Washington Monument, where people sit on the grass and watch a performance?


LOAD-DATE: April 15, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Update 7:04 a.m. The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



68 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 14, 2012 Saturday 7:14 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2581 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas Updating

President Barack Obama is putting an international spin on his domestic economic agenda with planned trade talks at a weekend summit in Colombia, which is bringing together most of the hemisphere's leaders.

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

Russia-Wikileaks

A Russian television networks says it is launching a television show featuring the infamous Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup

A group of Portuguese-speaking countries will meet Saturday to discuss a coup that roiled the tiny nation of Guinea-Bissau, which has battled political stability since its independence nearly 40 years ago.

POL-Weekly-Address HFR til 6 am

President Barack Obama used his weekly address to argue for the so-called Buffett Rule, a provision that millionaires and billionaires should pay a tax rate no less than that paid by middle income families.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman's newly hired attorney told CNN's "AC360" on Friday that he didn't initially seek bond for his client because he first needed more time to become familiar with the case.

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

INTERNATIONAL

North-Korea-Launch-Kim

When it comes to North Korea, nothing is ever clear. You can double down on that bet when it comes to trying to foresee what the catastrophic failure of its rocket launch means for the country's new ruler and his military. North Korea experts say how Kim Jong Un reacts to this humiliating setback, however, could be an open window into the strength of his hold on leadership.

North-Korea-Strategy

After North Korea's failed satellite launch in defiance of the international community, U.S. officials and experts say the Obama administration could move away from a policy of engagement toward one of containment.

North-Korea-neighbor-reaction

The North Korean rocket launch that threw its neighbors in the Asian region into high alert was greeted with relief on Friday as previously jittery stock markets gained ground and bans on activities in its projected flight path were relaxed. Meanwhile, China state media labeled Japanese missile defense plans against the launch as a "pretext" to contain Beijing.

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-nuclear-test

It was meant to be a show-stopping display of military might, a rocket poised to enter orbit to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the man who founded North Korea. But while the rapid disintegration of Unha-3 may have drawn sighs of relief from countries along its planned trajectory, one analyst says in this case failure may be more dangerous than success.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., a military spokesman said, in a coup that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Iran-Nuclear

Iranian nuclear negotiators arrived Friday and began consultations with Chinese and Russian counterparts on the eve of international talks on the country's nuclear program, state media reported.

Iran-Ebadi

"If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it." The Persian proverb opens a book about the Iranian revolution by Shirin Ebadi, a human rights lawyer who became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. But there could not be a more appropriate line to sum up Ebadi's own life.

Bahrain-Clashes

Thousands of mourners defied government forces and took to the streets Friday in Salmabad, Bahrain, to attend the funeral of Ahmed Ismaeel, who was killed last week in anti-government protests, witnesses told CNN.

Yemen-al-Qaeda

Twenty-eight suspected members of al-Qaeda were killed Friday in the city of Lord, in Yemen's Abyan province, in military operations, state media reported.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four people accused in what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia went on trial Friday in Copenhagen.

Israel-aerial-flotilla-protest

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Widows

Pakistan will deport the widows and children of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia next week, their attorney said Friday.

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama landed in Cartagena, Colombia, on Friday, opening a weekend visit that will mark the most time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

U.S.A.

ENT-California-Latino-Producers

A new cable network for Latino audiences will mark the culmination of two decades of filmmaking for writer-director Robert Rodriguez, who is leading the ambitious effort.

Maryland-Beating-Arrest

Baltimore police say they made an arrest in a violent robbery last month that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes on a street while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

Florida-Trayvon-Brother

Trayvon Martin should be remembered as a happy, smiling teenager, says his soft-spoken older brother. Martin, 17, was an honors student who wanted to follow his sibling to college. But his life ended on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, during an encounter with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shooting

State and federal authorities are investigating the apparent double homicide of a U.S. Coast Guard member and a civilian shot dead Thursday on an island off Alaska's coast.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

To the family of Zina Hodge, the man who dashed into their burning home and pulled their loved one to safety through intense heat, falling embers and dense smoke could just be Superman. But Newark Mayor Cory Booker most definitely did not feel like the Man of Steel on Friday as he recovered from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns suffered during the rescue of his 47-year-old neighbor the previous night.

New-York-Zach-Tomaselli

A man who accused a Syracuse University assistant basketball coach of sexually molesting him as a child said Friday that it was all a lie.

Mississippi-Pardons-DUI-emails

E-mails show that Mississippi governor's office was urged not to pardon Harry Bostick, a convicted DUI felon, who was involved in a crash that killed an 18-year-old.

Kentucky-Hate-Crime

Two Kentucky women have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping and hate-crime assault involving a gay man, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Virginia-Terror-Sentencing

A Pakistani man living in Virginia was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Oklahoma-Shootings

An Oklahoma man said he doesn't hate African-Americans and counts some of them among his best friends. Murder and hate crime charges were filed on Friday accusing him and another man of killing three strangers because they were black.

Ohio-Shooting

An apparent domestic dispute left three people dead at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant near Cleveland on Thursday, according to Ohio police.

California-Deputy-Killed

A locksmith hired to help in the process of evicting a California tenant was shot dead, along with the sheriff's deputy serving the eviction notice, police said Friday.

Former-CIA-Officer-pleads-not-guilty

A former CIA officer entered a not guilty plea on Friday to charges he gave classified information to reporters and lied to a CIA review board about material in a book he wrote.

US-Midwest-Storms

A tornado touched down late Friday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma, bringing scattered structural damage and a taste of more severe weather -- including a tornado outbreak -- expected Saturday in the Plains.

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.

US-Military-Sexual-Assaults

Reports of violent sexual crimes against U.S. troops have leveled off in the military since 2009, according to a new study released by the Pentagon on Friday.

US-Alex-Karras-NFL-Lawsuit

Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom "Webster" -- and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia -- has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.

SPORT-California-Dodgers-Sale-Approved

A bankruptcy court Friday approved the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team to a group that includes former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The price is the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise, according to MLB.com.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a conservative audience what it wanted to hear Friday, accusing President Barack Obama of leading the country away from the founding fathers' vision and "toward limited freedom and limited opportunity."

MONEY-Obama-Tax-Return

President Obama and the first family saw their income drop by almost $1 million in 2011 as sales from his best-selling books slowed.

MONEY-Obama-Secretary-Taxes

Move over Warren Buffett. The White House said Friday that President Obama has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.

POL-Obama-Romney-Taxes

The fight over how best to tax the American people turned to the personal finances of the two competing presidential candidates Friday, as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2011 tax returns and called for all-but-certain GOP nominee Mitt Romney to do the same.

MONEY-Romney-Files-Tax-Extension

Like millions of other Americans, Mitt Romney isn't going to be ready to file his taxes on time this year. The former Massachusetts governor and his wife Ann filed for an extension for their 2011 taxes, according to tax forms released by the Romney campaign on Friday.

POL-Romney-Florida-Obama

Florida surrogates for the likely GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, gave a not-so-warm welcome to President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to the Sunshine State on Friday.

POL-Romney-NRA-Speech

In his first major speech to conservatives since his Republican rival Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, Mitt Romney turned his sights on the general election and accused President Barack Obama of waging "an assault on our freedoms."

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Romney-Hilary-Rosen

Mitt Romney made his first public remarks Friday on the controversy over a top Democratic strategist criticizing his wife for her pasta stay-at-home mother.

POL-Romney-Speech-General-Election

Mitt Romney's speech Friday to the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis will be mark the launch of the general election campaign against President Barack Obama, his advisers said.

POL-Crossroads-Ad-Obama

American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, announced its latest ad buy against President Barack Obama on Friday, taking a swing at the administration's coal industry policies.

POL-RNC-March-Fundraising

The Republican National Committee said Friday it raised $13.7 million in March, the highest monthly amount the group has pulled in during the 2012 election cycle.

FEATURES

ENT-Pitt-Jolie-Engaged

Angelina Jolie, 36, and Brad Pitt, 48, a Hollywood megastar couple since 2005, are engaged, Pitt's representative said Friday.

ENT-Lionel-Richie-Tax-Lien

The IRS has issued a tax lien against singer Lionel Richie for unpaid taxes, the performer said through his publicist Friday.

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen?

MED-side-effects-sports-fan

Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood. Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite. "It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."

TRAVEL-National-Mall-Designs

How about an ice skating rink on the National Mall, just a stone's throw from the Lincoln Memorial? Or a new, expanded outdoor amphitheater next to the Washington Monument, where people sit on the grass and watch a performance?


LOAD-DATE: April 15, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



69 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 14, 2012 Saturday 3:14 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3937 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama landed in Cartagena, Colombia, on Friday, opening a weekend visit that will mark the most time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

Maryland-Beating-Arrest

Baltimore police say they made an arrest in a St. Patrick's Day attack that left a man beaten, stripped and robbed on the street while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman's newly hired attorney told CNN's "AC360" on Friday that he didn't initially seek bond for his client because he first needed more time to become familiar with the case.

Syria-Unrest

Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire implemented a day earlier to end a bloody government crackdown.

INTERNATIONAL

North-Korea-Launch-Kim

When it comes to North Korea, nothing is ever clear. You can double down on that bet when it comes to trying to foresee what the catastrophic failure of its rocket launch means for the country's new ruler and his military. North Korea experts say how Kim Jong Un reacts to this humiliating setback, however, could be an open window into the strength of his hold on leadership.

North-Korea-Strategy

After North Korea's failed satellite launch in defiance of the international community, U.S. officials and experts say the Obama administration could move away from a policy of engagement toward one of containment.

North-Korea-neighbor-reaction

The North Korean rocket launch that threw its neighbors in the Asian region into high alert was greeted with relief on Friday as previously jittery stock markets gained ground and bans on activities in its projected flight path were relaxed. Meanwhile, China state media labeled Japanese missile defense plans against the launch as a "pretext" to contain Beijing.

North-korea-journalists

It finally happened. North Korea launched its rocket early Friday -- for about a minute at least. But we were the last to know. The assembled Western media were not told about the launch. There was no indication it was taking place. Then word started spreading that South Korean media were reporting that the launch had taken place but failed, the rocket falling into the sea shortly after takeoff.

North-Korea-Launch-Why

With North Korea's launch of a rocket that most see as cover for a ballistic missile test, a deal to resume food aid from the United States now dead, the loud chorus from the international community that was already condemning the act as an unnecessary provocation is only likely to grow louder in the coming days.

North-Korea-nuclear-test

It was meant to be a show-stopping display of military might, a rocket poised to enter orbit to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the man who founded North Korea. But while the rapid disintegration of Unha-3 may have drawn sighs of relief from countries along its planned trajectory, one analyst says in this case failure may be more dangerous than success.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup-Attempt

Guinea-Bissau's military has arrested acting President Raimundo Pereira and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., a military spokesman said, in a coup that has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community.

Iran-Nuclear

Iranian nuclear negotiators arrived Friday and began consultations with Chinese and Russian counterparts on the eve of international talks on the country's nuclear program, state media reported.

Iran-Ebadi

"If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it." The Persian proverb opens a book about the Iranian revolution by Shirin Ebadi, a human rights lawyer who became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. But there could not be a more appropriate line to sum up Ebadi's own life.

Bahrain-Clashes

Thousands of mourners defied government forces and took to the streets Friday in Salmabad, Bahrain, to attend the funeral of Ahmed Ismaeel, who was killed last week in anti-government protests, witnesses told CNN.

Yemen-al-Qaeda

Twenty-eight suspected members of al-Qaeda were killed Friday in the city of Lord, in Yemen's Abyan province, in military operations, state media reported.

Denmark-Terror-Trial

Four people accused in what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia went on trial Friday in Copenhagen.

Israel-aerial-flotilla-protest

Israeli security forces are preparing to deport hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists expected to arrive at the country's main international airport beginning Sunday to protest Israel's policies in the occupied West Bank.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Widows

Pakistan will deport the widows and children of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia next week, their attorney said Friday.

Colombia-Summit-Of-The-Americas

Regional summits are most often perfunctory events where presidents share their visions, sign agreements and pose for photographs At the sixth Summit of the Americas, some Latin American leaders hope to sway -- or at least challenge -- the priorities of the hemisphere's largest power, the United States. The leaders of some Latin American countries are expected to challenge the conventional wisdom that the way to deal with illegal drug trafficking is with firepower. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and others are offering serious alternatives, such as legalization.

POL-Summit-of-the-Americas

President Barack Obama landed in Cartagena, Colombia, on Friday, opening a weekend visit that will mark the most time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

France-Sarkozy-Profile

Until last month the conventional wisdom was that Nicolas Sarkozy would fail in his bid for a second term as French president. Mocked for his lavish lifestyle, and a private life that saw him divorce his second wife immediately after his election in 2007 and go on to marry singer Carla Bruni, the French have never warmed to "Sarko." He is often known as "quel q'un qui derange," someone who drives you crazy. The reason for their mixed feelings about Sarkozy is his apparent desire to ruffle feathers and challenge the established order. His presidency has been in constant motion: the 35-hour week? Sarkozy worked against it. Delay the retirement age beyond 60? Sarkozy achieved it, despite strikes and demonstrations. A bloated public sector? Sarkozy eliminated 160,000 civil service jobs. None of these reforms was universally popular and some, at least initially, were almost universally condemned. But Sarkozy believed them necessary and persisted in his belief that his countrymen would come round to his way of thinking. However, as the eurozone crisis swirled, the president received a jolt in January when one of the world's top credit ratings agencies, Standard & Poor's, downgraded France's rating from the maximum Triple A status. Sarkozy's main rival, center left candidate Francois Hollande, launched a scathing attack on the government's policies, saying: "We are no longer in the first division."

Germany-Train-Crash

Three people died and 13 were injured when a German commuter train collided with a maintenance crane Friday morning, German police said.

Germany-Incest-Court

A German man sent to prison over an incestuous relationship with his sister has lost his case that the conviction violated his right to a private and family life at the European Court of Human Rights.

Sudans-UN-Demand

The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over a disputed oil-rich border region. The border clashes have threatened to return the neighbors to a full-scale war.

Myanmar-Britain-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Myanmar Friday on the first visit by a high-profile Western leader to the nation in decades.

MONEY-China-Gdp

China's economic growth lost more momentum at the beginning of the year, but experts aren't too worried that the slowdown will continue for long.

Cairo-pigeon-breeders-politics

On a rooftop high above Cairo, Moustafa Hassan tenderly cares for his babies -- all 350 of them. Hassan keeps a rooftop loft with both racing and "fancy" pigeons, and his birds are like family to him. "This is my son," he said, picking up his favorite pigeon. "I deal with all the pigeons like my son or my children."

SPORT-motorsport-f1-bahrain-ecclestone

Should sport and politics mix? Bernie Ecclestone has told CNN that they should not -- and that is why he is happy for Bahrain to host a Formula One race next weekend despite protests from human rights groups unhappy with the kingdom's regime.

U.S.A.

Florida-Trayvon-Brother

Trayvon Martin should be remembered as a happy, smiling teenager, says his soft-spoken older brother. Martin, 17, was an honors student who wanted to follow his sibling to college. But his life ended on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, during an encounter with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Alaska-Coast-Guard-Shooting

State and federal authorities are investigating the apparent double homicide of a U.S. Coast Guard member and a civilian shot dead Thursday on an island off Alaska's coast.

New-Jersey-Mayor-Rescue

To the family of Zina Hodge, the man who dashed into their burning home and pulled their loved one to safety through intense heat, falling embers and dense smoke could just be Superman. But Newark Mayor Cory Booker most definitely did not feel like the Man of Steel on Friday as he recovered from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns suffered during the rescue of his 47-year-old neighbor the previous night.

New-York-Zach-Tomaselli

A man who accused a Syracuse University assistant basketball coach of sexually molesting him as a child said Friday that it was all a lie.

Mississippi-Pardons-DUI-emails

E-mails show that Mississippi governor's office was urged not to pardon Harry Bostick, a convicted DUI felon, who was involved in a crash that killed an 18-year-old.

Kentucky-Hate-Crime

Two Kentucky women have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a kidnapping and hate-crime assault involving a gay man, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Virginia-Terror-Sentencing

A Pakistani man living in Virginia was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

Oklahoma-Shootings

An Oklahoma man said he doesn't hate African-Americans and counts some of them among his best friends. Murder and hate crime charges were filed on Friday accusing him and another man of killing three strangers because they were black.

Ohio-Shooting

An apparent domestic dispute left three people dead at a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant near Cleveland on Thursday, according to Ohio police.

California-Deputy-Killed

A locksmith hired to help in the process of evicting a California tenant was shot dead, along with the sheriff's deputy serving the eviction notice, police said Friday.

Former-CIA-Officer-pleads-not-guilty

A former CIA officer entered a not guilty plea on Friday to charges he gave classified information to reporters and lied to a CIA review board about material in a book he wrote.

US-Midwest-Storms

A tornado touched down late Friday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma, bringing scattered structural damage and a taste of more severe weather -- including a tornado outbreak -- expected Saturday in the Plains.

US-New-Hampshire-Shooting

A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.

US-Military-Sexual-Assaults

Reports of violent sexual crimes against U.S. troops have leveled off in the military since 2009, according to a new study released by the Pentagon on Friday.

US-Alex-Karras-NFL-Lawsuit

Alex Karras, the former Detroit Lions standout who starred in the 1980s sitcom "Webster" -- and whose wife says is now suffering from dementia -- has joined hundreds of ex-NFL players suing the league over concussion-related injuries.

SPORT-California-Dodgers-Sale-Approved

A bankruptcy court Friday approved the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team to a group that includes former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The price is the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise, according to MLB.com.

TRAVEL-TSA-New-Technology

The Transportation Security Administration is unveiling new technology this month at several airports aimed at verifying boarding passes and IDs of passengers.

TECH-Pew-Not-Using-Internet

Even though the Internet has become a key tool for accessing services, getting an education, finding jobs, getting the news, keeping up with people you know and much more, one in five U.S. adults still does not use the Internet at all, according to a new Pew report.

TECH-apple-mac-virus-fix

Apple says a new software update provides tools to get rid of the so-called "Flashback" virus that has infected hundreds of thousands of Mac computers.

SPORT-Arkansas-Petrino-Crash

The University of Arkansas has suspended a woman whose relationship with former football coach Bobby Petrino came to light after his motorcycle crashed this month, a school spokesman said Friday.

MONEY-Apple-Doj-Ebooks

Apple has responded to an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, saying it fostered, not quelled, competition in the electronic publishing industry.

MONEY-Bernanke-Federal-Reserve

The Federal Reserve needs to focus just as heavily on its regulatory role as its monetary policy operations, Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed Friday.

MONEY-Carriercompare

A new app hit the iTunes store Friday morning that your carrier probably isn't too thrilled about. It's called CarrierCompare. Developed by Boston-based startup SwayMarkets, it allows you to see which carrier offers the best service for your iPhone in any given location.

MONEY-Tax-Day-April-17

Tax Day is drawing near, but you still have a little time left to get your return filed to Uncle Sam. While the tax filing deadline typically falls on April 15, this year taxes are due Tuesday, April 17.

MONEY-Foreclosures

The golden age for foreclosure squatters may soon be coming to an end now that the $26 billion mortgage settlement has been approved. The settlement, agreed to by the nation's five largest mortgage lenders, is expected to speed up the foreclosure process by providing stricter guidelines for the banks to follow when repossessing homes.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

After one of the fastest and steepest runups in recent memory, it's possible gasoline prices may have peaked. Retail gas prices fell more than half a cent Friday to a nationwide average just above $3.90 a gallon, according to AAA, continuing a decline started late last week that has shaved almost 4 cents off the price of gas.

MONEY-Obama-Natural-Gas

President Obama issued an executive order Friday, establishing a meeting of the minds to work on natural gas policies for his administration.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks stumbled Friday, following a two-day rally, closing lower for a second straight week with the worst declines of the year.

POL-GSA-Scandal-Neely

A top official at the scandal-plagued General Services Administration is now facing the prospect of a federal criminal investigation, CNN confirmed Friday.

POL-Religious-Freedom-Campaign

The Roman Catholic Church announced a major campaign Thursday aimed at bringing attention to what it said were growing threats to religious liberty in the United States, including the pending White House rule requiring health insurance companies to provide free contraceptive coverage to employees of Catholic organizations.

POL-West-Communist-Controversy

Standing by his controversial remarks this week targeting certain members of Congress as communists, Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida called on supporters Friday to donate toward his fight against "extreme left-wing positions."

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a conservative audience what it wanted to hear Friday, accusing President Barack Obama of leading the country away from the founding fathers' vision and "toward limited freedom and limited opportunity."

MONEY-Obama-Tax-Return

President Obama and the first family saw their income drop by almost $1 million in 2011 as sales from his best-selling books slowed.

MONEY-Obama-Secretary-Taxes

Move over Warren Buffett. The White House said Friday that President Obama has a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.

POL-Obama-Romney-Taxes

The fight over how best to tax the American people turned to the personal finances of the two competing presidential candidates Friday, as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2011 tax returns and called for all-but-certain GOP nominee Mitt Romney to do the same.

MONEY-Romney-Files-Tax-Extension

Like millions of other Americans, Mitt Romney isn't going to be ready to file his taxes on time this year. The former Massachusetts governor and his wife Ann filed for an extension for their 2011 taxes, according to tax forms released by the Romney campaign on Friday.

POL-Romney-Florida-Obama

Florida surrogates for the likely GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, gave a not-so-warm welcome to President Barack Obama ahead of his visit to the Sunshine State on Friday.

POL-Romney-NRA-Speech

In his first major speech to conservatives since his Republican rival Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, Mitt Romney turned his sights on the general election and accused President Barack Obama of waging "an assault on our freedoms."

POL-Romney-North-Korea

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney condemned the launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea, saying it puts the region at risk and highlights the "incompetence" of the Obama administration.

POL-Romney-Buchanan--Response

A Republican strategist is defending Hilary Rosen following her controversial comment that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." About 24 hours after Rosen made the comment, drawing the rebuke of Democrats and Republicans alike, Bay Buchanan has come to her rescue. Rosen has since apologized for the comment.

POL-Romney-Hilary-Rosen

Mitt Romney made his first public remarks Friday on the controversy over a top Democratic strategist criticizing his wife for her pasta stay-at-home mother.

POL-Romney-Speech-General-Election

Mitt Romney's speech Friday to the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis will be mark the launch of the general election campaign against President Barack Obama, his advisers said.

POL-Crossroads-Ad-Obama

American Crossroads, a conservative super PAC, announced its latest ad buy against President Barack Obama on Friday, taking a swing at the administration's coal industry policies.

POL-RNC-March-Fundraising

The Republican National Committee said Friday it raised $13.7 million in March, the highest monthly amount the group has pulled in during the 2012 election cycle.

FEATURES

ENT-Pitt-Jolie-Engaged

Angelina Jolie, 36, and Brad Pitt, 48, a Hollywood megastar couple since 2005, are engaged, Pitt's representative said Friday.

ENT-Lionel-Richie-Tax-Lien

The IRS has issued a tax lien against singer Lionel Richie for unpaid taxes, the performer said through his publicist Friday.

MED-miracle-baby-medical-theories

A premature baby - who was declared dead shortly after birth - was later discovered to be alive after spending 10 hours in a morgue refrigerator. How did this happen?

MED-side-effects-sports-fan

Brad Hampson, a 41-year-old pharmacist who lives in Chicago, is not the kind of sports fan who loses his temper when his team gets beaten. But the outcome of a game definitely can affect his mood. Watching the Nationals beat the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field was "heartbreaking" for Hampson, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm upset when they lose and happy when they win," said Hampson, who has traveled to almost every current major ballpark in the United States. Hampson loves all sports, but says baseball is his favorite. "It's a pleasant diversion -- at least when they are winning."

TRAVEL-National-Mall-Designs

How about an ice skating rink on the National Mall, just a stone's throw from the Lincoln Memorial? Or a new, expanded outdoor amphitheater next to the Washington Monument, where people sit on the grass and watch a performance?

TECH-Draw-Something-app-appeal

Chris Pirillo is many things: a self-proclaimed geek, a blogger, an entrepreneur -- and according to him, an average gamer. The 38-year-old founder of blogging network Lockergnome loves the casual game. The pick-it-up, put-it-down, stress-free app.

US-petrino-social-media

Where have you gone Walter Cronkite, and why have you been replaced by the likes of woopig.net? Well, at least in the world of sports journalism. Bobby Petrino is no longer calling Hogs at the University of Arkansas, because somebody by the handle of "hoggrad" on that popular woopig.net website for Razorback fans first reported that the Arkansas football coach wasn't exactly watching game film that evening.

US-My-View:-Why-libraries-matter-more-than-ever

Why libraries matter more than ever

Mountain-gorillas-rwanda-inside-africa

Hidden high among the forested volcanoes of central Africa, the mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were first encountered by a German explorer -- and promptly killed. It set the tone for the relationship. For much of the time since, due to deforestation and poaching, it has seemed the mountain gorilla was swiftly destined to be lost to the world again. Not long after the species' greatest champion, the American zoologist Dian Fossey, was killed in Rwanda in 1985, there were fewer than 300 of the giant primates left in the wild.

FEA-hollywood-ruins-myths

When Hollywood gets in the way of a perfectly good myth

FEA-japan-maid-culture

Cuteness is served: Exploring Japan's maid culture

COMMENTARY-Ghitis-North-Korea

North Korea's message to Washington and Iran.

COMMENTARY-matalin-hilary-rosen

Obama campaign quick to condemn a loyal supporter.

COMMENTARY-Garcia-Cuban-Americans-Guillen

Is Castro Cuban-Americans' Hitler?


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The Outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



70 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)


April 14, 2012 Saturday


Come on, man! Plus other stuff


BYLINE: LOU BRANCACCIO; Lou Brancaccio, The Columbian


SECTION: C METRO; Pg. C1


LENGTH: 508 words



HIGHLIGHT: GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney should have had a standing O.


When I got into this crazy business, I remember noting that my salary as a reporter was below the poverty line.

"So what!" I thought back then.

I had been inspired by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and Watergate, and I just loved the idea of holding those in power accountable.

 

And it's always been established that one won't get rich in this business.

Still, I was a little surprised when Careercast came out with a list of the best -- and worst -- 200 jobs. It looked at work environment, physical demands, job outlook, income levels and stress.

How did reporters fare? Not so well. Out of 200 jobs looked at, reporters ranked 196th. That means virtually every job out there is better than a reporter's job. Really?

As in "Really? Maids, taxi drivers and dishwashers ranked ahead of reporters?"

No question, market conditions -- particularly with advertising sales -- and the shifting information landscape have created a large challenge for us.

I guess I'd feel real sorry for us, except there were a few jobs below us. Who's dead last?

Lumberjacks.

Our newsroom -- a great bunch of educated, dedicated staffers -- had a little fun with all of this. One reporter wryly noted of lumberjacks:

"Those guys are probably cutting trees down so we can make newspapers. They need us!"

You know, the public could help a little here by supporting your local newspaper and supporting those businesses who advertise with us.

Come on, man!

Call 911 for records help

It took us way too long recently to get a recording of a 911 call, something we should have received almost immediately.

Why did it take so long?

Well, at the risk of generalizing, bureaucrats often have things backwards.

Here's the way it should work when it comes to the public getting public records:

A record is assumed to be public unless one can support why it should not be.

And here's the way it usually works:

A record is assumed to be private unless someone beats me senseless with attorneys and supporting data.

Come on, man!

I vote for equal applause

Wanted to share an observation I made at the editors conference I attended last week.

We heard -- at back-to-back luncheons -- President Barack Obama and

Mitt Romney.

After Obama spoke, I was moved enough to give him a standing ovation, as did everyone else at the lunch. I knew I'd be seeing Romney the next day at lunch, and I immediately decided -- to be fair -- I'd do the same for him.

Romney's speech was very good, but it didn't move me like Obama's did. Still, I stood and applauded out of fairness and respect. But unlike the day before, when everyone stood, it was just me and one other guy.

It should be noted that folks other than editors were invited to these luncheons. There was another separate conference at the hotel that included newspaper publishers, advertisers and circulation people. Pretty much, they're considered a conservative lot.

So for Romney not to get a standing O was a little unbecoming.

Come on, man!

Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian's editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505,

http://twitter.com/lounews

or

lou.brancaccio@columbian.com


LOAD-DATE: April 18, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 The Columbian Publishing Co.
All Rights Reserved



71 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK)


April 14, 2012 Saturday
Drive Edition


Lawyer-client split like divorce


SECTION: OPINION; SCISSORTALES; OUR OPINIONS TAKE FLIGHT; Pg. 8A


LENGTH: 1234 words


JEROME Ersland has fired his lawyer. The lawyers for George Zimmerman have fired their client. When does a lawyer go through a divorce even if he's never been married? When he breaks up with a client or a client breaks up with the lawyer.

Ersland is the pharmacist appealing his first-degree murder conviction for killing a man attempting to rob the Oklahoma City drugstore where Ersland worked. Zimmerman is the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of killing Trayvon Martin in Florida. Ersland says he's done with Irven Box, the man who took Ersland through the trial and months of pretrial work. Zimmerman, charged this week with second-degree murder, has been incommunicado with his first attorneys; thus, they said they could no longer represent hm.

Lawyers.com says a client's failure to cooperate or communicate is a prime reason for attorneys to withdraw from a case, but a Houston Chronicle blog called Legal Trade says the No 1. reason lawyers fire their clients is money: "We don't really expect work from plumbers or bakers, doctors or manicurists or just about anyone else for free. What is it about lawyers that causes folks to decide they just won't pay?"

Obviously, some clients fire lawyers due to disgruntlement over the outcome of a case. "Much like a marriage," the American Bar Association Journal reported in 2008, "the lawyer-client relationship can seem like a match made in heaven ... But sometimes there are silent resentments and disagreements bubbling beneath the surface, waiting for a break in the facade. If the proverbial toilet seat is left up once too often, things can go south surprisingly quickly."

Fostering hope

To best serve Oklahoma's poor and disadvantaged, a partnership between the government and faith-based community is indispensable. The 8308 campaign, named for the number of children in DHS custody as of Jan. 1, is taking this approach to address the urgent need for foster families. A statewide conference on April 26 will provide information and resources for individuals who want to get involved and churches interested in establishing a foster care or adoption ministry. Journey Church in Norman is hosting the event from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Register at www.faithlinksok.org. The conference is free. The campaign is a collaborative effort of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, 111 Project, SALLT and SandRidge Energy. If you've thought about what you can do to serve Oklahoma's children, mark your calendar for this opportunity to turn your faith into action.

Gasonomics

If natural gas gets any cheaper, the energy industry will have to pay people to take it. The government is already paying people to buy CNG-burning vehicles, but more people need to take advantage of it. Natural gas prices have been hovering around $2 per 1,000 cubic feet. Compressed Natural Gas prices are below $2 per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The state offers a generous income tax credit for the purchase of a CNG vehicle or conversion of a gasoline engine to run on CNG, but Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, said he found tepid support for switching to CNG among motorists he talked to at gas stations during the Easter break. Despite high gas prices, switching to alternative fuels has been slow to develop.

Razor thin

The race to determine a new state representative from Tulsa is a reminder that yes, every vote really does matter. That's easy to lose sight of when a race is decided by a wide margin. But the difference in the District 71 seat couldn't be closer. After losing on April 3 by three votes, Republican Katie Henke asked for a recount. It showed her defeating Democrat Dan Arthrell by one vote. But two other ballots were eventually found in the tubs that collect ballots under the machines. If those were counted, Arthrell would be the winner again. The case is now in Tulsa County district court. However this shakes out, the winner will have to immediately run for re-election because the job only lasts through the end of this legislative session.

Long-shot consideration

With his path to the Republican nomination for president now all but locked up, Mitt Romney can focus on choosing a running mate. It's a pivotal decision. Among the names often mentioned as possibilities are House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. All represent important states and constituencies or bring certain skill sets to the table. "It's pretty easy to name the list. It's pretty difficult to pick the guy," U.S. Rep. Tom Cole said. Cole, R-Moore, offers a long shot female worth considering - New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte. He says she's a rising star who could more than hold her own under the bright lights of a campaign.

Off the books

The number of states that have the death penalty on the books shrank by one this week - sort of. Lawmakers in Connecticut voted to abolish capital punishment for all future cases, and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Eleven men are on death row in Connecticut, and that won't change. Leaving those sentences intact helped give this bill the support it needed in the legislature. One House member called the bill "illogical" because "we allow the death penalty to continue for at least 11 people and maybe more." True, but it's essentially for show anyway - the state has carried out only one execution in the past 51 years.

Just rewards

A couple of easy lessons flow from the firing this week of Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino. One is that hubris can be costly. Petrino clearly felt that his exalted position as head of the state's beloved football program made him untouchable. That sort of arrogance is too often the norm, not the exception, with big-time college football (and basketball) coaches. Another is that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. Petrino's downfall started with a motorcycle crash on April 1. On board at the time was a 25-year-old woman with whom Petrino had been having an affair. He had only a few days earlier hired her onto his support staff. From the start, and despite numerous chances to come clean, Petrino lied to his boss and others about the details of the crash and the improper relationship. Despite all of this, the decision to show Petrino the door had to be difficult for Athletic Director Jeff Long, a former assistant AD at the University of Oklahoma. Kudos to him for doing the right thing.

Trouble down south?

The Latino vote could be key in November's presidential election. If this demographic's views mirror the sentiment in Latin American countries, President Barack Obama could be in trouble. Gallup reported this week that the percentage of Latin Americans believing the U.S.-Latin America relationship will strengthen under Obama has dropped from 43 percent in 2009 to 24 percent in 2011. Neighboring Mexico's optimism was halved, from 43 to 19 percent. Obama's job approval rating in the region has also declined in the same time frame, from 62 to 47 percent, with Mexico demonstrating the biggest fall among the 18 countries, from 62 to 31 percent. At this weekend's Summit of the Americas in Colombia, Gallup says Obama is "seeking to strengthen commercial ties, specifically in the energy sector." Perhaps Canada will join us in our skepticism.


LOAD-DATE: April 18, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: Photo 1: Jerome Ersland
Photo 2: Sen. Kelly Ayotte
Photo 3: Bobby Petrino speaks to reporters last week about his motorcycle wreck. He was fired as Arkansas coach on Tuesday. AP PHOTO


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 The Daily Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved



72 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)


April 14, 2012 Saturday


Mrs. Romney: No phoney baloney


BYLINE: The Lowell Sun


SECTION: EDITORIALS


LENGTH: 585 words


The Democratic Party's phony "war on women" backfired Thursday when a Democratic consultant, Hilary Rosen, poked fun at Anne Romney, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Of course, when Democrats try to be funny with cocktail chatter they do it on television cable networks that turn such banter into real news. In this case, Rosen delivered her astute knowledge on CNN. She said Mrs. Romney wasn't qualified to speak about economic pressures on women because "she has never worked a day in her life."

Mrs. Romney later acknowledged that she may have had it a bit easier than most American women -- she is the wife of a multimillionaire -- but she also said she has has raised five sons. "Maybe I haven't struggled as much financially as some people have," Mrs. Romney told a national audience on FoxNews. "I can tell you and promise you that I have struggled in my life."

Mrs. Romney didn't mention that she has survived a battle with breast cancer or that she is afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

Democrats would probably put Anne Romney in a TV ad campaign if she was on their team, building it around "sympathy" and urging voters to get behind another entitlement program for yet another disenfranchised group in America.

All Anne Romney is really saying is that women work hard in many different life settings and they deserve respect.

It took a little while, but Hilary Rosen got the message. By the time the Thursday evening talk shows went on air, Rosen had already apologized for her remarks. Naturally, she was following the lead of the White House "spin" squad, which saw Rosen's comments as a potential problem for its concocted "war on women" campaign which has given President Barack Obama a big polling lead among females who now believe contraception -- and not jobs -- is going to save America's future.

First lady Michelle Obama defended Mrs. Romney, then President Barack Obama weighed in saying there is "no tougher job than being a mom." Ah, what they do for politics.

They very fact that what Anne Romney does or doesn't do -- and the same goes for Mrs. Obama -- and that it could determine the political futures of their husbands is absurd. The relevant issue is this, whether you are a man or a woman, Democrat or Republican: Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

Come November, you'll have a chance to answer that question honestly in the voting booth.

Minimizing 9/11

The searing tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives in the worst foreign attack on U.S. soil in history can never be forgotten. But little by little, we are seeing the signs of a blurring from the memory banks of that most horrible day.

How else to explain Tarek Mehanna's 17 1/2 prison sentence doled out in Boston's U.S. District Court on Thursday for conspiring with al-Qaida to kill U.S. soldiers and wage war against America? Mehanna, defiant to the end, deserved to get the maximum 25 years in jail, but Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. had a soft spot for the chap. What a joke.

Mehanna was working to do harm to his birth country, the people who live here and the soldiers who defend it. If he had the chance to blow up the Burlington Mall, evidence shows that Mehanna was inclined to do al-Qaida's terrible bidding. He is a threat, and in 2029 he'll be back on the streets.

Judge O'Toole's sentence set a bad precedent for all extremists who will choose to follow Tarek Mehanna's example. That's what happens when the memory of 9/11 is allowed to fade.


LOAD-DATE: April 14, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved



73 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



The New York Times


April 14, 2012 Saturday
Late Edition - Final


Republicans and the Gun Lobby


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Editorial Desk; EDITORIAL; Pg. 18


LENGTH: 474 words


Republican politicians gathering at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis are eagerly pandering to a powerful political lobby that is intent on making the nation's gun laws weaker and more riddled with more dangerous loopholes. Rather than tackling public safety risks like the Stand Your Ground law implicated in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Mitt Romney and others offered nothing but exhortations to defend the Second Amendment's right to bear arms at all costs.

President Obama has regrettably been avoiding the gun control issue. Still, Mr. Romney attacked him at the convention on Friday, promising to stand with the N.R.A. ''for the rights of hunters and sportsmen and those seeking to protect their homes and their families.'' This was a far cry from Mr. Romney's 1994 campaign for the United States Senate when he assured centrist Massachusetts voters: ''I don't line up with the N.R.A.'' Yet there he was in St. Louis, lining up. Newt Gingrich, in his over-the-top manner, urged a United Nations campaign to proclaim the Second Amendment ''a human right for every person on the planet.''

The convention, in its ''celebration of American values,'' has drawn tens of thousands of members to see genuflecting Republicans and to browse a seven-acre commercial mart of guns and shooting paraphernalia, much of it designed for the battlefields of war, not the home front.

Notably absent are top Democratic politicians, who seem to have concluded that, despite thousands of constituents shot or killed each year, it is best to go silent about gun control.

Polls show Republicans enjoy heavy support and donations from gun owners. In return, the gun lobby has had steady success in weakening gun laws -- especially in the two dozen statehouses that followed Florida in enacting new self-defense laws to allow the instant use of deadly force in a confrontation rather than retreat from danger. These laws are fostered by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, with heavyweight business supporters like Walmart, a major gun retailer.

The families of the victims killed and wounded in the Virginia Tech massacre do not come close to having such clout. For the tragedy's fifth anniversary next week, they are having a hard time securing meetings with Washington politicians to fix the law that promised a more complete and up-to-date federal list of the mentally ill, who should be barred from buying guns. But two dozen states have submitted fewer than 100 mental health records each when tens of thousands should be entered, according to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national gun reform group. Financing to help state reporting efforts was supposed to be $1.1 billion over the last four years, yet Congress appropriated only $51 million. So goes the nation's utter failure to deal with the gun menace.


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


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The Tampa Tribune (Florida)


April 14, 2012 Saturday
FINAL EDITION


President talks trade in Tampa


BYLINE: WILLIAM MARCH, The Tampa Tribune


SECTION: NATION/WORLD; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 1010 words


Obama discusses policies before leaving for Summit of the Americas in Colombia

BY WILLIAM MARCH

The Tampa Tribune

At the Port of Tampa on Friday, President Barack Obama said U.S. exports to the Western Hemisphere are up 46 percent since 2009.

TAMPA In a speech at the Port of Tampa on Friday, President Barack Obama said exports and trade are helping drive the economic recovery and he intends to speed that process up.

Obama spoke to a crowd of about 500 under the noonday sun amid piles of shipping containers and beneath giant container cranes on an asphalt apron at the port's container cargo area.

Possibly in deference to the heat, he kept it short, speaking for slightly less than 10 minutes.

He said his work to expand trade, particularly with Latin and South America, will directly benefit Tampa.

"Two years ago I set the goal of doubling American exports by the end of 2014," he said. "Today, with the trade agreements that I signed into law, we're on track to meet that goal."

He said exports to the Western Hemisphere are up 46 percent since 2009. "That's a big deal for Tampa," he said.

His talk of stoking business through trade included themes heard often from Republicans.

"I've always said that the true engine of job creation in this country is the private sector, not Washington," he said. "Our job in government is to help businesses grow and hire, to create platforms for their success.

"That's one of the reasons I've cut taxes 17 times for small businesses."

Obama made the stop on his way to the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, where, he said, he intends to work for more open markets for U.S. exports.

In Latin America, he said, "tens of millions of people have stepped out of poverty and into the middle class, so they're now in a position to start buying American products."

It was his second visit to Florida this week, after a day of fundraising and a speech on his proposed "Buffett Rule" tax policy on the Treasure Coast on Tuesday.

That probably has something to do with "the vagaries of scheduling," said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett, but it's definitely not just a coincidence. "He knows Florida will be a really important swing state, and it's also a big donor state when it comes to filling campaign accounts."

The Mitt Romney campaign also knows Tampa and Florida matter and prepared a barrage of criticism to hurl at Obama on his arrival: a statement from former Gov. Jeb Bush, a news conference call with two members of Congress and incoming state House Speaker Will Weatherford of Lutz, and a slew of news releases from Romney surrogates.

They focused on the trade deals Obama spoke of -- free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama -- accusing him of delaying them, costing U.S. jobs and exports, to please organized labor supporters.

The pacts, negotiated during the Bush administration, were approved by Congress last year.

Obama's focus on trade "comes three years too late," Jeb Bush said.

Obama "bowed to political pressure from powerful labor unions" and "missed several opportunities early in his administration to secure quick passage" of the Colombia and Panama pacts, which are expected to create jobs in Florida, Bush said.

Bush said the United States lost $1 billion in agricultural exports to Colombia as a result.

The history of the pacts is more complicated than that, said former Australian trade negotiator Josh Meltzer, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The Colombia and Panama pacts were delayed in part by Democrats over concerns about lack of environmental and worker protections in those nations, including murders of Colombian union leaders, and by union concerns they would cost U.S. jobs, he said.

Obama began backing the pacts early in his administration, siding with business interests over the objection of unions.

They were further delayed by GOP objections to a domestic job retraining program Obama wanted expanded to help workers displaced as result of the acts.

"Obama has proven to be fairly centrist when it comes to trade," Meltzer said.

Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat and strong Obama backer, said he "pressed Congress for years to get (the trade pacts) done." She acknowledged congressional Democrats were responsible for some of the delay but said they also "improved the agreements from what the Bush administration language was."

Obama also disputed the common GOP contention that he hasn't acted to protect against unfair trade practices by China.

He said his administration "brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration" and set up a trade enforcement unit to investigate questionable trade practices.

In his speech, Obama made no direct reference to the Buffett Rule, his proposal that high-income people should pay at least as large a proportion of their income in taxes as middle- and low-income earners, or at least 30 percent.

But he emphasized his campaign theme of tax fairness.

He called it a "fundamental choice" between "a country where a shrinking number of people do really, really well while a growing number are struggling to get by" or "an economy where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody's doing their fair share and everybody's playing by the same set of rules."

In Cartagena, Obama will be accompanied by Tampa native Frank Sanchez.

Sanchez, a former Clinton administration official, former Tampa mayoral candidate and early Obama supporter, now is undersecretary of commerce for international trade.

In a phone interview, he said he'll "do some of the ground-work for the president and share my observations on the progress of the commercial relations" between the U.S. and Latin America. He said he has talked to Obama about the Tampa port's role.

wmarch@tampatrib.com

(813) 259-7761

In a speech that lasted less than 10 minutes, he told a crowd of about 500 people that the United States is on its way to meeting his goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014.

Copyright © 2012, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com


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Tulsa World (Oklahoma)


April 14, 2012 Saturday
Final Edition


The quiet campaign: Voter suppression


BYLINE: RICHARD REEVES Universal Press Syndicate


SECTION: Syndicated; Pg. A18


LENGTH: 579 words


LOS ANGELES - The 2012 presidential election is not only about who votes for Barack Obama and who votes for Mitt Romney. It is also about who votes. In a national campaign that does not get much national publicity, at least 41 states have passed laws or are considering new laws making it more difficult to vote in November, or legislation designed to discourage people from even trying to cast ballots, according to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

The center reports on a quiet wave of new state legislation sweeping the country that focuses on voting eligibility and estimates that these laws could reduce presidential voting by as many as 5 million votes. To put that number in perspective, in 2008, Obama won the presidency by 9 million votes. The report, issued two weeks ago, lists five types of laws: Photo identification cards. At least 34 states have passed or are considering laws requiring voters to show photo IDs to get to a ballot box or machine. The bills have become law just this past year in Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Mississippi. It seems amazing, but 21 million Americans apparently do not have government-issued identification, including even driver's licenses. Proof-of-citizenship laws. At least 15 states have passed or are considering laws requiring voters to show birth certificates or passports to vote. Making voter registration more difficult. At least 16 states have passed or are considering legislation that would end same-day registration. Three of those states, Florida, Illinois and Texas, have also passed laws restricting voter registration drives. At least nine states have passed laws or are considering legislation to end early voting days, and four are trying to restrict absentee voting. Making it harder to restore voting rights. Two states, Florida and Iowa, have reversed executive action that permitted restoration of voting rights for ex-felons after a given period of time. I would add at least one more factor in holding down voter turnout: negative advertising. There is some evidence that voters can get so disgusted with massive negative commercials, posters, mail, etc. that they decide not to vote. That could have been a factor in the lower-than-usual turnout in Republican primaries this year. There is no doubt that negative advertising works with many voters, but it may also be creating ex-voters. Voter suppression is as old as the Republic. After all, only white males who owned property were allowed to vote in a couple of states in our first elections. And the franchise was notoriously denied African-Americans and women for decade after decade. At the moment, much of the vote suppression is in Republican-controlled legislations. The phrase "voter fraud" is thrown around, but there is no doubt the idea now is designed to discourage poor people, who are usually both less-informed about the law and more likely to vote for Democrats. There are and have been many tricks of this old trade. Men in police uniforms, some real, some not, have stood near voting stations, intimidating possible voters who may have had trouble with the law or are just afraid of cops. Men in suits with clipboards asking questions also have an effect on some possible voters. In fact, that was the way William Rehnquist in Arizona began the political activity that eventually made him chief justice of the United States.


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


April 15, 2012 Sunday
WEB Edition


Religion still has a role to play


BYLINE: Inquirer Editorial


SECTION: NEWS; P-com Opinion; Pg. WEB


LENGTH: 562 words


Bible-believing evangelical voters kept Rick Santorum in the hunt for the Republican presidential nomination. But their fervor didn't translate into the dollars he needed to withstand the ad blitz of the deeper-pocketed Mitt Romney.

Does Santorum's suspension of his campaign mean religion won't play a role in the fall campaign? No, with a Mormon and a Protestant who still gets wrongly accused of being a Muslim in the race, you can expect religion to remain a factor in the election.

Religion's role may not be as obvious without Santorum around to serve as the Catholic Church's mouthpiece on abortion. But both Romney and President Obama know the evangelical vote could be very important, especially for Republicans, whose party depends on that demographic more than the Democrats.

The journal Foreign Affairs, in a recent article looking at the impact of religion on U.S. foreign policy, noted that evangelicals actually tended to identify more with the Democratic Party even into the 1970s, helping to elect self-styled -born-again Christian” Jimmy Carter in 1976.

But that changed with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, who courted the religious vote like no other Republican before him. The GOP has continued that approach ever since, taking stands seen as biblically based on abortion, gay rights, and other social issues.

It makes sense that the tea-party movement is more like a wing of the GOP. Although the movement is largely viewed as a politically inspired effort concerned primarily with fiscal issues, many tea-party supporters have roots in the old religious right, which also mostly sat in Republican pews.

-Tea partyers are more likely than other Republicans to say that U.S. laws and policies would be better if the country had more ‘deeply religious' elected officials, that it is appropriate for religious leaders to engage in political persuasion, and that religion should be brought into public debates over political issues,” said the Foreign Affairs article.

It also pointed out, however, that the tea-party profile doesn't match the rest of the country's. Surveys show the percentage of Americans who believe religious leaders should stop trying to influence government decisions has grown from 22 percent to 38 percent since 1991, and that 80 percent of respondents said it is not proper for religious leaders to tell people how to vote.

Those numbers aren't surprising when you consider the related decline in church attendance. The mega-churches, with 2,000 or more members, may get a lot of media attention, but they represent less than 1 percent of all churches. A more typical congregation today has fewer than 200 members - and in most mainline Protestant churches, a third of the members are retirement age.

Given that fewer people attend church, and most of them are older, one might wonder why candidates try so hard to get church folks' votes. A Foreign Affairs survey showed that even religious leaders seem to have retreated from politics, with only 19 percent of churchgoers saying they heard a sermon with political content in 2011, compared with 32 percent in 2006.

Politicians aren't really bothered by that. They know church members are reliable voters. They should also know faith alone won't direct those votes.


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The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)


April 15, 2012 Sunday
The Virginian-Pilot Edition


Congress willing, obama says, he'll address immigration policy


SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A8


LENGTH: 356 words


NATION AT A GLANCE

In his most specific pledge yet to U.S. Hispanics, President Barack Obama said Saturday he would seek to tackle immigration policy in the first year of a second term. But he cautioned that he would need an amenable Congress to succeed.

"This is something I care deeply about," he told Univision.

Obama said he would work on immigration this year, but that he can't get support from Republicans in Congress. Obama also tried to paint his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, as an extremist on immigration, saying Romney supports laws that could allow for people to be stopped and asked for papers based on an assumption that they are illegal

.New Mexico

plant wants to slaughter horses

ROSWELL | The owner of a New Mexico slaughterhouse is defending his plan to become the first plant in the nation since 2007 to handle horses after an outcry from animal activists.

Valley Meat Co. owner Rick De Los Santos said he's trying to revive his failing business and that what he's proposing is legal.

The horses he plans to process are being slaughtered anyway in Mexico and his operation would be overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and meet much higher standards, he said.

Texas

Hostess workers asked for cost cuts

DALLAS | The company that makes Twinkies and Ding Dongs says it's making a final offer to workers to accept cost-cutting before it asks a bankruptcy court to impose the cuts.

Hostess Brands Inc. wants the Teamsters and bakers' unions to accept reduced pension benefits and changes in work rules to lower costs. It also wants to outsource delivery work. A union official said efforts to throw out collective bargaining agreements could lead to a strike.

Montana

'mountain man'to seek parole

HELENA | A notorious "mountain man" who abducted a world-class athlete in 1984 to keep as a wife for his son will appear later this month in front of the Montana Parole Board.

Nichols gained notoriety for the bizarre crime and prolonged manhunt in the wilderness northwest of Yellowstone National Park that ended when a sheriff stormed his camp.

Over the years he has reportedly become more apologetic for taking Kari Swenson.


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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=23756&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
Advertising Age


April 16, 2012


SOCIAL TV TIMELINE


SECTION: Pg. 4 Vol. 83


LENGTH: 581 words


MARCH 2007

ABCFamily.com hosts an "online viewing party" for the season finale of "Wildfire" so that viewers could watch together and chat via the web.

JUNE 2007

The first iPhone goes on sale and ignites smartphone fever in the U.S. (More than 100 million Americans now own smartphones, many of which end up snuggled up with TV viewers.)

MTV begins working with Twitter, a microblogging service that's less than a year old and has fewer than 1 million users. Comedian @azizansari live-tweeted the MTV Movie Awards: "I was asked to twitter. I'm just on the red carpet. Jason farted near Jay-Z."

2008

Presidential election cycle: Cable network Current TV was the first to put tweets on-air during the show: "Hack the Debate."

JANUARY 2009

CNN live-streams President Barack Obama's inauguration online alongside a feed of Facebook comments.

SEPTEMBER 2009

Fox airs an episode of social-TV pioneer "Glee" with tweets running along the bottom of the screen. Some viewers complain ticker covers what they're trying to watch.

APRIL 2010

Apple releases the iPad and sells 300,000 on the first day. (Gartner Research forecasts that more than 118 million tablets will be sold worldwide this year.)

SEPTEMBER 2010

ABC launches an iPad app for "My Generation" that "listens" to content on screen and serves up corresponding poll questions and trivia. It is among the first network-produced "co-viewing apps" designed to be digital companions to shows. ABC has since launched similar apps for "Grey's Anatomy" and the Oscars.

FEBRUARY 2011

Audi runs the first Twitter hashtag (#ProgressIs) in a Super Bowl commercial. The game spawns 1.8 million public comments on Facebook and Twitter, according to social-data tracker Bluefin Labs.

APRIL 2011

GetGlue, a mobile app that asks users to publish to social networks what they're watching on TV, reaches 1 million users after less than a year on the market.

AUGUST 2011

Beyonce reveals her baby bump during the MTV Video Music Awards, and the news explodes on social sites. During the show, #VMA was the most-mentioned term on Twitter, followed by "Beyonce," according to Bluefin.

SEPTEMBER 2011

Social-TV startup Miso partners with DirecTV to synchronize its mobile-app content with what's on TV. Later, Miso also links with AT&T U-verse.

NOVEMBER 2011

Simon Cowell's "X Factor" premieres in America and introduces Twitter voting.

JANUARY 2012

Robert F.X. Sillerman's latest endeavor, Function(x), launches the Viggle app, a "loyalty program for TV."

FEBRUARY 2012

During the Super Bowl, viewers produce 12,233 tweets a second, contributing to more than 12.2 million public Twitter and Facebook comments, according to Bluefin. (In 2008, the Big Game scored 27 tweets a second.) Of the comments this year, 1.2 million concern commercials. Eight Super Bowl commercials included a hashtag, including #makeitplatinum for Bud Light and #mushymush for Hulu. H&M's David Beckham Bodywear spot garners the largest comment volume.

The Grammy Awards on CBS generates the most social-media comments to date for a TV event-13 million-vs. 3.4 million during the Oscars and 880,000 for the State of the Union address.

Election season: Fox News integrates #answer and #dodge hashtags into the South Carolina GOP debate broadcast. Mitt Romney's explanation for not releasing his tax records generates the evening's biggest #dodge reaction.

FUTURE: Watch out for the London Olympics on NBC and the general election to be major social-media events, and for social to be more integrated with TV production.


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The Associated Press


April 16, 2012 Monday 10:08 PM GMT


Baldwin, Folds to press for more US arts funding


BYLINE: By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press


SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS


LENGTH: 688 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Alec Baldwin visited the nation's capital on Monday to press for increased federal funding for the arts after government dollars were cut last year, saying such funding ensures the public affordable access to theater, dance and music.

The actor for NBC's "30 Rock" told The Associated Press he was returning to Congress to press for arts funding after the culture wars of the 1990s first drew him into the same debate about 20 years ago. Part of his passion, he said, was protecting freedom of expression through the arts, as well as arts education.

Baldwin, 54, said his own industry of TV and film is often like the "potato chip business it's junk food." For more sophisticated arts, he said he has to go out and find music, theater or dance programs just like anyone else. But for him, a night out for culture isn't an issue.

"There are tremendous parts of the country right now where there's a need for federal funding for the arts in order to bring that to people on a level that they can afford," he said. "We still have a cultural heritage to protect in this country. This is what's going to enrich people's lives."

Baldwin said the nation has fallen far short of its high of about $176 million in arts funding in 1992. When accounting for inflation since then, he argues, the U.S. should be spending about $100 million more on the arts than it is.

For 2012, the arts endowment received about $147 million a $22 million cut since 2010.

"If I had any influence, I'd want the (National Endowment for the Arts) to have a budget of a billion dollars," Baldwin said. "We spend too much money on war in this country."

Baldwin was to deliver an arts policy lecture Monday night at the Kennedy Center to a sold-out audience, and he also was taking his case to the National Press Club before planning to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to boost arts funding.

Pianist and singer Ben Folds, 45, who is also a judge on NBC's "The Sing-Off," planned to join Baldwin and hundreds of arts advocates from across the country in lobbying Congress.

Folds said he hears from parents and students while he's traveling about how highly they value having band or music classes in school.

"I'm just a walking example of someone who would be maybe bussing tables right now at best if it wasn't for my arts education," Folds told AP, recalling his second and third-grade years of singing and learning to read music while playing a simple recorder.

Those kinds of arts programs that emphasize creativity and help build problem-solving skills have been cut back as standardized tests emphasized achievement in reading, math and science, he said.

Robert Lynch, president of the lobbying group Americans for the Arts, said winning increased funding for 2013 will be challenging but not impossible.

President Barack Obama's budget has called for an $8 million increase after cutbacks in recent years.

Funding the arts, meanwhile, is shaping up as one more election-year issue.

Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said he would eliminate funding for PBS and the arts endowment to help balance the federal budget.

Lynch said he doubts Republicans would go that far. Romney was supportive of arts funding as governor of Massachusetts and understood how the arts cam contribute to economic growth with jobs and by generating tax dollars, Lynch said.

"I just believe that all of the candidates out there are rational people," he said.

Romney has said private funding should fill the void of federal dollars. One way would be adding commercials to public broadcast stations, he has said.

Lynch said arts funding provides seed money to help draw private support and donations to symphonies, theater companies and performing arts centers across the country.

With about 110,000 nonprofit arts organizations nationwide and 40,000 federal and state arts grants given out each year, he said federal funding is part of the infrastructure of the arts industry. Arts-related business also sends tax money back to government coffers, he said.

Americans for the Arts: http://www.artsusa.org/

Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat


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ClimateWire


April 16, 2012 Monday


POLITICS: Romney, appealing to independents, won't soften on climate change


SECTION: SPOTLIGHT Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 1140 words


Evan Lehmann, E&E reporter

Republican strategists predict that Mitt Romney could intensify his attacks on the president's energy policies, including perhaps on past efforts to reduce carbon emissions, now that the former Massachusetts governor is accelerating into the general election race.

But several said it's unlikely Romney will return to the position he held on climate change last summer, when he expressed belief in humans' contribution to climatic alterations. The climate issue is "dead" in this election, said one strategist who believes in global warming.

Romney raced into his new role as the presumptive nominee last week with a cascade of blows casting President Obama's economic policies as a failure for women, a category of voters with whom Obama enjoys a double-digit lead over Romney in polling. He accused the president Tuesday of waging a "war on women."

With the tone of the race sharpening, Romney could increasingly use similar economic criticisms to challenge Obama's claims of supporting expanded fossil fuel production, like oil and natural gas drilling, the strategists say.

The intent, in part, would be to portray the president as an exclusive supporter of renewable energy sources, thereby limiting his appeal among voters, including independents, who favor choices among all resources, said Mike McKenna, a Republican energy adviser and lobbyist who is unaffiliated with the Romney campaign.

"He's imprinted on the voters' minds as being the renewable energy president," McKenna said, suggesting that Obama is inextricably linked to the green policies he pursued earlier in his term, like the economic stimulus package, cap and trade, and the clean energy standard.

That might not be a detriment in another time, but with gasoline prices climbing against the backdrop of an overcast economy, Republicans see benefits in preventing Obama from pivoting to an "all of the above" approach.

"In trying to sell himself as the pro-production president, [Obama's] got the mirror image of the problem George Bush had," McKenna said. "George Bush, creator of ethanol, kept trying to sell, 'Hey, I'm the green president.' Well, dude, you can't spend the first 30 years of your life being an oil and gas guy and then say, 'Hey, I'm really an ethanol and solar power guy.' Obama's got the same problem." Energy skirmishes in battleground states

As if on cue, the Romney campaign launched an attack Thursday afternoon called the "magical misery tour." It portrays the Obama campaign airing television ads in swing states as an attempt to sidestep concerns about gas prices.

"After three years of promising change, the only thing that the President has delivered is gas prices twice as high as the day he took office," Andrea Saul, a Romney spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The Obama ad touts the president's record of raising fuel economy standards and increasing renewable energy. It also accuses Romney of siding with fossil fuel companies, which, the ad says, are financing a television campaign to discourage alternative fuel sources.

"In all these fights, Mitt Romney stood with Big Oil, for their tax breaks, attacking higher mileage standards and renewables," the ad says. "So when you see these ads, remember who paid for them and what they want."

The Obama ad is airing in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia -- key battleground states where independents could tilt the race in November. Not coincidentally, a super PAC supporting Romney, Crossroads GPS, is airing its own ads in those same states.

An energy adviser for the Romney campaign said sustained messaging about gas prices will continue through the summer, even if prices inch downward. It strikes at Obama's perceived weakness on economic policy and also emphasizes Democratic tendencies to use overbearing government regulations, the adviser said.

"You don't need to get more complicated than that," the Romney adviser said. "They know when they go to the pump and begin to fill up, it costs a lot of money." Renewables 'tainted'

Throughout the primary contest, Romney rarely mentioned renewable energy, unless he was denigrating Obama's use of loan guarantees to help finance companies like the failed solar panel manufacturer Solyndra.

Romney will increasingly be courting moderate voters before the general election, but GOP strategists don't expect him to ramp up his support for renewable energy programs. The Romney energy adviser said alternative sources have been "tainted" by the idea that they're expensive and require subsidies.

Another GOP energy adviser, whose candidate dropped out of the primary race, said: "While Obama will talk about 'all the above,' he'll do it with a wink and smile. I think Gov. Romney will have an opportunity to talk about 'all of the above' as a complete energy strategy that encompasses all energy from coal through renewables."

This adviser, who believes that humans are contributing to climate change, sees no electoral benefit for Romney to soften his stance on global warming. Romney has backed away from the position he took in June, when he said, "It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors."

The adviser added: "From my perspective, climate change is just one of those dead issues that has little resonance as it relates to [energy] independence. It is an issue that certainly people have concern over, but it's not one of those things that we saw drove people's voting patterns." Who will campaign with cap and trade first?

Another climate-related issue, however, stands a chance of re-emerging before November: cap and trade.

McKenna believes Romney will eventually criticize the president for supporting the carbon-pinching policy, even though that brings its own risks to the Republican challenger, who once supported a similar program in Massachusetts.

"He's a little bit impaired by his own personal history on the subject. But he'd be really dopey if he didn't," McKenna said. "I expect we're going to hear something about cap and trade."

But the Romney adviser cautioned against that strategy, saying the "fresh material" related to gas prices is a simpler message with fewer risks. The adviser, however, did not rule out the possibility that Obama might target Romney for his past support of the carbon program.

"He might," the adviser said. But "I'm not sure that helps him at all, because it sort of reminds people of what he pushed."

Still, 10 days ago, Obama raised the subject to portray the Republican Party as being more conservative than it was in decades past.

"Cap and trade was originally proposed by conservatives and Republicans as a market-based solution to solving environmental problems," Obama said. "Now you've got the other party essentially saying we shouldn't even be thinking about environmental protection."


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CNN Wire


April 16, 2012 Monday 9:52 PM EST


Romney camp taps longtime aide for VP search, but trails in latest poll


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1461 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Mitt Romney's campaign confirmed Monday that a trusted aide of the former Massachusetts governor will lead the search for his running mate in November, as the presumptive Republican nominee trails President Barack Obama by 9 points in the latest CNN/ORC International nationwide poll.

Beth Myers, who served as chief of staff when Romney was governor of Massachusetts and managed his 2008 presidential campaign, will head the search effort, according to Romney's campaign, which confirmed comments by Romney in an interview with ABC News to be broadcast Monday night.

"This weekend was the first time we seriously really talked about it and there are some wonderful people out there," Romney said in a preview of the interview released by ABC News.

Obama's 52%-43% lead in the first CNN poll since Rick Santorum suspended his Republican bid for the White House highlighted a perception among respondents that the president is more likeable and more in touch with the problems facing women and middle class Americans, according to the poll.

Romney was celebrating Patriots' Day in his hometown of Boston and watched the Red Sox lose to Tampa Bay, 1-0, at Fenway Park. Romney was joined by son Tagg and a grandson to watch along with supporters who won a promotion called "Patriots' Day with Mitt."

In Massachusetts, Patriots' Day commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord, which launched the Revolutionary War. It also is the date of the Boston Marathon.

Earlier Monday, a campaign official responded to reports that Romney had floated the possibility of eliminating or restructuring certain government agencies, saying he was tossing out ideas, not unveiling policy.

At a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, the night before, Romney said, as part of ideas aimed at reforming Washington, he would combine some government agencies and eliminate others, according to accounts from reporters who overheard Romney's remarks, including one from the Wall Street Journal, while standing outside the venue where he was making his pitch.

Romney suggested he might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which his father, George, once headed, and either consolidate or reduce the size of the Education Department.

Now the candidate is getting a tiny bit more specific about his plans.

According to the Journal, Romney "said he would eliminate or limit for high-earners the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, and likely would do the same for the state income tax deduction and state property tax deduction."

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded to the comments, saying her candidate is tackling bold issues while President Barack Obama is "interested only in offering excuses and blaming others for his failures."

Meanwhile, the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action unleashed an online and TV commercial directly targeting Romney's "anti-middle class" tax policy, timed to Tax Day, April 17. The ad is the first part of a multimillion-dollar campaign attacking Romney focusing on the battleground states of Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.

With no primaries in the Republican presidential race until next week, Romney will focus on fundraising with events in North Carolina and Pennsylvania in coming days, while Ann Romney is scheduled to hold a birthday-themed fundraiser in New York on Tuesday. Mrs. Romney turned 63 on Monday.

In addition, her husband will address the Tri-State Tea Party Caucus in Philadelphia on Monday night, when the joint interview on ABC will be broadcast.

Obama, meanwhile, is scheduled to campaign in Michigan this week, while first lady Michelle Obama will be in the District of Columbia, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Vice President Joe Biden will host events in the District of Columbia, Arizona and California.

While Romney is positioned as the likely Republican presidential candidate in November, he still needs several hundred delegates to clinch the nomination over remaining rivals Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

The next primaries are April 24 in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

On Sunday, both parties continued jockeying to position themselves as more deserving of the female vote, a battle that took on new life last week after a Democratic strategist questioned Ann Romney's standing to give her husband advice on economic issues affecting women.

The criticism from Hilary Rosen, also a CNN contributor, rekindled the national conversation on whether Republicans or Democrats are better equipped to improve economic conditions for women.

Polls show a majority of female voters favor Obama over Romney, and Rosen's comment that Ann Romney never worked outside the home and therefore was unqualified to provide her husband with advice on women's economic issues gave Republicans a line of attack against Democrats.

On morning talk shows, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended the Obama administration's record on job creation and accused Romney of leveling "ridiculous" accusations against the president's policies. He specifically pointed to Romney's claim that 92.3% of jobs lost since Obama took office were held by women.

"It's a ridiculous and deeply misleading look at the economy," Geithner said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Remember, the recession and the crisis started at the beginning of 2008 before the president took office. It caused a huge amount of damage to men, to women, to families. And the damage lasted for a time, and you're still seeing the scars of that."

The 92.3% figure was batted back and forth to jab Obama in the latest skirmish. Although the number is correct, many observers say it is misleading because it fails to reflect the depth of the recession that began before Obama took office, with many more men than women losing their jobs in that period.

Geithner stressed the downturn "hurt everybody" and unsurprisingly rallied behind the president's proposals, including the "Buffett Rule," which he said is part of a comprehensive plan that will continue to improve the country's economic outlook.

In a CNN/ORC poll released Monday, seven in 10 respondents said they favor the bill named for billionaire financier Warren Buffett that would require people earning $1 million a year or more to pay at least 30% in taxes. It is intended to prevent the wealthy from paying a lower actual tax rate than middle class workers.

The Democratic-controlled Senate was to take a procedural vote later Monday on whether to move the measure to the Senate floor but it was expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed.

Romney backers, including Republicans Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, argued that the former Massachusetts governor is armed with proposals that will not only court female voters, but also turn the economy around.

McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, predicted Romney would win the female vote, despite the gender gap in current polling.

"I do believe that Ann Romney was right when she said the women she talks to and the women I talk to, traveling around my state, are interested in jobs and the economy," McCain said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "There's no doubt that a lot of women have been hurt very badly in this recession. And jobs and the economy is their No. 1 priority."

In the CNN/ORC poll released Monday, women voters back Obama over Romney by 16 points, 55% to 39%. A recent poll from ABC News/Washington Post showed Obama leading Romney among women, 57% to 38%.

Rodgers, who was one of the women dispatched by the Romney campaign to capitalize on Rosen's comment last week, told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that Romney's policies will "help women succeed in this country and all people in this country succeed."

"President Obama's policies are the ones that are failing Americans, failing women," she added on CNN's "State of the Union."

Most Americans overwhelmingly support women working outside the household, according to a new CNN/ORC survey, with nine in 10 saying the number of women in the workplace is a good thing, a significant change from attitudes on that topic in the 1980s and 1990s.

The back-and-forth over female support is the latest Twitter- and cable-fed controversy to demonstrate that the general election between Romney and Obama is already under way.

On CNN's "State of the Union," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus would not yet characterize Romney as the "presumptive nominee" out of respect for Gingrich and Paul, who are far behind in the delegate count but remain in the race.

However, Priebus said Romney's significant advantages on all fronts make it highly likely he will face Obama for the presidency.

CNN's Paul Steinhauser, Rachel Streitfeld and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Update, 5:52 p.m. -- Adds Romney comments from Sunday fundraisers on combining, eliminating govt agencies and tax reform; updates Romney, guests at Patriots' Day at Fenway Park; adds CNN polls released Monday; updates with vote coming on Buffett Rule; updates with CNN/ORC polls released at 4 p.m.; add pro-Obama super PAC to release first ads directed at Romney


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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CNN Wire


April 16, 2012 Monday 4:19 PM EST


Romney gets 'fat cat' treatment


BYLINE: By Gabriella Schwarz, CNN Producer


LENGTH: 417 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- The liberal MoveOn.org took on Mitt Romney's opposition to the "Buffett Rule" through a play off the Lolcats meme in a new ad released Monday, according to the group.

The 30-second spot, set to run on cat-themed Animal Planet programming, accuses Romney of letting "fat cats rig the system" through a series of images that show large felines on a private jet and swimming in money, among other rich-themed scenarios.

"When the wealthiest one percent pay a fair tax rate like the rest of us it keeps the American dream alive for everyone," the narrator in the commercial said. "So tell Mitt Romney, kittens are cute. One percent fat cats who won't pay their fair share? Eh, not so much."

Although the independent organization would not disclose the size of the ad buy, they said the spot would run on numerous Animal Planet shows, including "Big Cat Diary," "My Cat From Hell," "Cats 101" and 'Too Cute Kittens," coinciding with Tax Day and Monday's Senate vote on the "Buffett Rule."

The provision, opposed by leading Republicans including presumptive nominee Romney, would level a minimum tax rate on high income earners. Proponents of the President Barack Obama-backed measure argue the change would constitute a fairer tax code while opponents of the law point to the relatively low revenue expected from the rule.

Romney has voiced opposition to the bill, named after investor Warren Buffett, calling it a "new source of division" by targeting the most successful in the country.

But MoveOn.org Executive Director Justin Ruben used the ad as a chance to criticize the former Massachusetts governor and former executive as a "fat cat" himself.

"Americans who have been playing by the rules are losing because fat cats like Mitt Romney are playing by a completely different rulebook," Ruben said in a statement. "President Obama's Buffett Rule is a basic first step towards asking fat cat millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share like the rest of us kitties."

The Republican National Committee continued their criticism of the rule in response to the ad.

"This is just another Obama shiny object designed to distract from his failure to turn the economy around," press secretary Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement. "Raising only enough money to run the federal government for 11 hours, President Obama has been unable to sell the tax gimmick even after holding over twenty events to do so and liberal groups pulling out all the stops."

Team Romney did not respond to a request for comment.


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Updated 12:18 p.m. -- adds RNC response grafs 9, 10


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CNN Wire


April 16, 2012 Monday 4:13 PM EST


Pro-Obama super PAC to hit Romney on taxes


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 177 words


DATELINE: Washington (CNN)


Washington (CNN) -- An independent super PAC that's backing President Barack Obama's re-election bid said Monday it's going up with a television commercial and on-line video that highlight's what the group calls the "anti-middle class" tax policy of all but certain Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. 

"His own tax return from last year reveals he made twenty one million dollars, yet paid a lower tax rate than many middle class families," the narrator in the spot said. "Now, Romney's proposing a huge new one hundred fifty thousand dollar tax -cut for the wealthiest one percent while cutting Medicare and education for us. Mitt Romney. If he wins, we lose."

Priorities USA Action will run the ad on television in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Virginia, all considered crucial battleground states in November's presidential election, according to a source with knowledge of the ad buy, who said the release of the spot is timed to Tax Day.

The source said the spot's the first part of a multi-million dollar campaign that will run on television and on the web.


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


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Daily News (New York)


April 16, 2012 Monday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION


'Short Arms' are tax-ing!


BYLINE: BY JOANNA MOLLOY


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 14


LENGTH: 559 words


In New York, we call the person who never picks up the check "Short Arms" - you know, they just can't reach that tab on the table or bar.

Short Arms is most objectionable when his or her pockets run so deep they can't reach all the way down into them - while everybody else pitches in.

"I didn't have an appetizer," Short Arms mumbles. "I only had one drink."

As we all hurry to file our tax returns to the feds before end of day Tuesday - some feeling pain, some getting money back - there's tons of talk on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail about Short Arms.

Fact is, there are some who pick up less of their fair share of the national tab than everyone else - and, surprise, surprise, it's Short Arms being most objectionable again.

Regular working stiffs don't know where to turn, what with a measure backed by President Obama to tax millionaires at a greater rate expected to be defeated in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week.

"I paid about 32% of my pay when I was working, and 24% of my income now that I'm retired," said former cable slicer Patrick Welsh. He added that money is tight because Verizon, his former employer, hasn't given a cost of living increase to retirees in 20 years and is now asking them to pay thousands in health insurance premiums.

"I know I pay a higher percentage than (Mitt)Romney," he said, referring to how the likely GOP presidential nominee paid less than 15% in 2010.

Truck driver Jean Sassine feels the same pain. The father of two works a second job as a film location manager, but is still fighting J.P. Morgan Chase over foreclosure of his Queens Village home.

"I got laid off back in 2008 and my wife needed surgery, and I fell behind in my mortgage payments," Sassine told The News. "Chase won't give me a break - and taxes take a big chunk."

Tomorrow, Sassine and Welsh and up to 1,000 union members will join advocacy group UnitedNY in a show of support for passage of the so-called Buffett Rule. They'll gather outside of the city's Main Post Office, and they'll bring big hulahoops, so middle-class taxpayers can see what ginormous tax loopholes look like.

They're not saying the rich who are taxed at low rates are bad people. They're just saying these people are conveniently acting like their arms are too short to reach for their tab.

Romney paid 13.9% to the IRS last year on his 2010 income of $21.6 million because of a lower tax rate on earnings from invesments. Economist Paul Krugman has called that arrangement "indefensible." Forbes analyst Len Burman calls it "a ginormous loophole." Hello, hulahoop! We don't know what percentage of Romney's 2011 income he will pay to the taxman, because on Friday, he asked the IRS for an extension - potentially to Oct. 15, just before Election Day.

Seems like Romney doesn't desperately need that tax-return check, unlike so many Americans, some of whom get loans with high-interest rates against their expected returns.

Even President and Mrs. Obama paid a lower tax rate on their income than the retired cable splicer - 20.5% of their joint haul of $789,674.

But Obama appears to be thinking of others - people like Sassine and Welsh. Last week, he said: "If you're bringing in a million bucks or more a year, then the (Buffett) rule says you should pay the same percentage in taxes as middle-class families do."

jmolloy@nydailynews.com


LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: Truck driver Jean Sassine with his wife, Celeste, and their two children, Jean Andre Jr. and Cheyenne. John Taggart


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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The Deal Pipeline


April 16, 2012 Monday


Dems jump at chance to blast Romney's Bain ties


BYLINE: by Ira Teinowitz


LENGTH: 144 words


Less than a week after Mitt Romney effectively secured the Republican nomination, Democrats have launched TV ads ripping into his record at Bain Capital LLC. Priorities USA Action, the Super PAC formed to support President Obama, on Monday, April 16, launched a new ad that centers on a 1985 picture of Romney with others at Bain celebrating the closing of their first fund. Romney and the others are pictured with money sticking out of their pockets. "Mitt Romney - he made millions off companies that went bankrupt - while workers lost health and retirement," said the ad, which goes on to suggest that Romney would cut taxes for the wealthy while cutting services for the middle class and poor. Priorities USA called the ad the first part of a new campaign and said it would run in the battleground states of Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia. - Ira Teinowitz


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Web Publication



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The Frontrunner


April 16, 2012 Monday


Adelson Donates $5 Million To GOP Super PAC


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 587 words


Politico (4/16, Bravender, 25K) reports that according to a campaign finance report filed Sunday night, "Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul who buoyed Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, poured $5 million into a super PAC supporting establishment GOP candidates." The Congressional Leadership Fund "ended the month with $5.1 million in the bank, positioning the group to be a serious player in targeted House races across the country." The piece notes that the Adelsons' "shift to supporting the GOP establishment is a promising sign for party operatives, who are hoping to corral some of the deep-pocketed donors that have spent millions on warring super PACs so far this election cycle."

Anonymous Donor Gave Crossroads GPS $10 Million For Anti-Obama Ads.

The Washington Post (4/14, Farnam, 553K) reports, "An anonymous donor gave $10 million late last year" to Crossroads GPS "to run ads attacking President Obama and Democratic policies, escalating the money race that is defining the 2012 presidential campaign. And in the new, free-wheeling environment of independent political giving, the identity of this donor, like many others, is likely to remain a permanent mystery." Another donor gave the group $10 million "in the 2010 midterm elections, according to draft tax returns that provide the first detailed look at its finances." Politico (4/13, Slack) says, "Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt took to Twitter on Friday to question the contributors' motivations: 'What special interest just gave $10 million to try to defeat @BarackObama? And what has @MittRomney promised them?'"

Democratic Super PACs Trail GOP Groups In Fundraising.

Politico (4/13, Vogel, Bravender) reports, "A network of Democratic outside groups boosting President Barack Obama and his congressional allies picked up its fundraising this year, but still lags woefully behind Republican outside groups that have already begun an attack-ad binge." The "four super PACs and a pair of linked non-profit groups" raised $7.9 million in the first quarter, "though the main pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action, has yet to release its March fundraising figures. Still, the running 2012 tally for the Democratic groups...is dwarfed by the $21.5 million raised in the first two months of the year alone" by Crossroads "and the pro-Mitt Romney Restore Our Future."

Reuters (4/13, Lindsey, Cooney, Beech) reports three Democratic Super PACs brought in a total of $5.7 million in the 1st quarter. Majority PAC, which is working to maintain the Democratic control of the Senate, took in $1.6 million, while House Majority PAC, its House counterpart, brought in $1.5 million. American Bridge, which does opposition research on Republicans, took in $2.6 million. The piece notes that the numbers pale in comparison to the fundraising of GOP Super PACs.

Obama Campaign Calls Super PACs "Number One Threat" To Re-Election.

Politico (4/14, Tau) reports, "The Obama campaign fundraising operation is asking supporters for donations to counter an anonymous $10 million donation to the GOP super PAC American Crossroads." Campaign manager Jim Messina wrote in an email to supporters, "This is cynical stuff -- a cold-blooded attempt to withhold from the public the names of the billionaires and corporations who are trying to buy our government. But we've got 1.8 million people so far who have stood up to be counted in support of President Obama. This new system of unlimited, anonymous giving is the number one threat to President Obama staying in office."


LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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Investor's Business Daily


April 16, 2012 Monday
NATIONAL EDITION


WEEKLY TOP 10


SECTION: THE IBD 50; Pg. B02


LENGTH: 663 words


Stocks Down Another Week

1 The market fought back from Mon.-Tue. losses, but renewed selling Fri. assured a 2 nd straight down week. The Nasdaq slid 2.2% and the S&P 500 2%. Weekly volume rose. Weaker economic reports in the U.S. and China and rising yields in Spain and Italy rattled investors. It also sent the Treasury benchmark yield back below 2%.

DOJ: Apple Fixed E-Book Price

2 The Justice Dept. and 15 states sued Apple and publishers Wed., saying they colluded to set e-book prices higher, preventing Amazon and others from lowering prices. The DOJ says this cost consumers $100 mil over 2 years. Apple said the claims were untrue, and asserted that its iBookstore helped break Amazon's e-book monopoly. Apple fell 4.5% for the week.

Romney Will Be GOP Nominee

3 Rick Santorum, the last major rival, bowed out. Mitt Romney, can now try to unify a divided GOP base while reaching out to independents. He trails Obama with women by a wide margin -- all due to single women -- but also lags among men, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll. In a new culture war volley, a Dem pundit said Ann Romney, mother of 5, breast cancer survivor and MS sufferer, hadn't worked a day in her life. Other Dems were quick to disavow those remarks.

Spain Fails To Quell Debt Fears

4 The gov't announced additional austerity, this time aimed at health care spending, as it continues to tackle debt concerns. But investors still demanded higher Spanish debt yields as they soured on the banking sector's health and odds that regional gov'ts will rein in spending. Hints that the ECB may buy Spanish debt briefly lowered bond yields, but they shot back up on reports the country's banks increased reliance on ECB loans.

Chinese Loans, Exports Surge

5 Consumer price inflation accelerated in March as food costs spiked. But producer prices fell. The March trade balance swung to a surplus of $5.35 bil from a Feb. deficit of $31.5 bil on improved exports. New bank lending jumped more than 90 times in March, a sign of more aggressive easing in gov't credit policies. But Q1 GDP growth of 8.1% fell short of views.

Google Split Divides Investors

6 The search giant's Q1 earnings per share rose 25% to $10.08, far above views. Despite a 39% hike in paid clicks, core revenue of $8.135 bil just missed views. Google also plans a 2-for-1 split, creating new nonvoting shares that let cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt keep tight control of the company. Google shares fell 4.1% on Friday.

JPM, Wells Say Housing Better

7 JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Fri. cited an improving housing market in their better-than-expected Q1 earnings. JPMorgan new-loan volume climbed 6% and applications climbed 33%. Wells, the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, issued 54% more home loans and said applications surged 84%. Shares of both fell 2.6% for the week. Citigroup reports Mon. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are due Thu.

N. Korea Missile Disintegrates

8 The long-range rocket broke up over the Yellow Sea. Western nations and S. Korea said the launch was an excuse for N. Korea to test its military power. Iran said it would issue new proposals for talks with world powers about its uranium enrichment. Western diplomats doubted they would be adequate.

Farm Gear Stores Reap Profits

9 Tractor Supply said Q1 EPS more than doubled to 53-55 cents vs. views of 32 cents. Sales rose 20% to $1.02 bil, beating estimates. It said warm weather may have pulled some Q2 sales forward, but it raised full-year profit guidance. Shares rose 7% in 2 days to 98.38. Tractor retailer Titan Machinery soared 32% for the week to 36 after blowout results.

Syria's Peace -- Fewer Killed

10 Pres. Bashar Assad acknowledged the joint U.N.-Arab League cease-fire deadline of April 12 but issued warnings that his troops were ready to deal with terrorists. Guns were largely silent Thu. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets Fri. Rebels say at least 5 were killed by gov't forces during the demonstrations.


LOAD-DATE: April 13, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)


April 16, 2012 Monday
THIRD EDITION


NATION DIGEST


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A6


LENGTH: 432 words


DATELINE: 0


Voting on dueling tax plans

Democrats and Republicans are forcing votes in Congress this week on competing tax plans that would affect millionaires and smaller businesses, and they know the proposals are doomed from the start. Their efforts, including a Senate vote today on President Barack Obama's "Buffett rule" proposal to impose a minimum tax on the wealthiest Americans, are aimed at voters in November's congressional and presidential elections.

Geithner rips Romney's claim on job losses - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says a claim by Mitt Romney about disproportionate job losses by women during the administration of President Barack Obama is "misleading and ridiculous." Romney said last week that 92.3 percent of jobs lost since Obama took office were lost by women. While the statistic is accurate, the recession began 13 months before Obama took office. Men have lost more jobs overall during the downturn - 3.4 million, compared with 1.8 million lost by women. Geithner notes that manufacturing and construction job losses were heavy in the early days of the recession, while professions with more women, such as teaching, were hurt later. Geithner spoke Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Congressman warns Secret Service - A Secret Service scandal involving prostitutes in Colombia probably isn't an isolated incident, and the agency should ensure it doesn't happen again, says U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and chairman of a House investigative panel. He said Sunday that lawmakers would be looking "over the shoulder" of the Secret Service.

Ex-EPA chief warns about chemicals - Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman has urged current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to close loopholes in a 2006 chemical security law "before a tragedy of historic proportions occurs."

Ticket for Titanic sold - A New York auction house has sold an original ticket to the launching of the Titanic and a menu from the ill-fated ocean liner. On the block Sunday at Bonhams were items to mark the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic. The ticket fetched $56,250; the menu, $31,250.

Nursing homes' disaster plans blasted - Tornado, hurricane or flood, nursing homes are woefully unprepared to protect frail residents in a natural disaster, government investigators say. Emergency plans required by the government often lack specific steps such as coordinating with local authorities, notifying relatives or even pinning name tags and medication lists to residents in an evacuation, according to the findings.

Read more national news at stltoday.com/news/national


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: Mike Brown o Commercial Appeal/Associated Press Danyale Jones spits a live crawfish from her mouth as she competes Sunday in the bobbing for crawfish competition at the 20th annual Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival in Memphis, Tenn. More than 8 tons of crawfish were cooked.


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UPI


April 16, 2012 Monday 1:45 PM EST


Super PAC ads bring up Romney's past


LENGTH: 178 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 16


The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action is unleashing a television ad and online campaign depicting Republican Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire.

Yahoo! News reported Monday it had gotten an early peak at the ad, which features a photo of the GOP presidential hopeful and his Bain Capital colleagues celebrating the 1985 closing of their first fund. The ad intimates Romney's past as an investment capitalist would influence his policy proposals and result in more tax cuts for the wealthy, Yahoo! News said.

Democratic strategist Paul Begala said Romney believes in "trickle-down" economics and the middle class "can't afford his policies."

"Governor Romney's made a fortune on the backs of the businesses he helped destroy. He profited even while thousands of men and women were fired and lost benefits they were promised," Begala said.

In the ad, the narrator intones: "Now, Romney's proposing a huge new one-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent while cutting Medicare and education for us. â[#x20ac]¦ Mitt Romney. If he wins, we lose."


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


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The Washington Post


April 16, 2012 Monday
Regional Edition


Axelrod TKO-ed by Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday


BYLINE: Jennifer Rubin


SECTION: EDITORIAL COPY; Pg. A13


LENGTH: 311 words


Axelrod knocked downon Fox News Sunday

David Axelrod was shredded by Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Wallace kept Axelrod on defense and off balance throughout the segment.

Like his former boss, Axelrod seems almost at a loss to respond once the talking points are challenged. But I imagined his invitation to choose "between economy that produces a growing middle class and gives people a chance to get ahead and their kids a chance to get ahead, and an economy that continues down the road we are on, and everybody else is running faster and faster just to keep pace," might just become a Mitt Romney campaign ad. Obviously, the only thing left to do is to scare people that unless we reelect President Obama we'll be going back to the bad old days of President George W. Bush.

There was plenty more that Axelrod said that was downright wrong or misleading. He "accuses" Romney of wanting the rich to pay at a lower tax rate; what he doesn't say is both Romney and the Simpson-Bowles plan take away deductions and credits so the rich won't be paying less taxes relative to the rest of the population.

He used the president's favorite straw man: "No one can argue that it makes sense that people who are making a million dollars a year or more to pay less than the average middle-class worker in this country." And no one is. In fact the top 10 percent of earners have been paying roughly 70 percent of the taxes. The bottom 50 percent pay about 3 percent of the tax load.

But let's take a step back. Where in this is a plan to accelerate growth and job creation? How does creating a sort of new minimum tax for 4,000 taxpayers assist in the recovery? Maybe that's why Obama and Axelrod spend so much time on gimmicks and phony "fairness" arguments. They haven't got a clue how to create an economic environment in which investors, employers and consumers will all benefit.


LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


DISTRIBUTION: Every Zone


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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The Associated Press


April 17, 2012 Tuesday 01:00 AM GMT


AP News in Brief at 8:58 p.m. EDT;
Monday, April 16, 2012


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 2140 words


GOP derails Senate 'Buffett rule' tax boost, rejecting Obama plan to set minimum tax on rich

WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Republicans derailed a Democratic "Buffett rule" bill Monday forcing the nation's top earners to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes, using the day before Americans' taxes are due to defy President Barack Obama on one of his signature election-year issues.

By a near party-line 51-45 tally, senators voted to keep the bill alive but fell nine votes short of the 60 needed to continue debating the measure. The anti-climactic outcome was no surprise to anyone in a vote that was designed more to win over voters and embarrass senators in close races than to push legislation into law.

At the White House, Obama denounced the vote, saying Republicans chose "once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class." In a statement issued after the vote, he said he would keep pressing Congress to help the middle class.

"It's just plain wrong that millions of middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires," he said.

Republicans called the measure a divisive Democratic distraction from the nation's real problems that would not address the economy's real woes.

Don't expect a shock: Romney running mate search guided by his methodical style, Palin lessons

BOSTON (AP) Don't look for a vice presidential shocker from Mitt Romney. His choice of a running-mate a search he announced Monday he has begun will be guided by both his methodical, risk-averse corporate training and the lessons his party learned from Sarah Palin's selection.

Preparedness to serve and loyalty to Romney are likely to trump other credentials as the all-but-sure Republican nominee looks to avoid the blowback John McCain faced four years ago with his surprise choice of the little-known, first-term Alaska governor for the GOP ticket. Questions about Palin's readiness to serve, McCain's decision-making and his advisers' vetting came to define the Arizona senator's flawed campaign.

Mindful of that, Romney will put experience at the top of his list of qualities as he chooses a No. 2, according to senior advisers and GOP operatives familiar with his thinking. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak candidly about a process Romney himself is trying to keep as private as possible as he works to narrow a field that may begin with as many as a dozen prospective candidates.

"The hallmark for Governor Romney's candidacy, and how he would be as president, is that he approaches these decisions in a well-thought-out methodical way," said Steve Duprey, a former McCain adviser and current New Hampshire-based member of the Republican National Committee. "It won't be like the McCain campaign where there was a big surprise and effort to create a game changer."

For all the secrecy surrounding the process, the former Massachusetts governor did give a few hints about his plans Monday, disclosing that he had chosen his former chief of staff and 2008 presidential campaign manager, Beth Myers, to lead the vetting and analysis of prospective running mates. Several other members of the tight-knit cadre that has surrounded Romney for years also are likely to be involved.

All eyes on Kabul as US gears up for what may be its last major offensive of Afghan war

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) For Taliban militants and U.S. strategists alike, all roads in this impoverished country of mountain passes, arid deserts and nearly impassable goat tracks lead to this ancient capital of 3 million people nestled in a high and narrow valley.

The Taliban made their intentions clear over the weekend, mounting spectacular coordinated attacks that spawned an 18-hour battle with Afghan and NATO forces. And now, the U.S. is gearing up for what may be the last major American-run offensive of the war a bid to secure the approaches to the city.

While bombings and shootings elsewhere in Afghanistan receive relatively little attention, attacks in the capital alarm the general population, undermine the government's reputation and frighten foreigners into fleeing the country. That's why insurgents on Sunday struck locations that were so fortified they could cause little or no damage, including the diplomatic quarter, the parliament and a NATO base.

"These are isolated attacks that are done for symbolic purposes, and they have not regained any territory," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.

The U.S.-led spring offensive, expected to begin in the coming weeks, may be NATO's last chance to shore up Kabul's defenses before a significant withdrawal of combat troops limits its options. The focus will be regions that control the main access routes, roads and highways into Kabul from the desert south and the mountainous east. These routes are used not only by militants but by traders carrying goods from Pakistan and Iran.

GSA official asserts right to remain silent as Congress begins hearings into spending scandal

WASHINGTON (AP) The General Services Administration investigator who revealed a wild agency spending spree said Monday he's investigating possible bribery and kickbacks, and has already recommended criminal charges to the Justice Department. The key figure in the scandal invoked his right to remain silent at the House hearing.

Inspector General Brian Miller made clear that he's not done investigating GSA current and former officials, following his lengthy report April 2 on an October 2010 Las Vegas conference that cost taxpayers $823,000.

The regional executive who hosted the Western Regions Conference, Jeffrey Neely, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and his chair remained empty the rest of the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing. He could face a criminal investigation.

"We do have other ongoing investigations including all sorts of improprieties, including bribes, possibly kickbacks but I'd have to check on precisely kickbacks," Miller told the committee.

He added later, "We have recommended criminal charges."

AP wins Pulitzer for documenting police spying on Muslims; Pa. paper honored over Penn State

NEW YORK (AP) The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism Monday for revealing the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., and a 24-year-old reporter captured the award for local reporting for breaking the Penn State scandal that ultimately brought down Joe Paterno.

In a reflection of the forces reshaping the media world, the turmoil-ridden Philadelphia Inquirer won in the public service category for exposing pervasive violence in the city's schools, while David Wood earned a Pulitzer in national reporting for a relative newcomer, The Huffington Post, for stories about the suffering endured by American troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was only the second Pulitzer ever awarded for reporting that appeared online only.

Another Pulitzer for investigative reporting was awarded to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain.

The New York Times won two prizes. David Kocieniewski was honored in the explanatory reporting category for a series on how wealthy people and corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes. And Jeffrey Gettleman received the award for international reporting for his coverage of famine and conflict in East Africa.

A cub reporter, an impudent weekly, a paper in financial straits go down in Pulitzer history

NEW YORK (AP) Sometimes the story behind the prize is almost as compelling as the award-winning news itself. Some details on a few of this year's Pulitzer Prize winners.

THE CUB REPORTER

Sara Ganim is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. She's just 24 years old.

She was not long out of college when, as a crime reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., she began digging into rumors of child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky, a well-known former Penn State University assistant football coach. She kept at it when she left that paper to join The Patriot-News of Harrisburg in January 2011.

There, besides her coverage of crime and other events, she chipped away at the Sandusky story, lining up critical details and key sourcing that let her publish the first story in March 2011 that Sandusky was being investigated by a grand jury.

Joint chiefs chairman says military is 'embarrassed by military role in Colombia scandal

WASHINGTON (AP) The top U.S. military officer said Monday the nation's military leadership is embarrassed by allegations of misconduct against at least 10 U.S. military members at a Colombia hotel on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit over the weekend.

"We let the boss down," Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference. He said he regretted that the scandal, which also involved 11 Secret Service agents accused of cavorting with prostitutes at the hotel, diverted attention from Obama's diplomacy at a Latin America summit.

"I can speak for myself and my fellow chiefs: We're embarrassed by what occurred in Colombia, though we're not sure exactly what it is," Dempsey added.

Pentagon officials said earlier Monday that the number of military members involved in the scandal appears to be greater than the five originally cited. One senior defense official said that at least 10 military members may have been involved. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said that military members who are being investigated were assigned to support the Secret Service in preparation for Obama's official visit to Cartagena. He said they were not directly involved in presidential security.

Boy, 9, tells school officials his mother, sister dead at Vegas home; police find father hurt

LAS VEGAS (AP) A 9-year-old boy arrived at school Monday with a grisly story: His mother and sister were dead at their home four blocks away.

Minutes later, police found the bodies of a 10-year-old girl and her mother along with a blood-covered father and an unharmed 4-year-old boy in a modest home in a West Las Vegas neighborhood, authorities said.

The five people belonged to a single family, police Officer Jacinto Rivera said.

The man, who was hospitalized with a head injury, was not immediately identified as a suspect or charged.

Police wouldn't immediately say how or when the slayings occurred, but Rivera said there was no immediate evidence of a break-in at the home or that a suspect was on the loose.

Federal contest results in super-efficient $60 light bulb, but rebates will bring price down

NEW YORK (AP) How much would you pay for an amazing, state-of-the-art light bulb? Shoppers will be asking themselves that very question at Home Depot and other outlets starting Sunday Earth Day when the bulb that won a $10 million government contest goes on sale.

The bulb is the most energy-efficient yet, lasts about 20 years and is supposed to give off a pleasing, natural-looking light. But what separates it from the pack most is the price: $60.

That price reflects the cost of the components, especially the top-notch chips, or diodes, that give off the light, and is the price commercial customers will pay. But the manufacturer, Netherlands-based Philips, is discounting it right away to $50 for consumers, and working on deals with electric utilities to discount it even further, by as much as $20 to $30.

This means the bulb will cost anywhere from $20 to $60, depending on where it's found. Online, consumers will be paying $50 for each bulb, because utilities don't subsidize online sales.

Congress launched the L Prize contest in 2007, with the goal of creating a bulb to replace the standard, energy-wasting "incandescent" 60-watt bulb. The requirements were rigorous, and Philips was the only entrant. Its bulb was declared the winner last year, after a year and a half of testing. The contest stipulated that the winning bulb be sold for $22 in its first year on the market.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine criticizes Kevin Youkilis, then apologizes to third baseman

BOSTON (AP) Kevin Youkilis' teammates came to his defense Monday after Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine questioned his commitment to the game and then apologized to his third baseman.

During an interview aired Sunday night on WHDH-TV, Valentine said he didn't think Youkilis was "as physically or emotionally into the game."

That drew a sharp response from Dustin Pedroia before Monday's 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I know he plays as hard as anybody I've ever seen in my life. I have his back and his teammates have his back," the second baseman said.

After the game, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez also supported his teammate.


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The Associated Press


April 17, 2012 Tuesday 06:13 PM GMT


Pro-Obama super PAC runs ad bashing Mitt Romney


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 121 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


An independent group supporting President Barack Obama's re-election is spending $660,000 to run a TV ad in four states bashing Mitt Romney.

The ad by Priorities USA Action casts likely GOP presidential nominee Romney as a wealthy opportunist who would cut social programs as president to give tax cuts to higher income Americans.

The ads are running in Ohio, Iowa, Florida and Virginia. All four are expected to help determine the election outcome in November.

Priorities USA Action is a super PAC founded by two former Obama White House aides. It has struggled to keep pace with Republican-leaning super PACs like American Crossroads, which is spending $1.8 million on ads in six swing states criticizing Obama's energy policies.


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CNN Wire


April 17, 2012 Tuesday 7:04 PM EST


Obama targets speculators in latest gambit of oil-price politics


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1004 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the new measures he announced to limit speculation in oil markets will make amends to consumers for congressional Republicans blocking an end to subsidies for oil corporations.

"A few weeks ago, Congress had the chance to stand up for families already paying an extra premium at the pump, but congressional Republicans voted to keep spending billions of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on more unnecessary subsidies for big oil companies," Obama said in his announcement in the Rose Garden. "So here's a chance to make amends."

Senate Republicans three weeks ago blocked a Democratic measure championed by Obama to end tax breaks for the major oil companies, which he said were enjoying record profits. Four Democrats crossed party lines to vote against the bill, but even if it had passed the Senate, it was given little chance in the Republican-controlled House.

Obama's proposal would require traders to put up more of their own money for transactions. It also would ask for more funding for market enforcement and monitoring, and increase penalties for manipulating markets.

Obama and Republicans have drawn lines over oil prices since they started to rise to near-record levels earlier this year.

Republicans say Obama hasn't done enough to stem the rise and advocate opening up more areas for drilling and approving projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to refineries in Texas. But analysts say such measures would have little effect on the current price of oil and gasoline.

Most Americans blame big oil for the spike in prices -- a recent CNN/ORC International poll showed that the majority blamed the oil companies while 24% blamed Obama and 21% blamed Republican policies.

Obama's announcement came a day after one of the elements of his tax policy was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

The so-called Buffett Rule -- named after billionaire Warren Buffett, who says the tax rate he pays should be no lower than that of his secretary -- failed to get the necessary 60 votes to go to the Senate floor. The measure would have raised the minimum tax rate to 30% for those making more than $1 million a year.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that Obama, by pushing the Buffett Rule, shows that the incumbent is "out of ideas" on the economy.

Speaking to the Tax Day Tea Summit in Philadelphia on Monday, Romney cited a calculation that the measure, which would have raised the minimum tax rate to 30% for those making between $1 million and $2 million, would have paid for "11 hours of government."

"This is not exactly a grand idea," Romney said. "This is a man who is out of ideas, he's out of excuses and in 2012 we're going to make sure he gets put out of office."

But a CNN/ORC poll released Monday found that seven in 10 respondents said they favored the bill.

Supporters of the millionaire tax say they will keep pushing the idea in the months ahead.

Romney's wife, Ann, was to be the guest of honor later Tuesday at a birthday celebration/fundraiser being held for her by Donald Trump's wife, Melania, at the couple's residence in Trump Tower in New York. Trump spokesman Michael Cohen said about 400 people were invited to the event, which was expected to bring in "well in excess" of $600,000.

Cohen said Trump will stop by the fundraiser to wish Ann Romney, who turned 63 on Monday, a happy birthday and he expects to host another fundraiser for the campaign at Trump Tower once Romney officially clinches the nomination.

First lady Michelle Obama will also be raising cash on Tuesday. She will speak at a Democratic National Committee event in Nashville, followed by two DNC fundraisers in Pittsburgh.

Romney could cross paths with the first lady when he holds a midday campaign roundtable at a community center in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday showed Obama holds a 9-point advantage over his Republican opponent.

Obama's 52%-43% lead in the first CNN poll since rival Rick Santorum suspended his campaign highlighted a perception among respondents that the president is more likeable and more in touch with the problems facing women and middle class Americans, according to the poll.

A trusted aide of the former Massachusetts governor will lead the search for his running mate in November.

Beth Myers, who served as chief of staff when Romney was governor of Massachusetts and managed his 2008 presidential campaign, will head the search effort, Romney said in an interview broadcast on ABC News Monday night.

Earlier Monday, a campaign official responded to reports that Romney had floated the possibility of eliminating or restructuring certain government agencies, saying he was tossing out ideas, not unveiling policy.

At a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, the night before, Romney said that as part of ideas aimed at reforming Washington, he would combine some government agencies and eliminate others, according to accounts from reporters who overheard Romney's remarks, including one from the Wall Street Journal, while standing outside the venue where he was making his pitch.

Romney suggested he might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which his father, George, once headed, and either consolidate or reduce the size of the Education Department.

According to the Journal, Romney "said he would eliminate or limit for high-earners the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, and likely would do the same for the state income tax deduction and state property tax deduction."

Meanwhile, the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action unleashed an online and TV commercial directly targeting Romney's "anti-middle class" tax policy, timed to Tax Day, Tuesday. The ad is the first part of a multimillion-dollar campaign attacking Romney focusing on the battleground states of Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.

CNNMoney's Steve Hargreaves and CNN's John Helton, Gabriella Schwarz and Shawna Shepherd contributed to this report.


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CNN Wire


April 17, 2012 Tuesday 3:59 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1202 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Saeed Ahmed -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Mississippi-Abortion (12:30 a.m.)

Mississippi's governor has signed into law a bill that would require any physician performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and to have admitting privileges at an area hospital.

Oklahoma-Hot-Sauce-Baby (1 a.m.)

Two daycare workers at a Muscogee Creek Nation daycare have been charged with felony child abuse for feeding habanero hot sauce to a 13-month-old boy.

Australia-Afghanistan-Troops (1:30 a.m.)

Australia will pull out more than 1,500 troops from Afghanistan ahead of schedule, the nation's prime minister said.

Korea-Leader (2 a.m.)

Last week's unabashed failure of North Korea's TaepoDong-2 rocket launch didn't last long enough to teach technical experts much, if anything, about the Communist regime's engineering capabilities. But the West is learning a lot about the new leader from how he's conducted himself since.

Syria-Unrest (2:30 a.m.)

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday night that the Syrian regime has lost all credibility. "They have lied to the international community, lied to their own people. And the biggest fabricator of the facts is Assad himself. His representatives are merely doing his bidding and under probably some not insignificant personal duress," she told "AC360."

Florida-Teen-Shooting (3 a.m.)

Mark O'Mara, the attorney for George Zimmerman, is confident his motion to have the Florida judge assigned to his client's case will be granted.

Norway-Breivik-Trial (3:30 a.m.)

The man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun rampage in Norway last summer is expected to testify Tuesday.

DC-Space-Shuttle (4 a.m.)

At first light Tuesday, Discovery will fly out from the Kennedy Space Center one last time. The oldest of the three orbiters, with more than 148 million miles clocked, is going to the Smithsonian in Washington.

Russia-Wikileaks (4:30 a.m.)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to debut a talk show, "The World Tomorrow," on Russia's state-funded television network on Tuesday.

POL-Tax-Poll (5 a.m.)

As Americans rush to file their 2011 tax returns by Tuesday's deadline, a new poll showed more than two-thirds of them believe the revenue system benefits the wealthy while being unfair to average workers.

US-New-York-Terror-Trial (5:30 a.m.)

The trial of a Bosnian immigrant accused of plotting to bomb New York's subway system continues Tuesday, when his co-defendant Najibullah Zazi is expected to testify. Zazi pleaded guilty last year to a plot to detonate explosives in the subway system in September 2009.

Texas-Baby-Gabriel-Case (6 a.m.)

Gabriel Johnson was 8-months-old when he was last spotted alive in 2009 at a Texas motel. His mother, Elizabeth Johnson, allegedly told the father she killed the infant and put his body in a dumpster. Some answers to Gabriel's disappearance may surface at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, when opening statements are expected in the trial of another woman, Tammi Smith. She is accused of helping Johnson try to wrangle custody of the boy from his father, in order to adopt the little boy herself.

MED-Depression-Babies (6:30 a.m.)

A new study has found that depressed moms often behave in ways that disrupt babies sleep.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

US-Secret-Service-Colombia

The Secret Service has yanked the security clearances of 11 members accused of bringing prostitutes to a hotel in Colombia ahead of last week's pan-American summit, government officials with knowledge of the investigation said Monday.

US-Secret-Service

In Hollywood movies, they're often portrayed as danger-dodging men with dark glasses, smoothly working behind the scenes to protect the president at any cost. But a group of Secret Service members drew worldwide attention over the weekend for a different reason -- accusations of misconduct involving prostitutes. The incident -- which allegedly occurred when agents and officers brought prostitutes to a hotel in Colombia -- violates strict behavior rules in an agency that aims to stay out of the spotlight, and usually succeeds, experts and officials said.

Italy-Berlusconi-Trial

Women danced in their underwear at a "bunga bunga party" held by Silvio Berlusconi, a woman testified Monday at the former Italian prime minister's trial on charges of having sex with an underage prostitute, Italian media reported.

Afghanistan-Violence

The performance of Afghan forces in reacting to a series of sustained assaults shows that the country's security situation will not deteriorate after the departure of international troops scheduled for next year, President Hamid Karzai said Monday.

US-Iran-American-Heart-Attack

An American who suffered a heart attack last week during a commercial flight from Dubai to Seattle, Washington, is expected to return to the U.S. Tuesday after being treated in Iran, State Department officials told CNN Monday.

MONEY-World-Bank

American Jim Yong Kim was tapped Monday to be the next president of the World Bank, besting Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala following the first-ever challenge to the U.S. nominee in the institution's history.

France-Election-Explainer

French voters are preparing to elect a new president. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Jim Bittermann explains what the main themes of the election are, how the system works and who is likely to win.

U.S.A.

Oklahoma-Shootings

An Oklahoma judge entered not guilty pleas Monday for two men accused of killing three people in a shooting spree in a predominately African-American neighborhood in Tulsa this month, according to an attorney for one of the suspects.

Iowa-discrimination-lawsuit

A ruling is expected soon in a class-action suit filed in 2007, alleging that Iowa discriminated against approximately 6,000 African-Americans when it passed them up for jobs or promotions.

Indiana-Stage-Collapse-Sugarland

Jennifer Nettles, half of the country music duo Sugarland, said she was never asked to delay the band's show at the Indiana State Fair because of an approaching storm.

US-Pulitzer-Prize-Winners

Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting on Monday for their coverage of the spiraling Penn State sex abuse scandal.

US-Midwest-Storms

The death toll from a weekend tornado in Woodward, Oklahoma rose to six Monday with the death of a critically injured man in the hospital, a city official said.

MONEY-Buffett-Rule

A proposal to implement the Buffett Rule was blocked in the Senate on Monday, but proponents of the millionaire tax vowed to keep the issue alive in the months ahead.

POL-GSA-Hearing

A government official at the center of lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference claimed his Fifth Amendment rights against testifying at a congressional hearing Monday, while his former boss said she mourned her departure from public service over the controversy.

POL-Poll-Gender-Likeability

President Barack Obama holds a nine-point lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney thanks in part to the perception that the president is more likeable and more in touch with the problems facing women and middle class Americans, according to a new national poll.


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Environment and Energy Daily


April 17, 2012 Tuesday


CAMPAIGN 2012: Focus on response, not science, urged as candidates gear up for election


SECTION: POLITICS Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 639 words


Elana Schor, E&E reporter

Focusing on how to respond to rising emissions -- as opposed to the politically volatile debate over climate science and man's role in global warming -- could help shape a more effective energy debate during this election season, environmental analysts of all stripes agreed yesterday.

That an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar who calls clean energy jobs a "myth" would align with a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) official whose new book slams House Republicans as captive to the oil industry might surprise many in Washington, D.C. But AEI's Kenneth Green and NRDC's Bob Deans sounded similar notes on the value of cross-aisle compromise in helping energy policymakers move past years of combat over climate change.

"You'd be better off just tabling the science question," Green said at a forum sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). "The most important question" about greenhouse gas emissions, Green added, "is 'What are you going to do about it, and what are the costs?'"

Green and Deans concurred that the dwindling frequency of the phrase "climate change" on the campaign trail represents a signal of sorts that the U.S. political debate has reoriented toward responses to broader energy challenges. As ELI President John Cruden put it yesterday, the existence and causes of global warming represent "a scientific question, which [candidates] should defer to the scientific experts on."

The two sides diverged in a more predictable way on how to evaluate solutions.

Green called for "a standard methodology for cost-benefit assessment" of proposed environmental regulations, nodding to a House GOP effort to require U.S. EPA review of Clean Air Act rules' employment impact that is bitterly opposed by green advocates.

Deans, while agreeing on the need for "baseline agreement on the facts before we get into the political fight," urged lawmakers to work toward unity in favor of air toxics restrictions that are broadly backed in public polls but blasted by industry as bound to cause economic harm.

ELI's debate yesterday comes as President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), his likely challenger, enter the first stages of a general election fight expected to encompass the battle to balance economic recovery and environmental stewardship that already has defined the 112th Congress.

With gasoline prices hitting seasonal highs, energy is dominating the early advertising clashes between the presidential campaigns and their affiliated political action committees.

The latest volley on that front came yesterday from the oil industry-backed American Energy Alliance (AEA), which extended the biggest ad campaign in its history to satellite radio stations in nine swing states. AEA's commercials link Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and his administration's half-million-dollar loan guarantee to a defunct solar firm to rising gas prices (E&E Daily, March 29).

However, neither the XL project nor the government aid to bankrupt Solyndra has demonstrably driven the current uptick in pump prices. The pipeline's supporters acknowledge that it likely would raise oil costs in the Midwest if constructed, though they dispute that gas prices in that region would not rise as a result.

That chasm between political assertion and factual impact -- present in arguments put forth by both ends of the environmental politics spectrum -- was singled out for scrutiny by E. Donald Elliott, an assistant EPA administrator during the George H.W. Bush administration.

"You've got to have a better process to get the facts clear, because right now people, partisans on all sides, are good at essentially misstating the facts," said Elliott, now a professor at Yale Law School. "If you misstate the question, there's essentially no hope of getting the policies correct."


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The Frontrunner


April 17, 2012 Tuesday


Polls Range From 9-Point Obama Lead To 3-Point Romney Edge


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 486 words


A new series of polls out in the last 24 hours paint conflicting pictures of the state of the presidential contest. While two tracking polls show Mitt Romney with a slight lead, other surveys show President Obama well ahead.

Rasmussen Reports ' daily presidential tracking poll shows Obama's approval rating at 47%, with 51% disapproving. That's little changed from a 46%/52% split yesterday. In a 2012 trial heat, Romney leads Obama 47%-44%. The poll surveyed 1,500 likely voters from April 13-15.

The first installment of the Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 47%-45%. While both candidates secure 90% of their respective bases, Romney leads 45%-39% among independents. The poll surveyed 2,225 registered voters from April 11-15.

However, a CNN /Opinion Research Corporation poll of 910 registered voters taken April 13-15 shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney 52%-43%. That's down from a 54%-43% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll also shows respondents believe that Obama can better "get the economy moving" than Romney by a 44%-42% margin, while 49% said the President agrees with them "on the issues that matter most," with 37% choosing Romney.

Nearly splitting the difference is a Reuters /Ipsos poll which shows Obama leading Romney 47%-43%. That's down from a 52%-41% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll surveyed 891 registered voters from April 12-15.

Romney Has Lowest Favorable Rating Of Any Candidate In Decades.

Jon Cohen and Peyton Craighill, in an online piece for the Washington Post (4/16, 553K) noted that Romney's "favorable numbers among Republicans have shot to a record high, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted after Rick Santorum dropped out," but Romney "continues to trail President Obama badly when it comes to a straightforward assessment of popularity. ... Fully 69 percent of Republicans -- including 80 percent of conservative Republicans -- now hold favorable views of the former Massachusetts governor, both career highs." Cohen and Craighill add, "The number of Americans with unfavorable views of him continues to hover near an all-time-high set in late March, with favorable impressions mired around one in three, making him less popular than any recent major party nominee in available Post-ABC polling dating to 1984."

McGurn: Focusing On President's "Likability" Would Be A Mistake For GOP.

In his column for the Wall Street Journal (4/17, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), William McGurn notes that a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that by more than 2-to-1, American find President Obama more friendly and likable than Mitt Romney. However, McGurn says focusing on likability is a mistake and suggests that Romney, who already has the votes of those who dislike the President, should focus on winning the people who like him, but question his leadership as President.


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The Frontrunner


April 17, 2012 Tuesday


Targeting Romney, Pro-Obama Super PAC Ad To Air In Four Battleground States


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 89 words


Politico (4/16, Tau, 25K) reported on its website, "The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action is going up with an anti-Mitt Romney spot in four states, the group announced Monday. The ad targets Romney's background in private equity (specifically the layoffs and restructuring that his company Bain Capital undertook under his leadership), his low tax rate, and his proposal to cut taxes for the wealthy, concluding, 'Mitt Romney: if he wins, we lose.' The ad will air in Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia, according to the group."


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The Main Wire


April 17, 2012 Tuesday 4:43 PM GMT


US CreditMkts:Tsys Ebb: Two-Way Flows; Mideast Front End Bid


LENGTH: 736 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK April 17


By Sheila Mullan

Prices of U.S. Treasuries ended Tuesday lower amid some reversed safe-haven bid flows, so some pressure from higher U.S. stock indexes after a solid Spanish bill auction.

Spain's Tesoro Publico sold a larger-than-intended E3.137 billion with strong demand from both 12-month and 18-month T-bills, despite yields rising 121 basis points and 140 basis points vs the prior month's sales, respectively. Next will be 3-year and 10-year Spanish debt auctions Thursday, a truer litmus test of the risk demand, said traders.

"The real test will be Thursday, when they have to absorb the 10-year notes," said Sean Murphy, senior trader at Societe Generale. "I personally feel they will go okay. But the market is weary of Spanish risk, so it will be looking for signs of customer withdrawal from that area."

Treasuries also had pressure from German Bunds hurt by the stronger ZEW and from the improved peripheral European government bond debt.

Treasuries saw two-way flows, mostly in U.S. intermediates, with real money and fast money sales in Treasury futures and cash 5-year notes. The morning also saw some Treasury curve flatteners done heading into the $1.83b Fed pass in 2036-2042 Treasuries.

Meanwhile some noted very heavy buying in the very front end of the curve by unspecified accounts. Also some good Mideast buying arose in the front end after such entity had sold long end Treasuries to cut down risk.

Elsewhere, other talk arose of residual global asset allocation trades, after last Thursday's episode in UK trading that filtered into New York: selling of bonds (Bunds, Treasury 10-year futures) to buy stocks (S&P E-Minis, Germany's DAX and Eurostoxx). That $10-billion-ish trade that day was a new position, said observers.

Treasuries also had cross-market pressure, as Canadian bond yields rose amid the Bank of Canada eyeing an eventual policy accommodation removal. That pressured Treasury intermediates mildly, said traders.

Early on, Treasuries opened New York weaker but had been aided earlier off the lows after a weaker than expected unchanged March industrial production, but firmer 78.6% capacity utilization. There also came in weaker than expected -5.8% March housing starts.

U.S. interest rate swaps ended mostly tighter, with better receiver and deal-tied flows.

Sources said the stock market support today could reflect asset allocations away from fixed income toward dividend stocks. They related this to political polls showing GOP front-runner Mitt Romney gaining vs. President Barack Obama, and expect a GOP win to extend dividend tax preference. For example the Gallup web page currently shows Obama approval at 45%, -2, and Romney Approval at 47%, +2. The Rasmussen poll gives Obama a -14 rating currently and says in an election Obama gets 45% of the vote vs. Romney 46%.

The New York Fed said it will buy $44 billion in Treasuries through April, and sell $43 billion in short-end Treasuries, unchanged from March, as part of Operation Twist.

Fed Buy Operation    Operation     Maturity/Call            Purchase

  Date                 Type          Date Range                Size

-

-- HISTORY

Tue  4/17  Fed Buys  $1.83B Tsys of $4.84B Offer: Feb 15 2036-Feb 15 '42

Mon  4/16  Fed Sells $8.6B  Tsys of $80.2B Submit:Feb 15 2013-Jun 30 '13

Fri  4/13  Fed Buys  $1.83B Tsys of $4.9B  Offer: Feb 15 2036-Feb 15 '42

Thu  4/12  Fed Buys  $4.95B Tsys of $13.8B Offer: May 15 2020-Feb 15 '22

Wed  4/11  Fed Sells $8.62B Tsys of $93B   Submit:Jul 15 2012-Jan 31 '13

Tue  4/10  Fed Buys  $1.84B Tsys of $5.45B Offer: Feb 15 2036-Feb 15 '42

Tue  4/10  Fed Buys  $4.76B Tsys of $14.4B Offer: Apr 30 3018-Feb 15 '20

Mon  4/09  Fed Sells $1.26B TIPS of $5.92B Submit:Jul 15 2012-Jan 15 '15

On a 3:00 p.m. ET Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. Monday basis:

- The  2-year note was 0.278% (99-30) from 0.274% (99-30+)

- The  3-year note was 0.412% (99-28+) from 0.401% (99-29+)

- The  5-year note was 0.863% (100-212) from 0.839% (100-25)

- The  7-year note was 1.393% (100-22) from 1.363% (100-29)

- The 10-year note was 2.009% (99-29) from 1.974% (100-7)

- The 30-year bond was 3.154% (99-14) from 3.115% (100-6)

- The Cash Treasury yield curves:

- The  2/5-year curve steepened to +58.5 bps from +56.5 bps

- The 2/10-year curve steepened to +173.1 bps from +170 bps

- The 2/30-year curve steepened to +286.7 bps from +284.1 bps

--email:

smullan@marketnews.com

, Tel: 212-669-6432

           ** MNI New York Newsroom: 212-669-6430 **


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Tampa Bay Times


April 17, 2012 Tuesday
0 South Pinellas Edition


MACK'S SENATE LUSTER FADING


BYLINE: ADAM C. SMITH, MARC CAPUTO, TIMES/HERALD STAFF WRITERS


SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 1366 words



HIGHLIGHT: Jeff Atwater's name surfaces as a possible rival for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's job.


With an iconic name and access to Washington cash, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack looked like the great Republican hope when he entered Florida's U.S. Senate race and posed a serious threat to Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

Six months later, however, Mack has proved to be neither a potent statewide candidate nor a shoo-in to win the Republican nomination against his little-known rivals.

From Washington to Tallahassee to local GOP clubs, Republican professionals and activists are buzzing about Mack's underwhelming campaign and debut as a statewide candidate. Some want another candidate and on Monday a big name - Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater - announced he is considering jumping into the race.

"It's late. But I share the same deep-seated concern they hold," Atwater told the Shark Tank blog, referring to people encouraging him to run. "This is an extraordinary country. It's an exceptional place on the planet and if we don't turn it around soon, frankly it will be too late for another generation."

He added: "I think I have a responsibility to sit back (and listen) to these people that I respect greatly and are serious-minded conservatives of this great state to take a hard look at it."

In a Monday Tampa Bay Times survey of more than 80 seasoned Florida political professionals and activists - fundraisers, campaign consultants and grass roots organizers - half said it was not too late for a new candidate to get in and mount a credible campaign. That's an extraordinary number given the lofty, early expectations about Mack, whose father, Connie Mack III, was a popular U.S. senator and whose great-grandfather was a baseball icon. Mack is married to California congresswoman Mary Bono Mack.

But the Fort Myers Republican has managed to raise barely more money than former interim Sen. George LeMieux, who's tainted by his longtime association with former Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist. They have slightly more than $1 million in the bank each. Nelson sits on $9.5 million without an expensive primary looming.

Only twice has Mack appeared for candidate forums with the two other major Republican candidates, and each time conservative activists who questioned and listened to all three voted Mack the weakest of the bunch.

"When he got into the race it's almost like Connie Mack sucked the air out of the race, but he wasn't able to sustain that," said Karin Hoffman, CEO of the Broward County-based DC Works for Us, which organized a tea party conference in Orlando attended by all the Senate candidates recently.

"As more time has gone on," she said, "the reaction to him from people paying attention has become, 'Well, not so much.'"

After the recent tea party forum, Hoffman said she started leaning toward LeMieux.

Mack's spokesman, David James, disputes what Republicans like Hoffman and many others are saying. He said Mack's support is strong and getting stronger and implied the Times/Herald is manufacturing doubts about the Mack campaign to damage him.

"Connie Mack has sent Bill Nelson and his liberal allies, including those in the press, into panic mode and it won't work. Republicans know that conservative Connie Mack will defeat liberal Bill Nelson and Mitt Romney will defeat Nelson's chief ally Barack Obama, regardless of what the left wing media wants," said Mack spokesman David James, when asked about the prospect of Atwater running.

"We feel very good with where we're at," James said. He said the campaign's fundraising totals would likely have been even higher had it not been for the January presidential primary in Florida that stretched donors thin.

Polls indicate the Fort Myers congressman has little chance of losing the Republican race right now without Atwater or another strong candidate in the race.

And with such a big name and big lead in the polls, Mack has ample time to kick his fundraising into high gear, improve his grass roots stumping and become the threat to Nelson that Republicans want. But the mere act of Atwater publicly mulling the Senate race damages Mack's contention that he's the inevitable nominee.

Atwater, who did not return messages Monday, could be a force. In 2010, the low-key former banker and Florida Senate president earned nearly 3 million votes - more than any of the other five Republicans who won state office. Atwater also hails from a hotbed of Republican finance, Palm Beach County, where some party chiefs have tried to get other candidates to run.

But if Atwater enters the race, it'll be no gimme. Candidates for federal office are essentially banned from taking corporate money, unlike state-office candidates, and have to raise the bulk of their hard-to-come-by money from individuals.

Also, Atwater committed what could be a cardinal sin to many Republicans when he was Florida Senate president in 2009: He played a key role in the Legislature's decision to take federal stimulus money and to raise taxes and fees by about $2.2 billion.

How did Mack leave an opening for someone else to get in? Part of it was underwhelming money-raising, part of it was performance on the campaign trail.

People who attended the Orlando tea party conference, just like those who attended a similar one in February by the Florida Federation of Republican Women, noted Mack was the only candidate uninterested in personally chatting and connecting with the hard core activists in attendance.

In contrast, LeMieux and political newcomer Mike McCalister don't seem to leave a hand unshaken at these events. LeMieux won his third straw poll last week at the East Manatee Republican Club, which Mack skipped.

Mack announced his first TV ad last week, which ripped Nelson for approving the stimulus because it authorized $144,541 on research that tested effects of cocaine on monkeys. Filled with images and sounds of hooting monkeys, the ad blasts Nelson as a liberal.

Experienced campaign hands rolled their eyes. Normally, a candidate's first spot introduces him to the public and frames serious issues he wants to talk about.

"Let's just say it's not the ad I would have run at this time," said Keith Appell, with CRC media, who worked on Gov. Rick Scott's campaign and helped coordinate media strategy for the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

"There's a time and place for humor," Appell said. "But I'm not sure this is it."

Nelson has been steadily raising money - in the last three months he raised more money than Mack and LeMieux combined. Nelson also is rising in the polls along with President Barack Obama. The last statewide poll from Quinnipiac University showed Nelson up by 8 percentage points over Mack. But pollsters and pundits widely view the two-term incumbent as beatable in such a volatile election year.

Quinnipiac didn't poll the Republican primary, in part because LeMieux and McCalister are so far behind. LeMieux had an anemic fundraising quarter. Where Mack pulled in about $1 million, LeMieux raised only $305,000.

LeMieux has just $1.2 million in the bank. Mack: $1.3 million. Unlike LeMieux, Mack began fundraising late because he only entered the race in November.

But Mack's sum is paltry compared to the estimated $8 million that former Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who withdrew from the race and endorsed Mack, planned to have on hand by now. Haridopolos raised more than LeMieux and Mack - a sign that the money's out there; but it's not flowing to Florida.

LeMieux has stumped the state aggressively, hammering Mack for the string of fistfights as a youth and for his numerous votes in Congress for budget-stuffing earmarks. "The Charlie Sheen of Florida Politics," LeMieux dubbed Mack.

Pat Shortridge, a top adviser in Marco Rubio's Senate race, said he's hearing concern from national Republicans about the campaign. He said it's "not at all surprising" people are looking for another candidate, but "it's far-fetched at this late date" in the campaign.

"For conservatives, there's a lot of concern that we don't have a candidate in Florida," Shortridge said. "There are very serious concerns about the kind of candidate George LeMieux is, given his years as Charlie Crist's right-hand man and as attack dog against Marco Rubio, and lots of questions about Connie Mack."


LOAD-DATE: April 17, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Rep. Connie Mack has left some GOP activists unimpressed. PHOTO: State CFO Jeff Atwater says he is considering a run at the Florida GOP Senate nomination. PHOTO: George LeMieux won a third straw poll, but lags in funds. PHOTO: Mike McCalister is a newcomer in Florida politics. PHOTO: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has $9.5 million on hand. He had been considered vulnerable by the GOP.


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The White House Bulletin


April 17, 2012 Tuesday


Presidential Polls Range From Nine Point Obama Lead To Two Point Romney Edge


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 240 words


A new series of polls out in the last 24 hours paint conflicting pictures of the state of the presidential contest. While two tracking polls show Mitt Romney with a slight lead, other surveys show President Obama well ahead.

Rasmussen Reports' daily presidential tracking poll shows Obama's approval rating at 48%, with 50% disapproving. That's little changed from a 47%/51% split yesterday. In a 2012 trial heat, Romney leads Obama 46%-45%. The poll surveyed 1,500 likely voters from April 14-16.

The first installment of the Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 47%-45%. While both candidates secure 90% of their respective bases, Romney leads 45%-39% among independents. The poll surveyed 2,225 registered voters from April 11-15.

However, a CNN /Opinion Research Corporation poll of 910 registered voters taken April 13-15 shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney 52%-43%. That's down from a 54%-43% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll also shows respondents believe that Obama can better "get the economy moving" than Romney by a 44%-42% margin, while 49% said the President agrees with them "on the issues that matter most," with 37% choosing Romney.

Nearly splitting the difference is a Reuters /Ipsos poll which shows Obama leading Romney 47%-43%. That's down from a 52%-41% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll surveyed 891 registered voters from April 12-15.


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The Associated Press


April 18, 2012 Wednesday 07:59 PM GMT


House Democrats reserve $32 million in ad time


BYLINE: By HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 635 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


House Democrats have reserved more than $32 million in ad time in districts across the country, giving an early sketch of the race for control of the House.

Broadly, the ad reservations show that House Democrats will try to regain control of the chamber in many of the same states President Barack Obama must win to get re-elected in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's reservation includes congressional districts in 14 states, heavily concentrated on presidential swing states. It includes more than $8 million in Florida, $3 million in Ohio and about $2 million in Colorado.

In total, 26 targeted seats are held by Republicans, seven by vulnerable Democrats and three seats are open. Democrats need 25 seats to take back the House.

Jennifer Crider, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic campaign committee, characterized the buy as "early" and "aggressive" and said it "puts House Republicans on notice. Democrats are on offense and positioned to win."

This is the earliest that the DCCC has reserved ad time in an election cycle.

Republicans called the buy a sign of desperation.

"The Democrats just pushed a $32 million panic button," said Andrea Bozek, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Already having to invest resources into defending members who supported President Obama's job-destroying policies isn't a good sign for (House Democratic leader) Nancy Pelosi's desire to get back into the speaker's chair."

The House Democratic ads would begin airing after Labor Day, when the fall campaign traditionally begins in earnest. The total amount spent and the districts being targeted could change, but the reservation is an early sign of the Democrats' election game plan.

Democrats said the reservation is for an initial wave of advertising and that spending would likely increase.

Notably, the ad buy announced Wednesday did not include time in California, where Democrats have high hopes of picking up seats in November. It also includes limited spending in Illinois, another state where Democrats see pick-up opportunities. Neither state is considered in play in the presidential race.

Democrats said one reason for the early ad reservation is the expectation that rates in hotly contested presidential states will soar in the fall as Obama, GOP nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney and third-party groups flood the airwaves.

The buy offers the clearest indication yet of what Democrats see as their most plausible path to power.

The party believes it has good opportunities in Florida, where millions of dollars in ad time has been reserved in Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee and Miami markets; Ohio; Pennsylvania, where $3.5 million alone has been set aside for a cluster of Philadelphia area house seats; and Nevada, where $1.8 million in ad time is being reserved for two House seats.

Many of the targeted members are freshmen closely aligned with the tea party movement, including Reps. Allen West, R-Fla., Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., and Scott Tipton, R-Colo. Among the veteran lawmakers is Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a staunch conservative who saw more Democrats and independents added to his district during redistricting. King faces a strong challenge from Christy Vilsack, the wife of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a former first lady of Iowa.

The reserved air time also shows where Democrats think they'll play defense. Air time has been reserved in the districts of two veteran Iowa congressmen, Leonard Boswell and Dave Loebsack; Denver-area Rep. Ed Perlmutter, North Carolina Reps. Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell and Pennsylvania Reps. Jason Altmire and Mark Critz.

The GOP has yet to announce any districts where it plans to spend money in the fall. The NRCC has about $27.1 million in the bank, compared to $22.8 million for the DCCC.


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The Associated Press


April 18, 2012 Wednesday 10:28 PM GMT


Ad Watch: Spot claims Romney win is voters' loss


BYLINE: By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 633 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


TITLE: "World View."

LENGTH: 30 seconds.

AIRING: On broadcast stations in Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.

KEY IMAGES: There's just one image in the TV spot by Priorities USA Action, an independent group supporting President Barack Obama's re-election bid: Mitt Romney and his former business partners joshing for the camera with $20 bills in their hands, busting out of their pockets and clenched between their teeth. That black-and-white photograph from 1985 was taken when Romney was at Bain Capital, an investment firm that made Romney very wealthy.

"He made a fortune from the businesses he helped destroy," one caption reads. "Romney pays a federal tax rate far lower than that faced by many middle class wage earners," announces another headline.

"Wealthy would cash in under Romney's tax plan," another caption declares, while an announcer says Romney's plan would be "cutting Medicare and education."

The camera zooms in and out on a grinning Romney and his former business partners who are mugging for the camera.

"If he wins, we lose," says the final text.

ANALYSIS: The independent, though Obama-supporting, Priorities USA Action is telegraphing plans to cast Romney as a privileged millionaire who doesn't understand the challenges facing families. The dark ad, with ominous warnings to middle-class voters that a Romney administration would strip seniors of their checks and students of their educations, is a clear sign of what Democrats view as the likely GOP nominee's greatest weakness.

The ad doesn't give a complete picture, however.

Yes, Bain Capital reaped tremendous profits during Romney's time there and some businesses were shuttered. Romney's role was as a numbers guy at the top of the company who OK'd analysts' advice to invest in struggling companies ranging from picture frame makers to brake pad manufacturers. Along the way, Bain turned around those companies' financial outlooks and made them attractive for other investors.

At times, factories were closed to prepare their parent companies for resale and companies were left with high levels of debt that later proved debilitating and led to other shutdowns.

The charge that Romney was a corporate raider has vexed his team since he first ran for the Senate in 1994 against incumbent Edward M. Kennedy. It still fuels the image of Romney as a wealthy executive out of touch with average Americans.

The suggestion that Romney was personally attempting to destroy businesses for his own profit is a stretch, given his political ambition and worries that deals would haunt him in future runs.

Romney, who filed for an extension on his 2011 taxes, as he has in past years, was expected to pay a rate that is lower than most wage earners because his income comes mostly from investments that are treated more favorably under tax laws than earned income.

Democrats have unsuccessfully sought to change the tax code to make wealthier individuals pay higher rates on such investments. President Barack Obama has campaigned hard for what he calls "the Buffett Rule," named after investor Warren Buffett, who objects to paying a lower tax rate on his investment income than his secretary pays on her salary. The Senate rejected Obama's plan this week.

The ad also dings Romney's tax plan. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has estimated that the richest Americans would see their tax bills drop if Romney were to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax and were successful in extending Bush-era tax cuts. The top 1 percent of wage earners would see an average tax cut of $150,000 roughly equal to a 7.8 percent cut in their rates, the think tank found.

The claims on Medicare and education are both based on Romney's endorsement of a House GOP budget plan. It's unlikely to be approved because of opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate.


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CNN Wire


April 18, 2012 Wednesday 11:09 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4299 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

ENT-Dick-Clark-Obit (will update)

Broadcast icon Dick Clark, the creator and longtime host of "American Bandstand," has died, publicist Paul Shefrin said. He was 82.

ENT-Dick-Clark-Reax (will update)

A roundup of reactions to the death of television producer and longtime "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark, who died Wednesday:

US-Secret-Service-Colombia (will update)

Three U.S. Secret Service members have left or are being pushed out of the agency following a prostitution scandal that erupted in Colombia ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama, the agency said in a statement Wednesday.

POL-Campaign-Wrap (will update)

Mitt Romney got another expected but key endorsement Wednesday before heading to North Carolina to criticize President Barack Obama in the city where Democrats will nominate Obama for a second term later this year.

Florida-Shooting-Judge

The judge who will take over the case of a Florida man accused of shooting an unarmed teenager is highly rated by defense lawyers but "not known as being a soft touch," one Florida attorney said Wednesday.

Texas-Pediatrician-Shooting (will update)

A nurse accused of killing a Texas mother in a parking lot and stealing her 3-day-old son had suffered a miscarriage and believed she needed to show her fiancé that she had a child, authorities said Wednesday.

North-Carolina-Soldier (will update)

The search for a missing Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldier focused Wednesday afternoon on a pond, officials said.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Security forces fired at demonstrators in a Syrian city Wednesday while United Nations observers were visiting, activists said.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family (monitoring)

Osama bin Laden's three widows and two daughters could be deported from Pakistan on Wednesday after their period of house detention expired overnight. Nearly 60 Bahraini activists turned out Wednesday in downtown Manama calling for the release of hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Afghanistan-Troops-Photos

Photos of U.S. soldiers posing with bodies of suspected Afghan insurgents, published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, depict behavior that "absolutely violates" U.S. regulations and values, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

US-Secret-Service-Colombia

Three U.S. Secret Service members have left or are being pushed out of the agency following a prostitution scandal that erupted in Colombia ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama, the agency said in a statement Wednesday.

ENT-Dick-Clark-Obit

Broadcast icon Dick Clark, the creator and longtime host of "American Bandstand," has died, publicist Paul Shefrin said. He was 82.

CNN SHOWCASE

US-Secret-Service-Women -- By Laura Smith-Spark

The scandal over allegations that Secret Service agents brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Colombia ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama keeps growing. And with it come awkward questions about whether a strong macho element in the culture of the U.S. Secret Service could pose a threat to security, and how women agents fit into the picture. Journalist and commentator Kiri Blakeley asked in a blog post Tuesday why there are not more women Secret Service agents to counter this kind of bad behavior.

INTERNATIONAL

NATO-Afghanistan-Future

Around here it's known among NATO officials as 'the jumbo': an annual meeting of foreign and defense ministers of NATO countries. This year the stakes are unusually high. It's the last big meeting for the alliance before the NATO summit in Chicago next month, where the leaders of countries with troops in Afghanistan will make key decisions about the future of the international coalition's mission there.

Afghanistan-NATO

NATO insisted Wednesday that coalition forces are not racing to the exits in Afghanistan, even as allies met to firm up plans that would shift combat responsibility to Afghan forces.

afghanistan-voices

Experts: Photos of U.S. soldiers handling corpses very bad for war

Afghanistan-Girls-Poisoned

Afghan police are questioning two school caretakers after more than 170 women and girls were hospitalized with suspected poisoning, a district official said Wednesday.

Bahrain-Activists-Protest

Sweden-Art-Controversy

Sweden's culture minister was feeling the heat Wednesday after a weekend art exhibit in which she cut up a cake baked into the shape of a cartoonishly stereotyped African woman.

Syria-Unrest

Security forces fired at demonstrators in a Syrian city Wednesday while United Nations observers were visiting, activists said.

US-Poll-Iran-North-Korea

Americans see Iran as a bigger threat to the United States than North Korea, according to a new poll. The CNN/ORC International Poll released Wednesday showed 81% view Iran as a very serious or moderate threat to the U.S. Three quarters of Americans said North Korea represents a similar threat.

MED-North-Korea-science-diplomacy

While tensions remain high between the United States and North Korea, the relationship is more cordial between their scientists. Scientists from both nations are collaborating via nongovernmental organizations and universities on projects ranging from tuberculosis research and deforestation issues to digital information technology.

Turkey-Syria-Weapons

Turkish authorities are preparing to board and search a German-owned cargo ship reported to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Syria.

Syria-UN-Wives

The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations have taken on Syria's first lady in an online video, calling on Asma al-Assad to "stop your husband" and "stop being a bystander."

Turkey-Freak-Storm

Howling winds ripped through Turkey's largest city Wednesday afternoon, tearing flags from their poles, destroying the set of a blockbuster Hollywood film, and wounding at least 31 people, Turkish authorities said.

Norway-Breivik-Trial

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, has been asked to stop raising his fist in salute each morning at his trial, his lawyer said Wednesday.

France-Pippa-Middleton-Gun

Afriend of Pippa Middleton's, the sister-in-law of Britain's Prince William, apologized Wednesday for an incident in which a friend of his brandished a toy gun at press photographers in Paris.

South-Africa-Rape-Video

South Africans woke up on Wednesday morning to the claim that a group of Soweto youths had filmed themselves raping a 17-year-old girl believed to be mentally ill.

Spain-King-Apology

Spain's King Juan Carlos made a rare public apology Wednesday for his recent hunting trip to Africa that has caused an outcry in Spain and abroad for its expense during the nation's economic crisis and for hunting elephants.

Israel-activist-video

The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had dismissed an officer who was caught on video striking a pro-Palestinian activist in the face.

UK-Phone-Hacking

London police have asked prosecutors to file charges against at least eight people in connection with phone hacking by journalists, the Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday.

MONEY-chad-libya-economy-oil

After spending years of working in neighboring Libya, the last place Daoud Mohammed wants to be right now is back to his home in Chad, the landlocked country in central Africa.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

The party of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has requested a change in the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take, presenting a potential hurdle to her taking up the parliamentary seat she won this month.

China-bo-xilai-scandal-xinhua

China has promised a thorough investigation into a scandal that has linked a disgraced former Communist Party chief's wife to the mysterious death of a British businessman.

Egypt-Presidential-Bid-Appeal

Ten candidates, including the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former spy chief, have lost their appeal against disqualification from upcoming presidential elections in Egypt, according to official news agency egynews.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family

Osama bin Laden's three widows and two daughters could be deported from Pakistan on Wednesday after their period of house detention expired overnight.

Nearly 60 Bahraini activists turned out Wednesday in downtown Manama calling for the release of hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

SPORT-Olympics-100-Days-London-2012

Wednesday marks 100 days to go until the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. Is the city ready?

SPORT-football-champions-league-barcelona-chelsea

Chelsea stunned European champions Barcelona with a 1-0 victory in the semifinal first leg of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.

SPORT-tennis-monte-carlo-nadal-djokovic

King of Clay Rafael Nadal began his defense of his Monte Carlo Masters title Wednesday with a routine 6-4, 6-3 victory against the Finnish player Jarkko Nieminen.

SPORT-golf-guan-tianlang-china

Most 13-year-old boys would be happy to win their local golf club's junior tournament. But Guan Tian-Lang isn't like other boys. The Chinese prodigy is set to make history this week when he smashes the record for the youngest player in a European Tour event.

SPORT-motorsport-bahrain-f1race

Bahrain Grand Prix bosses have made a "calculated decision" to go ahead with the controversial race on Sunday, claiming civil rights protests have nothing to do with the event.

U.S.A.

Texas-Pediatrician-Shooting

A nurse accused of killing a Texas mother in a parking lot and stealing her 3-day-old son had suffered a miscarriage and believed she needed to show her fiancé that she had a child, authorities said Wednesday.

North-Carolina-Soldier

The search for a missing Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldier focused Wednesday afternoon on a pond, officials said.

California-girl-fight-death

Authorities declined to file criminal charges Wednesday against a fifth-grade student for the death of 10-year-old Joanna Ramos, who suffered fatal blunt force head trauma after a fistfight in February.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

A Florida judge Wednesday approved a motion to disqualify herself from the criminal case involving a neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, according to the court.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Poll

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe the man who killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin should have been arrested, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday.

iowa-discrimination-lawsuit-dismissed

The lawyer representing up to 6,000 African-American plaintiffs in an employment discrimination lawsuit against the state of Iowa says he will appeal a judge's dismissal of the case.

Illinois-Lottery-Winner

Merle and Pat Butler, lifetime residents of Red Bud, Illinois, hold the third winning ticket worth $218 million in last month's Mega Millions lottery, officials announced Wednesday.

Arkansas-Dorrell-Resignation

The woman at the center of a scandal that led to the firing of University of Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino resigned from her job at the school on Tuesday.

US-Keystone-Pipeline

The company building the controversial Keystone XL pipeline has submitted a proposal for a new route, a spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the state's environmental authority, said Wednesday.

US-BP-Spill-Settlement

BP announced Wednesday it has reached a class-action settlement with attorneys representing thousands of businesses and individuals who made claims following the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

US-New-York-Terror-Trial

Confessed subway bomb plotter Najibullah Zazi described in court on Wednesday how he and two co-conspirators searched for big impact targets in the United States, debating whether to strike at New York's Times Square, its subway system or an unspecified Walmart store.

US-SCOTUS-Wardrobe-Malfunction

An appeal over singer Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and brief partial nudity on national television has reached the Supreme Court, the latest free speech episode over indecent, if fleeting, images and words on the public airwaves.

US-occupy-wall-street-returns

In the spirit of spring rebirth, the Occupy movement is ramping up activities as warm weather blankets the country. But while the season is typified by a reawakening of life outdoors, demonstrators are using sleep to get their points across. They call it "sleepful protest."

US-Midwest-Storms

The National Weather Service has confirmed 59 tornadoes from a weekend outbreak of storms that killed six people.

US-Energy-Subsidies

The United States needs to overhaul its support for clean energy research to keep recent gains alive as subsidies that have fueled a boom in the field expire, researchers urged Wednesday.

US-SCLC-Leadership

The board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is meeting to discuss whether to keep its current president.

TRAVEL-Oregon-Airport-Naked-Protest

A 50-year-old man who said he felt that airport screeners were "harassing" him stripped naked at Portland International Airport, police in Oregon said.

TRAVEL-JetBlue-Pilot

Clayton Osbon, the JetBlue pilot who was restrained by passengers after he left the cockpit and acted erratically during a flight last month, will use an insanity defense, according to court documents filed Wednesday by his attorney Dean Roper.

MED-Marshals-Ultrasound-Gel

The U.S. Marshals Service raided the offices of an ultrasound gel manufacturer on Wednesday, seizing the product that the Food and Drug Administration said contains dangerous amounts of bacteria that has sickened 16 patients.

SPORT-Pat-Summitt

Eight months after revealing her diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer's, the head coach of the University of Tennessee's women's basketball team announced she was stepping down Wednesday.

SPORT-Old-Pitcher

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jamie Moyer made history Tuesday night in Denver becoming the oldest pitcher to win a Major League Baseball game at 49 years, 150 days.

SPORT-Baseball-Guillen-Back

A relieved Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters Tuesday night he was happy to get a break from controversial topics and just talk baseball.

MONEY-Swaps-Rules

Big business scored a major win Wednesday when two regulatory boards agreed to limit the impact of tough rules to regulate the complex trades that helped spur the 2008 financial crisis.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks closed down modestly Wednesday, as investors found new reasons to worry about Europe's economy. Less-than-stellar earnings from two big tech companies added to sluggish trading throughout the day.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Energy

Shares of Chesapeake Energy tumbled Wednesday after Reuters reported that the company's chief executive has been taking out personal loans to finance stakes in the company's wells, and using those same stakes as collateral for additional loans.

MONEY-Drilling-Regulations

The Obama administration tightened regulations on the oil and gas industry Wednesday, requiring drillers to capture emissions of certain air pollutants from new wells.

MONEY-Postal-Service-Closings

The potential of 250 U.S. postal offices and distribution centers closing next month is spreading jitters among the nation's small business hubs.

MONEY-Forecast-Congress

Economists have lots of ideas about what can be done to help jumpstart the still weak economy, but they don't expect Congress to enact any of them any time soon.

MONEY-Best-Buy-Sale

Bad news for Best Buy means deals for shoppers. But don't expect to walk away with the steal of the century on an iPad or brand new 60-inch HDTV.

MONEY-Moms-Work

After factoring in the rising cost of child care, the daily commute and other work-related expenses, a growing number of mothers are figuring out that having a job just doesn't pay.

POL-Congress-Secret-Service

Virginia GOP Rep. Randy Forbes on Wednesday became the first member of Congress to call for U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan to step down due to a prostitution scandal involving eleven agents that has raised questions about security at the agency.

POL-GSA-Hearings

Describing the billions of dollars in contracts and services handled by the General Services Administration as a den of temptation, senators from both parties on Wednesday called for the agency at the center of a spending scandal to clean house as it roots out corruption.

POL-Arizona-Special-Election-Primary

Voters in Arizona's 8th Congressional District cast their ballots Tuesday in the primary ahead of the special election to replace former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Mitt Romney got another expected but key endorsement Wednesday before heading to North Carolina to criticize President Barack Obama in the city where Democrats will nominate Obama for a second term later this year.

POL-Obama-Ohio-Economy

President Barack Obama took one of his first swipes of the general election against Mitt Romney on Wednesday, in what appeared a veiled criticism of the likely GOP nominee's wealth and background. "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth," he said. "Michelle wasn't. "But somebody gave us a chance - just like these folks up here are looking for a chance," he continued, speaking about education on the campus of an Ohio community college.

POL-Clinton-Obama-VP

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday once again squashed notions that she would accept a gig as President Barack Obama's running mate this fall.

POL-Romney-Obama-North-Carolina

Twenty weeks before and less than a mile away from the site of the Democratic National Convention, Mitt Romney said that this time around, President Obama would not be able to repeat any part of his 2008 convention speech.

POL-CNN-Poll-GOP-VP

Whom should Mitt Romney choose as his running mate? According to a new national poll, there's no consensus among Republicans. But a CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday does indicate there's an ideological split that could put pressure on Romney, the all but certain GOP presidential nominee, as he tries to make his decision.

POL-Romney-Obama-Dog

Mitt Romney refused to play ball Wednesday over the newest turn in a frenzy dogging the political sphere.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trips

Mitt Romney drew new contrasts with President Barack Obama on Wednesday by targeting the president's fondness for golf and vacations with his family.

POL-Romney-General-Election

After devoting seven years and tens of millions of dollars trying to convince conservatives that he is one of them, Mitt Romney finally has a firm grip on the Republican presidential nomination. Now comes the hard part.

POL-Romney-GSA-Secret-Service

Mitt Romney on Wednesday weighed in on two scandals dogging the Obama administration, saying if he were president he would "clean house" and replace certain personnel with those who put "interests of the nation ahead of personal play time."

POL-Romney-Prebuts-Obama

Hearing the term "bracketing" tossed about these days? Sounds like something you do when you're picking a college basketball winner in March. But this has more to do with Mitt Romney's strategy for November.

POL-Poll-Of-Polls-2012

With six and a half months to go until November's presidential election, it's basically all tied up between President Barack Obama and all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, according to an average of the four national surveys conducted entirely after former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania suspended his campaign on April 10.

POL-Romney-Pennsylvania-2012

Speaking in Republican stronghold Lancaster County Tuesday, the GOP's likely presidential nominee Mitt Romney crystallized what's at stake if his party loses the critical battleground state in November.

POL-Obama-Spanish-Ads

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is going up with what they say are the first in a series of Spanish language television and radio commercials.

POL-Obama-Fundraising-Michigan

President Barack Obama returns to the fundraising circuit Wednesday after a weeklong hiatus to raise campaign cash in Michigan -- the birth place of his all but certain GOP rival, Mitt Romney.

POL-Romney-Summer-Olympics

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he plans to attend the Summer Olympics in London.

POL-Daniels-Romney-Support

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana became the latest establishment Republican to back all-but-declared GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

POL-Romney-Cookie-Comments

A Pennsylvania bakery is making light of comments made by Mitt Romney on Tuesday, when he compared a batch of cookies from the mom-and-pop store to snacks found at 7-eleven. After his remarks rippled across the Bethel Park community outside of Pittsburgh, the 57-year-old bakery on Wednesday began offering a 'CookieGate' special: Buy a dozen, get a half-dozen free.

POL-Paul-Rhode-Island-Ad

While Mitt Romney has essentially locked up the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has his eyes set on Rhode Island's upcoming primary with the release of a TV ad in the Ocean State.

COMMENTARY-cronin-asia-ten-questions

10 big questions for Obama, Romney on Asia.

COMMENTARY-Bayles-Romney-Center

Will Romney lurch to the center?

COMMENTARY-borger-romney-veep

Romney won't make McCain's mistake: Romney will apply one key lesson of John McCain's Sarah Palin pick.

FEATURES

ENT-Dick-Clark-Reax

A roundup of reactions to the death of television producer and longtime "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark, who died Wednesday:

ENT-stars-mourn-loss-of-icon-dick-clark

An entertainment mainstay, Dick Clark touched the lives of countless celebrities before passing away at the age of 82 on April 18. That much was evident as condolences poured in from all corners of the industry on Wednesday:

ENT-Acura-Ad-Controversy

Acura apologized Wednesday for a casting document that called for an African-American actor who was "not too dark" in the car company's Super Bowl ad.

ENT-Paquin-Moyer-Baby

If you're Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, first comes the HBO show, then love, and then the baby. Paquin's rep tells CNN that the "True Blood" actress and her husband/co-star Moyer are expecting their first child together.

ENT-Levon-Helm-Cancer

Within hours of the announcement that Levon Helm was in the final stages of cancer, fans flooded his Facebook page with messages of support and fond recollections of the drummer and backbone of The Band.

TECH-zuckerberg-instagram-deal

Facebook-Instagram deal highlights Zuckerberg's hacker spirit

MONEY-hotel-internet-wi-fi-cost

For many hotel guests, paying for Wi-Fi is an outdated charge that you only get wind of when you're up in your room. Now that mobile phones have rendered hotel room phones largely obsolete, Wi-Fi is the new bugbear for today's traveler.

FEA-The-Butcher-Is-Back

Decades ago, homemakers relied on a man in a tidy apron and a necktie to provide the perfect cut of meat for Sunday dinner and a stop at the local butcher shop was part of the regular shopping routine. Over time, grocery stores started offering a similarly packaged cuts and it was the friendly neighborhood meat man who was being cut out. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, year after year, the number of grocery store butchers has grown steadily while the number of specialty store butchers has struggled to add numbers. Last year, there were more than 94,000 butchers working in grocery store chains.

FEA-Menu-Pronunciation-Anxiety

You say broo-sheh-tah. I say broo-ske-tah. Should we just call the whole meal off? Dining out gives people a night off from cooking and clean-up duty, but it can also serve up a buffet of pronunciation pitfalls.

FEA-Animal-Crackers-Day

Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! - April 18 is National Animal Crackers Day!

FEA-ghostbusters-comic

Hello again, fellow comic readers! There is no doubt who you're gonna call for this week's pick, IDW's new "Ghostbusters" comic!

FEA-animal-print-fashion

Animal print is as classic to fashion as the little black dress. But this spring, the orange-and-black look of leopard is heading to the back of the closet in exchange for cuddly kitten faces.

US-down-syndrome-athlete

After spending a Sunday afternoon with Eric Dompierre and his parents it's clear that they're extremely grateful that Eric has always been included. Eric Dompierre has Down syndrome, but he's been welcome to play sports with other kids in Ishpeming Michigan since he was in elementary school.

MED-feeding-tube-allergies

Feeding tubes are designed to nourish patients, not deprive them of calories and hasten weight loss. News reports of a feeding tube diet popped up in the New York Times Sunday, followed by a slew of TV news stories on the new "trend." But for people who survive by feeding tubes -- patients with diseases such as cystic fibrosis, certain autoimmune diseases, problems with malabsorption -- the idea of using a medical tool for vanity is upsetting.

MED-opium-study-painkillers

About 20 million people are using the drug opium or one of its derivatives. A new study suggests new reasons for viewing this as problematic.

MED-mean-people-dna-test

Let's face it - everyone isn't nice. In fact, being nice is more difficult for some people than others. But is it possible that "niceness" is predetermined by our genes? A new study in the journal Psychological Science suggests this: If you think the world is full of threatening people, you're not going feel compelled to be generous by doing things like volunteering and donating to charity. But if you have certain gene variants, you're more likely to be nice anyway. Now hold on a minute - this doesn't give your mean neighbor an excuse to blame his DNA for not letting kids on the block play on his lawn. It's a little more complicated than that.

COMMENTARY-Mundy-women-economics

What helps women helps men.

COMMENTARY-walker-tulsa-shooting

Were Tulsa shootings hate crimes?

COMMENTARY-Bennett-Thiel-Education

Are colleges afraid of Peter Thiel?

COMMENTARY-France-America-Relationship

Why the French still crave America's love.


LOAD-DATE: April 19, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



111 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 18, 2012 Wednesday 2:25 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1863 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler and Samira Jafari -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Campaign-Wrap (Will update)

Mitt Romney got another expected but key endorsement Wednesday before heading to North Carolina to speak in the city where Democrats will nominate President Barack Obama for a second term later this year.

POL-GSA-Hearing

A third day of congressional hearings on the General Services Administration spending scandal features Senate Democrats getting their chance to examine what Republicans call systemic rot in the vast government procurement agency.

Texas-Pediatrician-Shooting (Will update)

A 30-year-old registered nurse faces capital murder charges in the death of a Houston-area woman and the abduction of the victim's newborn son, according to an arrest report.

US-Secret-Service-Colombia (Will update)

A Colombian official said the Secret Service sex scandal has overshadowed the country's effort to showcase the city of Catagena during the recent Summit of the Americas.

Illinois-Lottery-Winner (Will update)

The Mega Millions mystery winner's identity will be revealed by Illinois lottery officials at the Red Bud Village Hall at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

Nearly a week after a U.N.-backed cease-fire started, violence erupted in Syria on Wednesday, with both the government and opposition forces reporting deadly attacks.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Afghanistan-Troops-Photos

The Los Angeles Times published photos Wednesday of U.S. soldiers posing with what the newspaper said were bodies of insurgents -- sparking outrage and condemnation from U.S. military officials.

INTERNATIONAL

Afghanistan-Troops-Photos

The Los Angeles Times published photos Wednesday of U.S. soldiers posing with what the newspaper said were bodies of insurgents -- sparking outrage and condemnation from U.S. military officials.

NATO-Afghanistan-Future

Around here it's known among NATO officials as 'the jumbo': an annual meeting of foreign and defense ministers of NATO countries. This year the stakes are unusually high. It's the last big meeting for the alliance before the NATO summit in Chicago next month, where the leaders of countries with troops in Afghanistan will make key decisions about the future of the international coalition's mission there.

SPORT-Olympics-100-Days-London-2012

Wednesday marks 100 days to go until the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. Is the city ready?

Syria-Unrest

Nearly a week after a U.N.-backed cease-fire started, violence erupted in Syria on Wednesday, with both the government and opposition forces reporting deadly attacks.

Turkey-Syria-Weapons

Turkish authorities are preparing to board and search a German-owned cargo ship reported to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Syria.

South-Africa-Rape-Video

South Africans woke up on Wednesday morning to the claim that a group of Soweto youths had filmed themselves raping a 17-year-old girl believed to be mentally ill.

Spain-King-Apology

Spain's King Juan Carlos made a rare public apology Wednesday for his recent hunting trip to Africa that has caused an outcry in Spain and abroad for its expense during the nation's economic crisis and for hunting elephants.

Israel-activist-video

The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had dismissed an officer who was caught on video striking a pro-Palestinian activist in the face.

UK-Phone-Hacking

London police have asked prosecutors to file charges against at least eight people in connection with phone hacking by journalists, the Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday.

MONEY-chad-libya-economy-oil

After spending years of working in neighboring Libya, the last place Daoud Mohammed wants to be right now is back to his home in Chad, the landlocked country in central Africa.

Afghanistan-Girls-Poisoned

Afghan police are questioning two school caretakers after more than 170 women and girls were hospitalized with suspected poisoning, a district official said Wednesday.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

The party of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has requested a change in the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take, presenting a potential hurdle to her taking up the parliamentary seat she won this month.

China-bo-xilai-scandal-xinhua

China has promised a thorough investigation into a scandal that has linked a disgraced former Communist Party chief's wife to the mysterious death of a British businessman.

SPORT-golf-guan-tianlang-china

Most 13-year-old boys would be happy to win their local golf club's junior tournament. But Guan Tian-Lang isn't like other boys. The Chinese prodigy is set to make history this week when he smashes the record for the youngest player in a European Tour event.

Egypt-Presidential-Bid-Appeal

Ten candidates, including the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former spy chief, have lost their appeal against disqualification from upcoming presidential elections in Egypt, according to official news agency egynews.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family

Osama bin Laden's three widows and two daughters could be deported from Pakistan on Wednesday after their period of house detention expired overnight.

Syria-UN-Wives

The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations have taken on Syria's first lady in an online video, calling on Asma al-Assad to "stop your husband" and "stop being a bystander."

U.S.A.

Texas-Pediatrician-Shooting

A 30-year-old registered nurse faces capital murder charges in the death of a Houston-area woman and the abduction of the victim's newborn son, according to an arrest report.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Florida judge will decide by Friday whether to step aside from a criminal case involving a neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, according to the court.

Florida-Teen-Shooting-Poll

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe the man who killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin should have been arrested, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday.

North-Carolina-Soldier

Police and the military will search an area near a Fayetteville, North Carolina, bar where a missing Fort Bragg soldier was last seen and last used her cell phone, authorities said Wednesday.

US-Midwest-Storms

The National Weather Service has confirmed 59 tornadoes from a weekend outbreak of storms that killed six people.

POL-GSA-Hearings

Senate Democrats take their turn Wednesday on the General Services Administration's $800,000 boondoggle -- a simmering political scandal involving wasteful spending at a Las Vegas conference The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works holds a full committee hearing at 10 a.m. ET.

US-Secret-Service-Colombia

A Colombian official said the Secret Service sex scandal has overshadowed the country's effort to showcase the city of Catagena during the recent Summit of the Americas.

Arkansas-Dorrell-Resignation

The woman at the center of a scandal that led to the firing of University of Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino resigned from her job at the school on Tuesday.

TRAVEL-Oregon-Airport-Naked-Protest

A 50-year-old man who said he felt that airport screeners were "harassing" him stripped naked at Portland International Airport, police in Oregon said.

SPORT-Old-Pitcher

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jamie Moyer made history Tuesday night in Denver becoming the oldest pitcher to win a Major League Baseball game at 49 years, 150 days.

US-SCLC-Leadership

The board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is meeting to discuss whether to keep its current president.

Illinois-Lottery-Winner

The Mega Millions mystery winner's identity will be revealed by Illinois lottery officials at the Red Bud Village Hall at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.

ENT-Levon-Helm-Cancer

Within hours of the announcement that Levon Helm was in the final stages of cancer, fans flooded his Facebook page with messages of support and fond recollections of the drummer and backbone of The Band.

SPORT-Baseball-Guillen-Back

A relieved Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters Tuesday night he was happy to get a break from controversial topics and just talk baseball.

Texas-Pediatrician-Shooting

A 3-day-old boy was found hours after he was seized from his mother who was fatally shot outside a pediatrician's office near Houston, authorities said.

US-Energy-Subsidies

The United States needs to overhaul its support for clean energy research to keep recent gains alive as subsidies that have fueled a boom in the field expire, researchers urged Wednesday.

MONEY-Forecast-Congress

Economists have lots of ideas about what can be done to help jumpstart the still weak economy, but they don't expect Congress to enact any of them any time soon.

MONEY-Moms-Work

After factoring in the rising cost of child care, the daily commute and other work-related expenses, a growing number of mothers are figuring out that having a job just doesn't pay.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Romney-General-Election

After devoting seven years and tens of millions of dollars trying to convince conservatives that he is one of them, Mitt Romney finally has a firm grip on the Republican presidential nomination. Now comes the hard part.

POL-Romney-GSA-Secret-Service

Mitt Romney on Wednesday weighed in on two scandals dogging the Obama administration, saying if he were president he would "clean house" and replace certain personnel with those who put "interests of the nation ahead of personal play time."

POL-Romney-Pennsylvania-2012

Speaking in Republican stronghold Lancaster County Tuesday, the GOP's likely presidential nominee Mitt Romney crystallized what's at stake if his party loses the critical battleground state in November.

POL-Obama-Spanish-Ads

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is going up with what they say are the first in a series of Spanish language television and radio commercials.

POL-Obama-Fundraising-Michigan

President Barack Obama returns to the fundraising circuit Wednesday after a weeklong hiatus to raise campaign cash in Michigan -- the birth place of his all but certain GOP rival, Mitt Romney.

POL-Romney-Summer-Olympics

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he plans to attend the Summer Olympics in London.

POL-Daniels-Romney-Support

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana became the latest establishment Republican to back all-but-declared GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

COMMENTARY-cronin-asia-ten-questions

10 big questions for Obama, Romney on Asia.

COMMENTARY-Bayles-Romney-Center

Will Romney lurch to the center?

FEATURES

FEA-animal-print-fashion

Animal print is as classic to fashion as the little black dress. But this spring, the orange-and-black look of leopard is heading to the back of the closet in exchange for cuddly kitten faces.

MONEY-hotel-internet-wi-fi-cost

For many hotel guests, paying for Wi-Fi is an outdated charge that you only get wind of when you're up in your room. Now that mobile phones have rendered hotel room phones largely obsolete, Wi-Fi is the new bugbear for today's traveler.

COMMENTARY-Mundy-women-economics

What helps women helps men.

COMMENTARY-walker-tulsa-shooting

Were Tulsa shootings hate crimes?

COMMENTARY-Bennett-Thiel-Education

Are colleges afraid of Peter Thiel?

COMMENTARY-France-America-Relationship

Why the French still crave America's love.


LOAD-DATE: April 19, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



112 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 18, 2012 Wednesday 11:30 AM EST


Obama re-elect going up with Spanish language ads


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 233 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is going up with what they say are the first in a series of Spanish language television and radio commercials. 

The re-election team announced Wednesday that the ads will run in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, three battleground states with lots of Spanish speaking voters that both Democrats and Republicans will likely heavily court ahead of November's presidential election.

According to the campaign, the spots feature "first person accounts from Obama for America organizers sharing their personal stories of how the president's policies have empowered Latino families and communities."

The campaign adds the release of the commercials coincides with the launch of Latinos for Obama, which the campaign describes as the "largest ever national effort to engage Latino Americans in their communities and involve them in the upcoming election through voter registration, volunteering and voting."

According to exit polls from the 2008 presidential election, Obama won 67% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 31% for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the then-GOP presidential nominee.

A Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday indicates that while the president holds a narrow 49% to 45% advantage over all but certain Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a November showdown among all Americans, among Hispanic voters Obama holds a 30-point lead, 67% to 27%.


LOAD-DATE: April 19, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



113 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Environment and Energy Daily


April 18, 2012 Wednesday


CAMPAIGN 2012: Top GOP contributor embroiled in Texas waste controversy


SECTION: POLITICS Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 803 words


Hannah Northey, E&E reporter

A Texas billionaire who is one of the top Republican campaign contributors of the 2012 presidential cycle is at the center of an ongoing controversy over a waste storage project near Andrews, Texas.

Harold Simmons, a majority owner of Waste Control Specialists, has donated more than $11.5 million this election cycle, according to Political MoneyLine, with most of the money -- at least $10 million -- going to American Crossroads, the conservative super PAC connected to Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's political guru.

Simmons has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee. Romney's campaign recently announced that Ed Gillespie, the former Republican National Committee chairman and founder of the American Crossroads, is joining the campaign in a voluntary role as a senior adviser.

In a rare interview, published last month in The Wall Street Journal, Simmons, who is 80, referred to President Obama as "that socialist" and called the president "the most dangerous American alive."

But lately, Simmons has been grabbing more headlines for a waste dump he owns in Texas that has sparked concern among local environmental and consumer advocacy groups for its potential to pollute local sources of water, including the Ogallala Aquifer.

Simmons owns a majority of stock in Valhi Inc., the parent company of Waste Control Specialists, which operates a waste facility in western Andrews County, Texas. The site is the only commercial facility in the United States licensed to dispose of Class A, B and C low-level radioactive waste.

WCS is currently waiting for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to allow the company to begin importing low-level radioactive waste from more than 35 states at its $500 million, private site near the New Mexico border (Greenwire, March 19).

The TCEQ granted WCS a license in 2009 to dispose of low-level radioactive waste at its 1,338-acre treatment, storage and disposal facility, but the state agency has not yet authorized the company to begin disposal operations. The Dallas-based company says the facility is located in an arid and isolated location, atop a formation of 500 feet of impermeable red-bed clay, which makes it an "ideal setting for the storage and disposal" of waste. The company has also said the state of Texas has determined that the facility does not sit above or adjacent to any underground drinking water formations.

Opponents of the project say the waste dump has advanced due to Simmons' political connections.

Trevor Lovell, the environmental program coordinator for Texas Public Citizen, said at least one former TCEQ official who oversaw the project now works as a lobbyist for WCS. Lovell and Public Citizen are also trying to raise awareness about their concerns that water under the site could become contaminated if waste is stored there.

The site is also facing political opposition in Texas.

This week, state Rep. Lon Burnam (D) of Fort Worth, who opposes the project, asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) to allow him to make public confidential documents that he says detail state officials' concerns about possible groundwater near the dump site. Burnham asked Abbott at a press conference on Monday to allow him to release the documents, which he said he obtained under a 2009 open records request.

Texas regulators and WCS have dismissed those complaints.

Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman for TCEQ, said saturated groundwater has not been detected within 100 feet of the site and WCS is not violating the terms of its license, particularly because the company has not yet started to accept waste. There's no timeline for the commission to approve imports of waste to the dump, but Morrow said TCEQ believes the "license, if issued, will be protective of human health and the environment."

Morrow also said "the license to construct and subsequent amendments have been subject to rigorous review over a period of years."

The state agency will monitor more than 250 wells surrounding the disposal facility, including different zones that may contain water including uppermost groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer and surrounding sandstone layers, she said. TCEQ employees permanently assigned to the site will also be on duty when the waste is received and disposed of, she said.

Chuck McDonald, a spokesman for WCS, said material shipped to the site will be stored in lead and steel casks that are approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There have been very few incidents of exposure because the material is so well-protected, he added.

McDonald also said Burnam's comments were simply a ploy for attention and that the state lawmaker has opposed the project for at least a decade.


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


April 18, 2012 Wednesday


John DiStaso's Granite Status: DCCC targets Guinta, Bass; Publisher Steve Forbes backs Lamontagne for governor


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 4341 words


April 18--WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, UPDATE: DEMS TARGET BASS, GUINTA. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is reserving $520,000 worth of advertising time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day buys.

A Democratic source confirmed the report in Politico, which said that the DCCC is preparing $32 million worth of broadcast ad buys nationally, targeting the seats of 26 GOP incumbents, including New Hampshire's Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass, as well as seven Democratic incumbents and three open seats.

Both New Hampshire congressmen, especially Bass, are viewed as vulnerable by the Democrats.

As Politico noted, Democrats need to pick up 25 seats to gain control of the House.

According to a Democrat familiar with the planned buys, this is the first of multiple waves of advertising buys planned by the DCCC, some focusing on swing states where the presidential contenders will be vying.

The $520,000 planned to be spent at WMUR, but not actually spent there, yet, may focus on one or both of the races. To what degree one race takes place over the other -- or how much is actually spent in New Hampshire in total -- remains to be seen, although it is clear that the Bass race against Kuster will receive much attention from both sides.

"Congressmen Bass and Guinta were swept into office on a Tea Party wave that is now nowhere to be found," said DCCC regional press secretary Josh Schwerin. "Since then, both have voted to end Medicare while protecting tax breaks for billionaires and, in the process, proven that they are wildly out of touch with Granite State voters and extremely vulnerable in November."

A Republican source says he has been told by national GOP media buyers that WMUR has not yet heard from the DCCC regarding the buy.

"It's clear that Nancy Pelosi is planning to use her Washington special interest money to boost Annie Kuster," said NHGOP executive director Tory Mazolla, "but the reality is that this is more smoke-and-mirrors because a meaningless reservation has no money behind it. If they really thought Kuster had a chance, they'd pre-pay, but that's a gamble they are not willing to take."

(Earlier reports and the full April 12 Granite Status follows.)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, UPDATE: FORBES FOR OVIDE. Conservative financial magazine publisher and Fox News television personality Steve Forbes is endorsing fellow Republican Ovide Lamontagne for New Hampshire governor.

Forbes, a two-time presidential candidate, endorsed Lamontagne in his run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, a race Lamontagne narrowly lost in a party primary to current U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

In backing Lamontagne in 2010, Forbes called him "a proven conservative leader of principle and conviction" who will be a "friend to taxpayers."

The Granite Status has also learned that Forbes will come to New Hampshire next month to campaign with Lamontagne.

On May 8, Forbes will be featured at a reception for Lamontagne at the Devine Millimet law firm.

On May 9, Lamontagne and Forbes will co-host a small business roundtable for regional small business leaders at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

(Earlier updates and the full April 12 Granite Status follow. A new Granite Status will appear tomorrow in the New Hampshire Union Leader with a full version here on UnionLeader.com.)

MONDAY, APRIL 16, UPDATE: ANOTHER TERM. New Hampshire House speaker Bill O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, today announced his candidacy for re-election as representative in his House district of New Boston and Mont Vernon and as Speaker of the House.

The speaker also announced five co-chairmen of the campaign, Speaker Pro Tempore Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett; Municipal and County Government Committee Chair and Finance Committee Vice-Chair Lynne Ober, R-Hudson, Ways and Means Chair Stephen Stepanek, R-Amherst, House Republican Alliance co-chair Marilinda Garcia, R-Salem, and Freshmen Republican Caucus co-chair Dan Tamburello, R-Londonderry.

O'Brien said in a statement he is "looking forward to having an open conversation with the citizens of New Boston and Mont Vernon, and with my colleagues of the House about the important issues facing New Hampshire and the extraordinary achievements of this Legislature."

MONDAY, APRIL 16, UPDATE: GUINTA LEADS IN FUND-RAISING. Republican U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta had nearly a half-million dollars more cash in his campaign account than Democratic challenger and former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter had at the end of the first quarter of the year.

Guinta's campaign reported raising $180,332 in the first quarter, putting him at $986,038 for the election cycle. The campaign says its cash on hand as of March 31 was $674,747.

Shea-Porter's campaign says it raised $101,289 in the quarter and $395,154 since the November 2010 election, in which Guinta defeated Shea-Porter. She reports having $183,159 cash on hand as of March 31.

(Earlier updates and the full April 12 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, UPDATE: KELLY RAPS HILARY ROSEN. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte joined a chorus of outrage today over a nationally-known Democratic strategist's comments belittling Ann Romney, the wife of likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Hilary Rosen has generated bipartisan criticism by saying on CNN on Wednesday night:

"What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country, saying, 'Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that's what I'm hearing.' Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life."

The Democratic National Committee quickly separated itself and the Obama campaign from the remark.

"What she said was absolutely out of bounds," DNC executive director Patrick Gaspard said on MSNBC. "Ann Romney is someone who obviously has worked hard to raise five good boys and she's made some tough choices in her life, I'm certain. Families should be absolutely out of bounds in this discussion."

Gaspard also said Rosen "is absolutely not a paid adviser to the DNC or to the Obama campaign."

Ayotte joined other Republican women surrogates from across the country on a conference call as the Romney campaign began an all-out effort to try to close a gender gap it faces now that the general election phase of the campaign has effectively begun.

"I think it was very insulting for President Obama's advisor and (Democratic National Committee) strategist Hilary Rosen to make the comment she made about Ann Romney yesterday, that she never worked a day in her life," said Ayotte, the mother of four-year-old and seven-year-old children.

"In fact, it's insulting that the President's advisor would dismiss the value of the important and hard work women do in raising children," Ayotte said.

"Ann Romney chose to stay at home and I admire her for that, for raising five boys," Ayotte said. "And as she said herself, it's really hard work raising children. She also volunteered her time working for charities."

Ayotte noted that Ann Romney "has suffered from multiple sclerosis and is also a survivor of cancer.

"But at the end of the day," said Ayotte, when you look at where we are, women have faced massive job losses under this administration and the policies of this President have failed women voters _ and men, too. These are issues that impact all Americans."

Ayotte said she is "worried about what we're leaving for the next generation in terms of the massive debt that we've incurred _ nearly $5 trillion of debt incurred under this President and the opportunities out children are going to have for the next generation. He has failed at getting our fiscal house in order.

"Women are concerned about what we're leaving for our children," Ayotte said.

The Romney campaign, trailing among women by 19 percentage points in a Washington Post/ABC News poll this week, is trying to show that Obama's policies, especially on the economy, have hurt women.

But the campaign opened itself to criticism on Wednesday when a top Romney campaign aid was unable to say whether Romney supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was signed into law by Obama and makes it easier for women to litigate for equal pay.

The campaign later released a statement saying Romney supports equal pay for women, but did not specifically say how he feels about the law.

(Earlier updates and the full April 12 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, UPDATE: WELCOME, VP BIDEN. As a candidate for President in 2007, Joe Biden said primary foe Barack Obama was not ready to be President, and according to former Gov. John H. Sununu, he was right.

As Biden prepares to arrive in Exeter this afternoon, Sununu told reporters, "Today, even with three years in office, (Obama) is clearly demonstrating that he still doesn't have enough experience to be President."

Biden will promote the "Buffett Rule" while in the state, an Obama proposal to raise taxes on millionaires to 30 percent of income.

"Do we pay down those deficits, cutting wherever we can, while we invest in the things we know we must to grow our economy and good, middle class jobs--education; research and development; clean energy technology?" Biden will say, according to the campaign. "Or do we continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on these tax windfalls for millionaires _ windfalls they do not need and haven't asked for.

"It's not the American way. We're not supposed to have a system that's rigged. We're not supposed to have a system with one set of rules for the wealthy and one set of rules for everyone else," Biden will say.

Biden will say Mitt Romney's plan to extend the Bush tax cuts beyond December "will cost about $1 trillion over the next 10 years. And $800 billion of that trillion will go to people to make a minimum of $1 million a year.

"And to add insult to injury, he proposes to give another $250,000 in tax cuts to the average millionaire. That's another trillion dollars to the top 1 percent _ on top of making permanent the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy."

Biden will say the Buffett Rule "says that multi-millionaires should pay at least the same percentage of their income in taxes as middle-class families do.

"The Romney Rule says the very wealthy should keep the tax cuts and loopholes they have, and get an additional, new tax cut every year that is worth more than what the average middle class family makes in an entire year," Biden will say, according to the Obama campaign.

Sununu, who has traveled the country campaigning for Romney, told reporters, "Here we are with a huge deficit crisis, a huge job crisis and Joe Biden and President Obama and here he is promoting taxes that fundamentally designed to be punitive and, frankly, designed to be a political tool in a class warfare agenda that President Obama seems to be embarking on in this campaign."

He called on Obama and Biden to make "significant contributions to charity, noting that Romney "gave almost 15 percent of his income last year to charity."

"So, welcome to New Hampshire, Joe Biden. It's a shame you don't know how to talk about jobs that America needs and it's a shame you don't know how to create the jobs that America needs," said Sununu.

State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley said, "I find it interesting that Vice President is coming to the 'Live Free or Die' state, a state that has neither a broad based income tax or a broad based sales tax with his message that it's time to raise taxes."

"It's exactly the wrong prescription for now to get our economy back on track," said Bradley.

John Stephen, the 2010 New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial nominee and a former supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is now on board with Romney.

He told reporters that "candidates have not fared very well in New Hampshire historically when they come into our state and promote new taxes. The President has done nothing to create an environment that cultivates jobs."

Sununu said that now that Romney has all but wrapped up the GOP presidential nomination, the campaign will rev up operations in New Hampshire.

"Now that things have settled out, the Romney campaign will start putting its general election resources into play," Sununu said. "There has obviously got to be a bit of a fund-raising effort first. I think New Hampshire is certainly one of the key state they focus on."

He said Democrats "had well over 30 full time staffers and tons of offices that they opened up in the 2010 election, but the Republicans focused on getting good candidates, which are the key to success.

"The Republicans ate the Democrats' lunch in the 2010 election and they will do the same in the 2012 election," Sununu said.

The Republican National Committee today also released a web video attacking Obama on the economy.

After Biden left the state Thursday, the New Hampshire Democratic Party shot back that Romney, by choosing Sununu as a surrogate, "speaks volumes about just how out of touch Mitt Romney is with middle class Americans. John 'Where's My Jet' Sununu is a Washington, D.C. lobbyist with a questionable ethics record who, like Mitt Romney, thinks he can play by a different set of rules than working families."

Democratic National Committee member Kathy Sullivan said, "Sununu, while serving in George H.W. Bush's White House, repeatedly misused government resources for his own benefit. Sununu took a government-funded limo to attend a stamp auction at Christie's, the high end auction house, and improperly used military aircraft for personal and political travel. Sununu's repeated misuse of government resources prompted a review of government travel policies."

"Mitt Romney and John Sununu think that they can play by a different set of rules than everyone else," Sullivan said, "which makes Sununu the perfect spokesperson for a candidate who's campaigning on a platform where millionaires and billionaires pay a lower tax rate than hard-working middle class families."

(The full April 12 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 12: NOT A PUSH POLL. Chuck Douglas, new lead counsel for Rep. Charlie Bass's fight against allegations his last campaign conducted an illegal push poll, says the Attorney General's case contains "a fundamental legal error."

The AG alleges the Bass campaign broke the state's push poll law by deliberately avoiding identifying itself as a sponsor of a negative poll against challenger Ann McLane Kuster in September 2010. Bass narrowly beat the Democrat that November.

The Bass campaign could be fined as much as $400,000, or $1,000 for each of 400 calls.

The AG says Bass campaign e-mails show the campaign split the survey's cost with the National Republican Congressional Committee. The e-mails show the initial survey script said it was paid for by the Bass campaign. But then-Bass campaign manager David Kanevsky asked that the NRCC be identified as the sole sponsor because, he wrote, "I'd rather have any issues about 'push polling' be blamed on them (the NRCC) rather than us."

The NRCC agreed. The final script identified the NRCC as sponsor, with no mention of Bass.

Bass' campaign says the AG's charge is invalid because the poll was "a legitimate message testing survey," not a push poll.

Douglas told us that under the law, "any poll being conducted by a political party, such as the National Republican Congressional Committee, is not a 'push poll.'"

In a statement, Douglas said a push poll is "specifically defined" as a telephone poll conducted "in a manner which is likely to be construed by the voter to be a survey or poll to gather statistical data for entities or organizations which are acting independently of any particular political party, candidate or interest group."

"In other words," Douglas said, "a telephone poll is not a 'push poll' unless it is conducted in such a way that a voter would be led to believe that it was being done by an independent polling organization unconnected with a particular candidate or his party.

"The statute prevents candidates or their parties from hiding behind an 'independent' sounding name, like 'Americans for a Better America,'" he said.

Douglas said, "The fatal flaw in the Attorney General's case ... is that the National Republican Congressional Committee openly took ownership of the poll it helped pay for. There was no attempt to portray the poll as having been conducted by some disinterested academic organization.

"Because the NRCC took credit for the poll, the poll was not a 'push poll' as defined by New Hampshire statute, and that means the Bass Victory Campaign did not violate any state election law."

The law also says anyone who engages in push polling must inform the call recipient that the call "is being made on behalf of, in support of, or in opposition to a particular candidate for public office, identify that candidate by name," and provide a telephone number.

Douglas said this requirement does not apply to the Bass case but even if the survey were a push poll, the law was followed because at least one of the sponsors was identified.

"I don't know if the AG's office understands what a push poll is, but this is not one," he said. He also noted that voter opinion surveys usually poll 400 or 500 people, while in true push polls, "it's thousands or tens of thousands."

Douglas shrugged off former campaign manager Kanevsky actually calling the survey "push polling" in his e-mail to the NRCC.

"He's not an attorney, so he may not have understood," Douglas said. "And he's not binding on the campaign. You have to look at the disclaimer, not what some kid thinks it means."

MOOT ISSUE? The Federal Election Commission may provide Bass a boost, or perhaps render the case moot, with a key decision due in the next several weeks. (An FEC spokesman said Wednesday the decision would be due Thursday, but told us on Thursday morning that while the issue will be discussed Thursday, there will be no vote.)

FEC commissioners are scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on whether the state law is superseded by the Federal Election Campaign Act.

A request for an advisory opinion was sent to the FEC in February by the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which says it plans to poll for "certain federal candidates" and "certain nonprofit organizations" in the Granite State this year.

"GQRR's survey research will typically consist of questions regarding demographics, the respondent's views on various issues, the respondent's impressions of the political parties and national political figures, the likelihood to vote for particular federal candidate or candidates, and the likelihood of the respondent to vote for a specific federal candidate after hearing various positive and/or negative information about the candidate," wrote Greenberg Quinlan attorney Joseph Sandler.

Sandler noted the FEC has ruled that the federal law and its regulations "do not require that any disclaimer be included in telephone survey research," and his client "is concerned that it may be required to comply with these (state) provisions with respect to its proposed polling in New Hampshire, referencing only federal candidates."

The NH AG's office told the FEC the state law should apply to federal candidates. Assistant Attorney General Matt Mavrogeorge wrote, "The Commission has repeatedly held that state regulations that do not address reporting, expenditures, contributions or political advertising are valid exercises of state power.

"The FEC's regulations do not include telephone surveys as part of its regulatory scheme or its preemption authority" under federal election law, Mavrogeorge wrote. "This is consistent with the Supreme Court's admonition that the police powers of the state should not be superseded unless there is clear congressional intent to do so."

Four draft opinions will be reviewed today. Two say that yes, there is clear history that Congress intended that the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act "supersede and preempt any provision of State law with respect to election to federal office."

A third draft says that although the federal "likely" preempts the state law, it is up to the courts, not the FEC, to make that call.

In a fourth draft, the FEC declines to give its opinion because the request is asking whether a state law, not the federal election act, applies to its planned polling activities.

BIDEN AND BUFFETT. With Vice President Joe Biden set to push President Obama's "Buffett rule" in Exeter today, there were dueling press conferences on the issue yesterday.

On the Democratic side, state AFL-CIO president Mark MacKenzie said, "The question is should we ask middle class Americans to pay even more or should we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay what is really their fair share?"

Democratic activist and CPA Deborah Butler said under the rule named for billionaire Warren Buffett, people who earn more than $1 million a year in income would pay a minimum 30 percent in taxes. It would primarily effect people with a significant amount of capital gains income.

"American prospers when everyone does their fair share and plays by the same rules," said Butler.

The measure would reportedly raise an estimated $47 billion over 10 years, a tiny percentage of government spending and debt. But Obama says it would be enough to spare some popular government programs.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus countered, "It's really funny that they chose the 'Live Free or Die' state to promote a new tax gimmick. Granite Staters will see through this effort to divide voters."

State GOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald said the "continuous trips" by Obama and Biden to the state "show just how worried they are about New Hampshire." He said the "Buffett Rule" is "just as phony as his 'hope and change' message from four years ago."

On Saturday, the Obama campaign plans to push "Buffett" with a "Tax Fairness Day of Action," going door-to-door in 20 communities. Leading the charge in Nashua will be Providence, R.I., Mayor Angel Taveras.

A TOSS-UP. With a big Republican State Committee meeting scheduled for Saturday at Inter-Lakes High School in Meredith, a source tells us the race for Republican National Committeewoman between Deputy House Speaker Pam Tucker and former Cheshire County GOP Chair Juliana Bergeron appears to be a toss-up.

The woman elected will succeed Phyllis Woods after the national convention this summer.

It's the only contested race so far, although write-ins will be accepted.

In other open races, the candidates are Cliff Hurst for party vice chairman, Diane Bitter for assistant secretary, Steve Duprey for a full term as national committeeman and Mark Vincent for Area 3 vice chairman.

"LIBERAL LEE" NYQUIST? In his first bid for state office, Democrat Lee Nyquist of New Boston has "made it" already to the GOP "hit list."

"As Lee Nyquist starts to put together his campaign for Senate District 9 as a 'self described moderate,' he should start explaining his recent history of supporting far left liberals like Paul Hodes and tax-and-spend Democrats like President Barack Obama," the NHGOP said in a leadoff slap at Nyquist this week. "In 2008, liberal Lee Nyquist donated to Hodes, a liberal who supported Speaker Nancy Pelosi 95 percent of the time," and Obama.

According to the independent political "watchdog" web site OpenSecrets.org, Nyquist in 2008 donated $500 to Obama and $250 to Hodes.

"Lee Nyquist is only fooling himself if he's going to run a campaign about his so-called 'moderate' record," NHGOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald said in the statement. "He's an enthusiastic liberal."

Nyquist called the statement "a prime example of the partisan and uncivil tone that is unfortunately the standard operating procedure for our Legislature today. It reflects the atmosphere that is crippling our state government and is the reason I'm running for the state Senate."

Meanwhile, Republican state Rep. Ken Hawkins of Bedford has made it official that he is a candidate for the District 9 seat. The announcement sets up a potential primary with state Sen. Andy Sanborn, who says he will relocate from Henniker to Bedford to run for the seat, and Andy Peterson of Peterborough, who formerly served in the House and Senate, who may run.

Hawkins, a more than 30-year resident of Bedford, perhaps contrasting himself with Sanborn, said, "I am proud to say my roots are long and strong in representing my hometown and region."

He said that in five House terms, he has "led efforts to reform our pension system, pushed for a fiscally responsible state budget and always voted against job-killing tax increases. As a state senator I will continue to push to make government more accountable, promote policies that spur growth and create jobs and defend the rights of taxpayers."

Hawkins said he is planning two fund-raisers, scheduling campaign appearances and has a web site under construction.

OVIDE'S NEW WEB SITE, OFFICE. GOP candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne's campaign headquarter has been set up at the Brady Sullivan Tower, 1750 Elm St., Manchester, and will be open for business next week. The location is the former site of Rick Perry's presidential campaign.

Lamontagne's campaign has revamped and updated his Ovide2012.com web site with a new look and additional information.

BENSON FOR SMITH. Former Gov. Craig Benson yesterday endorsed his former staffer, Kevin Smith, for governor.

Smith held the title of Liaison to the Executive Council and Department Heads for Benson. While Democrats quickly criticized Smith for his Benson as "ethically challenged role model and mentor," Smith, in Benson, will have a wealthy and well-connected fund-raiser.

Benson called Smith "the only candidate with a long-term vision to rebuild our economy and education system around new industries and exciting technologies that will lead to better jobs and help keep our young people here in New Hampshire."

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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Providence Journal


April 18, 2012 Wednesday


Callista Gingrich visits R.I.;
Politics


BYLINE: Randal Edgar, Journal State House Bureau


SECTION: NEWS; Local; Pg. 4


LENGTH: 623 words



HIGHLIGHT: Wife of GOP presidential candidate read from her new book, ahead of Tuesday s primary


With her husband far behind in delegates but still in the race, Callista Gingrich arrived in Rhode Island this week with a message for the people who are following the 2012 Republican presidential primary.

Win or lose, Newt Gingrich is determined to have an impact on the outcome.

Our only opponent is Barack Obama, she told members of the East Greenwich Republican Town Committee on Tuesday evening, following a busy day that also took her to Middletown and East Providence. And we are committed to removing him from the White House.

Gingrich arrived on Monday for a three-day visit, one that supporters hope will sway votes, or at least the political dialogue leading up to next Tuesday s presidential primary and the election beyond. Her Ocean State audiences have included college students, preschool and elementary school students, and, in East Greenwich, at Caprice restaurant on Main Street, solid Republicans.

You re able to have an impact on the policy and the way the election is going, so I think it s important. And anything can happen, said Caswell Cooke, a Westerly Town Council member who is serving as state director for Gingrich s campaign. Until somebody gets the magic number, there s no nomination.

About 30 people dined on scrod and sirloin steak tips at the East Greenwich event and then listened as Gingrich talked about American Exceptionalism.

Today, America stands at a pivotal moment, not only economically but socially, politically, she said. We are certainly in a great debate over whether America is an exceptional nation, or whether we are just another country.

She added: Nothing pinpoints you more as a conservative, and as a Republican, than believing in American exceptionalism.

Earlier in the day, Gingrich read to children at the Newport YMCA, in Middletown, and at the Weaver Library, in East Providence.

At both stops, she read from her children s book, Sweet Land of Liberty, which tells the story of Ellis, an elephant who travels through time to see some of the most important events in United States history.

About 20 children and parents listened as Gingrich read and ad-libbed. Sitting next to her was a human-sized Ellis manned by an unseen Gingrich campaign staffer who waved and gave thumbs up to the children.

Some of the attendees just happened to be there for the visit, said children s librarian Pamela Schwieger. But others were there to hear Gingrich read.

It was a beautiful story. I love how it highlights so many elements of U.S. history, said Melonie Massa, a former East Providence resident who now lives in Bristol. She was there with her children, Marina, 16, Luke, 13, Evie, 4, Amalia, 18 months, and her nephew Andrew, 4.

After the library reading, Gingrich posed for photos with children and adults and said in a brief interview that she believes her husband, who has 136 delegates to frontrunner Mitt Romney s 684, is the voice for the conservative movement.

She added, however, that whatever happens, we ll support the nominee.

She said she could not resist having an adorable little elephant as her lead character in her book.

I must say, I didn t consider a donkey, she said.

While Callista Gingrich was visiting both sides of Narragansett Bay Tuesday, her husband was to speak at Republican events in Dauphin and Lancaster counties, in Pennsylvania, one of five states, along with Rhode Island, that have primaries next Tuesday.

Both Gingriches will be back on the campaign trail on Wednesday.

While Newt Gingrich makes appearances in Pennsylvania and Delaware, Callista Gingrich is scheduled to make a morning visit to the Smithfield YMCA and an afternoon visit to Women & Infants Hospital, where she will tour the Women s Oncology and Breast Health Center.


LOAD-DATE: April 18, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: redgar@providencejournal.com (401) 277-7418


GRAPHIC: Photographers snap pictures of Sandra Scimeca, of East Providence, and her daughter Angela, 2, with Callista Gingrich, wife of Newt Gingrich, and book character Ellis at Weaver Library in East Providence Tuesday.
Melonie Massa, of Bristol, and daughter Evie, 4, listen to Gingrich read from her book, Sweet Land of Liberty at Weaver Library in East Providence.


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The Record (Bergen County, NJ)


April 18, 2012 Wednesday
AE Edition


YOUR VIEWS


SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 1299 words


Don't color-brand schoolchildren

Our children may be placed in greater danger by a required uniform dress code program in Clifton schools. We live in a post-9/11, post-Columbine society. We need better security, but not policies that might make our children vulnerable to criminals and predators.

There have been a number of reported cases of sexual assaults in our high school. Cameras are a good idea, but uniform dress will make it difficult to distinguish between individuals and identify criminals. Victims will have a harder time describing their assailants.

Outsiders may get into schools by simply blending in by wearing the school's colors. This policy potentially provides criminals with a convenient form of camouflage, funded by taxpayers and parents.

It will also advertise our children's age to sexual predators.

Forcing parents to color-brand their children as they walk to and from school does not sound like a good idea.

National reports indicate problems interpreting and enforcing these policies. In Florida, an overzealous administrator reached inside a child's pants to check spandex content, and children have been forced to change into loaner clothing in dark closets. The potential to create an atmosphere of intimidation and possible abuse of power is significant.

Those concerned about this important matter should attend the Clifton Board of Education meeting on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Clifton High School Media Center.

We need better safety standards, not uniform standard dress.

Ann Schnakenberg

Clifton, April 16


Avoiding basic issue in election

Regarding "For women, choice is clear in November" (Your Views, April 16):

The letter writer lashes out again and again at the Republican presidential aspirants, even the party as a whole, for intruding into women's lives with their proposed restrictions on abortion and even certain birth control options that would kill an already conceived child.

So which is more important: sexual freedom or life? All the Republican seekers of their party's presidential nominee -- including the now-presumed candidate, Mitt Romney -- are for life.

What a woman can or cannot do with her own body is one thing. But what she can or cannot do with another living human being growing within her is quite a different thing.

Elsie P. Palmer

Wayne, April 16

*

Regarding "For women, choice is clear in November" (Your Views, April 16):

President Obama and some of his minions put their feet into their mouths when they tried to rule that the Catholic Church, other religious organizations and related non-governmental organizations had to violate their religious beliefs by offering health care insurance that would provide birth control and other abortifacients to their employees. Some of those plans are self-insured.

The real issue is an attack on religious freedom, which the Washington spinmeisters have attempted to warp into a war on women. President Obama realized he didn't want to go to war with the Catholic Church or other faiths.

I don't hear Republicans repeating any "war against women" mantra. I don't want my religious freedom controlled by any government. That's the real issue.

Alfred J. Murphy Jr.

Hillsdale, April 16

The writer is a former Democratic municipal chairman.


For some people, reality matters

Regarding "Reducing price of oil" (Your Views, April 13):

It must be very nice to live in a world with an alternative reality, as do many right-wingers.

In a recent letter, a reader blames President Obama for the rising oil prices and praises President Bush's blustering about drilling more and drilling now for falling oil prices.

In reality, from 2001, when Bush took office, oil prices were about $35. By December 2008, just before he left office, they had reached more than $130 a barrel. Some people overlook these facts.

True, when Bush left office oil prices had dropped precipitously. But that reflected Obama's support of alternative energy.

And now, Mitt Romney is running around telling women that Obama's economic program has hurt women disproportionately. The facts that men lost the bulk of the jobs in the recession and that the loss of jobs for women now comes from Republican governors' failure to fund public services that traditionally provide jobs for women -- teaching, social work, government offices -- are treated as completely irrelevant.

I wish I could live in a world of my own imagining, as do so many Republicans. But for me, unfortunately, reality seems to matter.

Linda Cetta

Demarest, April 13



People under attack of the privileged

Regarding "Christie back on national stage" (Page A-6, April 11):

I am tired of the 1 percent and their Republican allies in government attacking the citizens of this country as if we were to blame for the country's economic ills, when it was their actions and their policies that got us into this mess to begin with. That is exactly what Governor Christie did in his speech last week to a group of conservatives. He blamed the people.

The governor has proved where his loyalties lie. He and his allies among the 1 percent are engaging in a strategic effort to shift the blame of this economic crisis onto the victims, the American people, by labeling us a lazy rabble that would rather sit on our couches and collect a government check instead of working for a living. Did we ask to lose our jobs, our homes, our pensions, our health care benefits and our pride?

Christie should be propping his citizens up, not beating them down when they are desperate and struggling. This is not leadership. If the governor wants to attack the state of dependency, let him attack the corporate welfare that is ruining this country.

The people are under attack, and it is the privileged few who are driving it.

Marguerite Sansone

Wallington, April 17


Cruz follows path first trod by Doby

Regarding "City gives superstar his due" (Page A-1, April 16), on Paterson's honoring Giants player Victor Cruz:

I enjoyed the article. Its references to Larry Doby brought back pleasant memories. As a youth growing up in North Jersey, I was very proud of Doby. I followed his games and wanted very much for him to do well (except against the Yankees). Who can forget his record-setting long home run at old Yankee Stadium? He excelled on the athletic field and off.

It has been a long time since another person has come along to electrify the area. Because of his athletic exploits, Victor Cruz has often been mentioned as a hero. Little has been said about his off-field accomplishments. His visits to the pediatric section of The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and Children's Hospital in New Brunswick have made him a true hero to the young people. In those children, he has implanted pleasant lifelong memories, as Larry Doby did for me.

John Margroff

Wyckoff, April 16


Failing to see opportunity

Regarding Columnist Charles Stile's "Pay-to-play blowback aimed at full repeal?" (Political Stile, Page L-1, April 17):

Right on.

Stile reports that Republican County Chairman Bob Yudin feels the pinch of the pay-to-play reform ordinance recently enacted by the Bergen County Board of Freeholders. Rather than viewing the glass as half-empty, Yudin would be better off realizing the half-full glass means his candidates for election or reelection now need raise only more modest sums to keep abreast of others running for the same offices.

Richard L. Colten

Upper Saddle River, April 17


LOAD-DATE: April 19, 2012


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


April 18, 2012 Wednesday


Richard Cohen: Mitt Romney's business plan


BYLINE: By Richard Cohen


SECTION: NEWS; Opinion


LENGTH: 703 words


Among the attributes I most envy in a public man (or woman) is the ability to lie. If that ability is coupled with no sense of humor, you have the sort of man who can be a successful football coach, a CEO or, when you come right down to it, a presidential candidate. Such a man is Mitt Romney.

Time and time again, Romney has been called a liar during this campaign. (The various fact-checking organizations have had to work overtime on him alone.) A significant moment, sure to surface in the general election campaign, came during a debate held in New Hampshire in January. David Gregory, the host of "Meet the Press," turned to Newt Gingrich and said, "You have agreed with the characterization that Gov. Romney is a liar. Look at him now. Do you stand by that claim?"

Gingrich did not flinch. "Sure," he started off, and then accused Romney of running ads that were not true and, moreover, pretending he knew nothing about them. "It is your millionaire friends giving to the PAC. And you know some of the ads aren't true. Just say that straightforward."

Me, I would have confessed and begged for forgiveness. Not Romney, though -- and herein is the reason he will be such a formidable general election candidate. He concedes nothing. He had seen none of the ads, he said. They were done by others, he added. Of course, they are his supporters, but he had no control over them. All this time he was saying this rubbish, he seemed calm, sincere -- matter-of-fact.

And then he brought up an ad he said he did see. It was about Gingrich's heretical support for a climate change bill. He dropped the name of the extremely evil Nancy Pelosi. He accused Gingrich of criticizing Paul Ryan's first budget plan, an Ayn Randish document whose great virtue is a terrible honesty. (We are indeed going broke.) He added that Gingrich had been in ethics trouble in the House and ended with a promise to make sure his ads were as truthful as could be. Pow! Pow! Pow! Gingrich was on the canvas.

I watched, impressed. I admire a smooth liar, and Romney is among the best. His technique is to explain -- that bit about not knowing what was in the ads -- and then counterattack. He maintains the bulletproof demeanor of a man who is barely suffering fools, in this case Gingrich. His message is not so much what he says, but what he is: You cannot touch me. I have the organization and the money. Especially the money. (Even the hair.) You're a loser.

There are those who maintain that President Barack Obama, too, is a liar. The president's recent attack on Ryan's new budget proposal sent countless critics scurrying to their thesauruses for ways to say "lie" -- "comprehensively misrepresenting" is the way George F. Will put it. (He also said Obama "is not nearly as well educated as many thought.") Obama does indeed sometimes play politics with the truth, as when he declared that a Supreme Court reversal of his health care law would be unprecedented. He then backed down. Not what he meant, he said.

But where Romney is different is that he is not honest about himself. He could, as he did just recently, stand before the National Rifle Association as if he was, in spirit as well as membership, one of them. In body language, in blinking of the eyes, in the nonexistent pounding pulse, there was not the tiniest suggestion that here was a man who just as confidently once embodied the anti-gun ethic of Massachusetts, the distant land he once governed. Instead, he tore into Obama for the (nonexistent) threat the president posed to Second Amendment rights -- a false accusation from a false champion.

A marathon of debates and an eon of campaigning have toughened and honed Romney. He commands the heights of great assurance and he knows, as some of us learn too late in life, that the truth is not always a moral obligation but sometimes merely what works. He often cites his business background as commending him for the presidency. That's his forgivable absurdity. Instead, what his career has given him is the businessman's concept of self -- that what he does is not who he is. Business is business. It's what you do. It is not who you are. Lying isn't a sin. It's a business plan.

Richard Cohen is a Washington Post columnist.


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States News Service


April 18, 2012 Wednesday


ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT RELEASES NEW WEB VIDEO: "PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MEASURE OF PROGRESS"


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 697 words


DATELINE: BOSTON, MA


The following information was released by Mitt Romney for President:

Today, Romney for President released a new web video titled "President Obama's Measure Of Progress." Four years ago at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, then-candidate Barack Obama said that Democrats measure progress by whether people can find a job and provide for themselves and their families. In September, President Obama and the Democrats will meet for the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina, a state that has lost nearly 50,000 jobs since President Obama took office and has an unemployment rate of nearly 10%.

To View "President Obama's Measure Of Progress," Please See: http://mi.tt/INWQbH

AD FACTS: Script For "President Obama's Measure Of Progress" (Web Video)

VIDEO TEXT: "August 28, 2008 Denver, Colorado"

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: "You see we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma."

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): "You see we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Democratic National Convention, 8/28/08)

VIDEO TEXT: "On September 3, 2012 Barack Obama And The Democrats Will Meet In Charlotte, North Carolina"

VIDEO TEXT: "Here's What You Won't Hear At The Convention"

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: "We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage."

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): "You see we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma." (Barack Obama, Remarks, Democratic National Convention, 8/28/08)

VIDEO TEXT: "North Carolina Has Lost Nearly 50,000 Jobs Since President Obama Took Office"

Under President Obama, North Carolina Has Lost 47,800 Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/15/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "That's Over Twice The Size Of The Arena Where The Convention Will Be Held"

Convention Proceedings Will Take Place In Time Warner Cable Arena Which Seats 20,000 People. (Democratic National Convention Website, Accessed 4/17/12; Time Warner Cable Arena Website, Accessed 4/17/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Unemployment Rate Is 9.9%"

Under President Obama, North Carolina's Unemployment Rate Increased From 9% In January 2009 To 9.9% Today. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/15/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "In Charlotte Unemployment Is Even Higher 10%"

The Unemployment Rate in The Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Metropolitan Area Is 10 Percent. "Unemployment in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill metropolitan area declined to 10 percent from 10.4 percent in January, according to figures released Thursday from the N.C. Department of Commerce's Division of Employment Security." (Kirsten Valle Pittman, "Charlotte-Area Unemployment Rate Falls In February," Charlotte Observer, 4/6/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "In Total 450,000 North Carolinians Are Unemployed"

North Carolina Currently Has 463,983 Unemployed Workers. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/15/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Up 13% Since Obama Took Office"

Under President Obama, North Carolina Has An Additional 53,199 Unemployed Workers. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/15/12)

North Carolina Currently Has 463,983 Unemployed Workers. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/15/12)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition."

President Obama: "If I Don't Have This Done In Three Years, Then There's Going To Be A One-Term Proposition." (NBC's "Today," 2/2/09)

VIDEO TEXT: "ObamaIsn'tWorking.com"


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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=31675&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
Tampa Bay Times


April 18, 2012 Wednesday
4 State / Suncoast Edition


REGRESSIVE TAX MUST BE REFORMED


SECTION: NATIONAL; YOUR LETTERS; Pg. 10A


LENGTH: 1036 words


Obama's tax rate below secretary's - April 14

The White House just released President Barack Obama's tax return and said it shows a slightly lower income tax rate than his secretary's. What the release didn't say is that the president, and the vice president, paid a dramatically lower portion of their incomes in Social Security tax than the secretary.

According to the release, Obama's secretary would have paid Social Security on all of her salary; the president would have paid it on about a fourth of his salary; and the vice president would have paid the tax on less than half of his salary. Obama is fighting with Republicans to raise income taxes on the very rich; however, he appears to be in complete agreement with Republicans on the Social Security tax - none of these well-paid politicians seem to be interested in eliminating the cap on wages subject to Social Security tax.

If Obama is interested in tax equity, he should stop ignoring this most regressive of all federal taxes.

Jerry Stephens, Riverview

* * *

Legislative menu: turkey - April 14

List missed a big turkey

Florida TaxWatch has not included the proposed 12th university to be located in Polk County on its 2012 list of legislative appropriation turkeys (pork barrel projects). By any objective measure, this omission has made the Florida TaxWatch name an oxymoron. There is no way this new university proposal can be justified, and it will cause an unjust burden for the taxpayers and further drive up students' expenses.

Apparently the Florida TaxWatch staff did not realize was how this omission would damage their credibility. Their explanation lacks common sense, and they should re-evaluate their position. Just because an appropriation passes through the legislative process does not automatically preclude it from being a financial turkey.

Roger H. Wilson, Seminole

* * *

The road to nowhere

Florida TaxWatch seems to have overlooked state Sen. JD Alexander's $35 million "road to nowhere." Perhaps they are not "watching" closely enough. How could they think this is a worthwhile budget item, or are they just they just following the Republican lead?

Rich Gurczinski, St. Petersburg

* * *

Baboons take step toward reading - April 13

Educate children, not apes

What a slap in the face to our educators. Don't spend any of my tax dollars on this project.

Our teachers are taking money out of their own pockets to help educate our children because of inadequate funding for our schools. Teachers invest an inordinate amount of time on revenue-generating projects during the school year on their own free time. This money is spent to help educate our children, again because of inadequate funding from the government.

This baboon project is totally backwards. Can anyone explain why a baboon needs to learn how to read? Our children are our future - not baboons.

Judy Lavaron, St. Petersburg

* * *

Campaign 2012

Attack problems, not people

I know it is a pipe dream, but wouldn't it be productive if rather than attacking each other the candidates attacked the critical issues facing our country?

Could they not spend the next months articulating how they would approach solving our problems - lack of jobs, crumbling infrastructure, pointless wars, tax reform, etc.? This I would listen to. The other, I'll ignore.

Sandy Ericson, Clearwater

* * *

Titanic

Claim sinks under scrutiny

With all the recent attention on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, one significant fact should be clarified.

Neither builders nor owners ever made the claim that the ship was "unsinkable." Marine engineers at the beginning of the 20th century were not naive, and understood that whenever 88,000 tons of steel is placed on water, it can indeed sink. They correctly proclaimed it "nearly unsinkable."

Following the disaster, it made for good press to proclaim that an unsinkable ship had sunk on its maiden voyage, meaning it was headline writers who instigated the claim that survives to this day.

Ed Golly, Tampa

* * *

Affordable Care Act

Welcome tax relief

For the first time ever as a small business owner, I am getting some tax relief for providing health insurance to my employees. Because of the Affordable Care Act, we have received a $13,000 tax credit over the past two years.

It is still not easy being a small business in today's economy. Being able to stay competitive and hire quality employees is critical. Offering health insurance is such an important way to show employees that we care about their well-being. This tax season, I am grateful.

Dr. Hansel Leavengood, Tampa

* * *

Romney focuses on future in speech at NRA gathering - April 14

This isn't the Wild West

It continues to be a disappointment that politicians choose lobbyists over the people. On the one hand Mitt Romney is letting the NRA know that he will support unbridled gun ownership. In the same day's paper there are three stories on gun violence and death, plus the Trayvon Martin case.

Two of these tragedies are not the result of criminals on the loose, and two are the result of the lax gun laws. I am not in favor of a Wild West mentality when I walk out of my door and will vote accordingly.

Diane Pearson, Dunedin

* * *

U.S., Canada alone in Cuba stance - April 15

Policy overdue for a change

It would be great if President Barack Obama's lecturing by the Western Hemisphere leaders regarding Washington's continuing Cold War policy of isolating Cuba would finally bring about change to that policy, but since this is an election year with both parties desperately courting the Hispanic vote, don't hold your breath.

It would make me proud to see some of our leaders show some guts and make a difference by hitting this idea of change out of the park.

J. Larry McElveen, Safety Harbor

* * *

Tough call on reservoir - April 12

Calling legal aid

Every few days we citizens learn that we're on the hook for still more money because of poorly written contracts - the latest being Pat Bean's legal fees and the repairs to the reservoir.

Who are these lawyers who can't even write a decent contract? There's an ad on TV for software that will compose legal documents, including contracts. It seems Hillsborough County and Tampa Bay Water ought to spend the $39.95 and buy it.

David Brown, Sun City Center


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The Associated Press


April 19, 2012 Thursday 09:44 PM GMT


Campaign commercials give hint of ad war to come


BYLINE: By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1025 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


Get ready. The presidential ad campaign coming to a TV and radio near you is going to be nasty, expensive and heavily influenced by independent groups, particularly those that favor Republican Mitt Romney over Democrat Barack Obama.

Commercials airing in a handful of states offer a preview of what's to come.

"Mitt Romney stood with big oil, for their tax breaks," Obama's campaign says in an ad already running in six general election battleground states.

"No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much. Tell Obama, stop blaming others," the Republican-leaning group Crossroads GPS says in its latest ad, also airing in swing states.

The scorching ads that helped define the GOP nominating contest have yielded to the early stages of what will be an epic air battle between Romney and Obama as they scramble to define in the most unflattering terms and bring each other down. The emergence of outside groups known as super PACs is all but certain to ratchet up the negativity, adding a level of slash-and-burn rhetoric to the campaign that the candidates themselves might seek to avoid.

"The 2012 Republican primary was by far the most negative we've seen and my expectation will be that the 2012 general election will be one of the most negative in history," said William Benoit, who studies campaign advertising at Ohio University. "The super PAC ads will make it even more so."

Super PACs were borne from a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision easing campaign finance restrictions on corporations and wealthy people. Republican-leaning groups were very active in the 2010 contest, helping to wrest the House from Democratic control and picking up six Republican Senate seats.

The proliferation of super PACs and expected closeness of the Obama-Romney contest guarantee a TV ad rivalry much different than what voters saw in 2008, when Obama's campaign opted out of public financing and the state by state spending limits such financing requires. That decision allowed Obama to bury Republican Sen. John McCain beneath some $244 million worth of ads a roughly a 4-to-1 spending advantage for Obama.

This cycle, that figure is likely to be swamped by spending by American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS alone. The sister groups, both tied to President George W. Bush's longtime political director Karl Rove and largely financed by a handful of wealthy businessmen, have announced plans to pour as much as $300 million into attack ads against Obama and other Democrats.

Romney turned down public financing for the primary campaign and is expected to do the same for the general election, as is Obama. That clears the way for a full-fledged ad war between the two campaigns, amplified by ads from super PACs.

The Obama campaign has already spent about $2 million on its ad this month in Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Florida and Nevada, according several media buyers who provided information to The Associated Press. Crossroads isn't far behind, having spent $1.8 million on its ad in the six states.

Crossroads' spokesman, Jonathan Collegio, said the group's current role is in part to fill the gap for Romney's campaign as it raises the money it needs for the campaign against Obama.

Collegio said the months between the primaries and the political conventions is a critical period where an outside group can provide "air cover" while a candidate regroups.

Romney's campaign spent $18.1 on ads during the primary campaign but has gone dark since rival Rick Santorum suspended his campaign last week. Records show the campaign has not yet bought any television time to begin running ads again.

Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC founded by a team of his former aides, will have significant role in the general election. It was by far the most influential player in the Republican nominating contest, responsible for $36 million of the $100 million total that was spent on ads, according to the Smart Media Group, which tracks campaign spending.

Carl Forti, a founder of Restore Our Future and its spokesman, predicted that as many as 20 Republican-leaning super PACs would seek to oust Obama and would work together to figure out how to gain maximum traction from their ads.

"The outside groups are at our best when we do coordinate," said Forti, who was the political director for Romney's failed 2008 presidential bid and has been a Crossroads strategist since 2010. "We did so in the 2010 cycle and I expect and hope we will be able to coordinate again."

At least one super PAC backing Obama's re-election has been on the air attacking Romney.

Priorities USA Action, founded by two former Obama White House aides, went up with a new ad this week in Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia depicting Romney as a heartless businessman who would cut benefits for the middle class to give tax cuts to the wealthy as president.

"Mitt Romney. If he wins, we lose," the ad says.

Still, Priorities is spending just under $700,000 on the current ad buy, reflecting the group's significant fundraising disadvantage compared to Republican-leaning groups. Priorities and its affiliated nonprofit group have raised just $10 million since last year, while American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS together have raised more than $100 million since 2010.

Priorities founder Bill Burton insists the group's fundraising has picked up and will provide a counterbalance to Republican super PAC ads.

"People are starting to see the right-wing money machine is raising a ton of money. President Obama's re-election is in doubt. People are really starting to turn in a way they hadn't before," Burton said.

The presidential campaigns and most super PACs have a midnight Friday deadline to disclose their March fundraising totals.

It's unclear whether other pro-Obama groups will run ads supporting his re-election. While labor unions have run ads supporting Obama and other Democratic candidates in past elections, AFL-CIO political spokesman Jeff Hauser said the labor federation planned to devote its resources to field organizing rather than television.

Associated Press writer Jack Gillum in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter: http:// www.twitter.com/bfouhy


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The Chronicle: Hofstra University


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Armchair Observations: A Humor Column


BYLINE: Matt Napolitano


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 617 words


I don't care what anyone says, SNL has drastically improved over the past two or three years. I find myself DVRing the show and watching it on Sunday afternoon (I'm 21 and it's Saturday night, I have a life) and actually getting some solid laughs.

Last week, Saturday Night Live announced the next new episode would be May 5th. The host: Super Bowl champion quarterback Eli Manning.

That's right, Eli is once again following in his big brother's footsteps and taking the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. SNL has a great legacy of athletes hosting their show from Derek Jeter's Taco Hole to Charles Barkley's Donkey Basketball Camp. From Shaq taking a spanking from Tracy Morgan to Joe Montana being chastised by the Church Lady, athletes tend to bring their A-game to sketch comedy.

So once I found out about the Elite One getting a shot at SNL, I started thinking of possible sketches to make Manning look like a champ in late night TV.

COLD OPEN: Sorry, Eli, not really common for the host to be in the opening sketch. Plus, I really don't see a man whose IQ has repeatedly come into question by Giants fans holding his own in a sketch about Mitt Romney or President Obama or whatever political shenanigans are going on.

OPENING MONOLOGUE: Since Peyton has hosted before, it just reignites the sibling rivalry we've seen in Oreo and ESPN commercials. Eli may have two Super Bowl rings, but many will argue Peyton is the better overall quarterback, which brings the idea of a rousing rendition of "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" between the two brothers, and maybe Cooper Manning can contribute a little as well. Ah, brotherly love.

TEBOWMANIA: Eli just won his second Super Bowl, but he's not the media darling quarterback of New York. That title belongs to Gang Green's new backup Tim Tebow. After his short-lived enjoyment of the spotlight, Eli goes on a quest to make the headlines again. He brokers peace talks with Syria. He helps to lower the unemployment rate. He finds the body of Jimmy Hoffa. However, he still finds the top story of the evening is the messiah Tebow eating a calzone or finding a penny on 6th Avenue. Poor Eli, can't catch a break.

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER: Eli knows how to win, so why not have him show people how to be elite? Have him give a speech on the ways of winning to a high school or a college team. Sex, drugs and alcohol. That's the key to a championship and a key to being a loved sports figure in New York. I'm Joe Namath and I approve this message.

BATTLESHIP: Rihanna will be the musical guest that night and she actually has a movie coming out, "Battleship". That's right, they are making a movie off the board game, Battleship. C-7... D-4... F-3... THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE A MISS! Regardless, I think a great SNL digital short would feature Rihanna and Eli in an intense game of Battleship. Throw in Andy Samberg as a commentator for good measure. Should be worth a chuckle.

WEEKEND UPDATE: Point-counterpoint. Seth Meyers, Weekend Update anchor and notoriously lover of Boston sports, versus Eli Manning in a Giants-Patriots debate. Guest cameos by Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul. Hey, I'm down with JPP, yeah, you know me.

CINCO DE MAYO: Eli Manning as a frat guy making bad decisions on Cinco De Mayo. Bueno!

OREO COMMERCIAL: Eli and Peyton back together to shoot an Oreo ad with different athletes and celebrities. Who doesn't want to see Ryan Leaf endorse sandwich cookies? No one? Well, there's other sports figures in the news worth sponsoring Nabisco.

End of show. Oh, and all of these are copyrighted, but if anybody using this as a tablecloth right now knows anyone at NBC, I am graduating and I need to pay off the arm and leg I owe Hofstra.


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CNN Wire


April 19, 2012 Thursday 10:53 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4399 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation (Will update)

More than three decades after a 6-year-old boy disappeared on his way to a bus stop in New York City, police and federal investigators relaunched their search for him Thursday, scouring the basement of a commercial building in Lower Manhattan. It is a largely unexplained development in a milestone case that helped draw the plight of missing children into the national consciousness.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (Will update) George Zimmerman will be in a central Florida courtroom Friday morning for a bond hearing in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. The attorney for Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder, has previously indicated concerns for his client's safety.

Florida-Stand-Your-Ground

Florida authorities have picked 17 people to tackle a heated question brought on by the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin: whether the state's "stand your ground law" should be changed.

Gulf-Aircraft-Search (Will update)

A small plane with an unresponsive pilot sank in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday after circling above the ocean for more than two hours, then crashing, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

US-Afghanistan-Helicopter-Crash (Will update)

A Black Hawk helicopter crashed Thursday in southern Afghanistan, likely killing all four of its crew members -- all of them Americans -- a U.S. military official said.

US-Secret-Service (Will update)

More Secret Service resignations are expected soon in the wake of an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee told CNN.

POL-Nugent-Secret-Service (Will update)

Ted Nugent, the rocker whose comments about President Barack Obama have come under scrutiny, was interviewed by agents with the Secret Service Thursday, according to a statement from the entertainer.

Venezuela-Ex-Judge

Venezuela's judges make decisions based on instructions from President Hugo Chavez's government rather than the rule of law, a former top justice who fled the country said. Eladio Aponte Aponte, who was a Supreme Court justice until the Venezuelan government accused him of connections with an alleged drug trafficker last month, described what he said is a corrupt justice system in which Chavez and other top officials influence rulings, pushing judges to convict political prisoners or overlook certain allegations.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

The international sense of urgency over the Syrian crisis grew on Thursday, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for an arms embargo and other tough U.N. Security Council steps against the Bashar al-Assad regime.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

The international sense of urgency over the Syrian crisis grew on Thursday, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for an arms embargo and other tough U.N. Security Council steps against the Bashar al-Assad regime.

POL-US-Syria-Diplomacy

The United States military is continuing to plan for various military options for Syria, but U.S. and international diplomatic efforts will remain the primary effort to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government to step aside, the top Pentagon leadership told a congressional panel on Thursday.

US-Afghanistan-Helicopter-Crash

A Black Hawk helicopter crashed Thursday in southern Afghanistan, likely killing all four of its crew members -- all of them Americans -- a U.S. military official said.

US-Obama-Holocaust-Remembrance

President Barack Obama released a statement on Thursday honoring the Jewish day of remembrance Yom HaShoah. Hebrew for "destruction," the word "shoah" is often used in reference to the Holocaust, and Yom HaShoah is the day on the Jewish calendar commemorating the 6 million Jews who died at the hands of Nazi Germany.

Afghanistan-Troops-Photos

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned photos of U.S. soldiers posing with bodies of suspected insurgents as he called Thursday for "an accelerated and full transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces."

Libya-Saif-Gadhafi-Trial

Libyan prosecutors have gathered "great evidence" against the son of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday, re-opening the controversial question of where Saif al-Islam Gadhafi will be tried.

Yemen-US-Strikes

The increased pace of counterterrorism strikes in Yemen by U.S. drones and aircraft is a result of what U.S. military and intelligence officials describe as improved intelligence about the leadership of the al Qaeda movement in that country.

UK-Girl-Shot-Sentencing

Three men convicted in a London gang shooting that left a little girl paralyzed were sentenced to life in prison Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said.

UK-Hacking-Arrests

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch will appear next week before the independent British inquiry into journalistic ethics prompted by phone hacking at his defunct News of the World tabloid, the investigators said Thursday.

Norway-Breivik-Trial

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, was trying to kill the prime minister and other government ministers by bombing a building in Oslo, he testified Thursday.

Sudans-Conflict

The Sudanese president on Thursday vowed to "never give up" a disputed oil-rich region that has escalated tensions with South Sudan and sparked fears of the two neighbors' return to war.

Iraq-Violence

A series of explosions rocked Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least 31 people and leaving more than 50 others injured, Iraq's interior ministry said.

South-Korea-China-Fisherman

A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced the captain of a Chinese fishing boat to 30 years in prison for killing a South Korean coast guard commando during a confrontation in the Yellow Sea.

Venezuela-Ex-Judge

Venezuela's judges make decisions based on instructions from the country's government rather than the rule of law, a former top justice who fled the South American nation said.

India-Missile

India said Thursday that it had successfully carried out the maiden test flight of its longest-range nuclear-capable missile, which can apparently travel more than 5,000 kilometers.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family

Pakistan says it is liaising with the governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia before it decides when to deport several of Osama bin Laden's family members of back to their homelands. The court-ordered detention of the three widows and two daughters of the terrorist mastermind ended Tuesday night.

Bahrain-Unrest

Bahrain authorities arrested demonstrators Wednesday as they tried to "disrupt public and private interests" ahead of this weekend's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, state media reported.

SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-India-bomb

Two members of Force India's Formula One team have left Bahrain after a petrol bomb was thrown at one of the marque's cars during an anti-government protest.

China-Mongolians-Culture

Ethnic Mongolians in China are concerned about cultural threat.

MONEY-Beef-Trade-India

The growing beef trade has hit India's sacred cow.

MONEY-Argentina-Energy-Takeover

Argentina's government announced a brazen takeover of the country's largest energy company this week, potentially quashing a domestic shale gas boom.

MONEY-Ecb-Euro-Financing

The European Central Bank pulled out all the stops to prevent a credit crunch by providing banks with (EURO)1 trillion in ultra-low cost financing.

MONEY-Spanish-Bond-Auction

Spain's bond auction met with decent demand on Thursday, but failed to keep yields in check or to inspire the global financial markets.

SPORT-Football-Europa-Atletico-Sporting

Two goals from Colombian striker Falcao put Atletico Madrid in the driving seat as they defeated fellow Spanish side Valencia 4-2 in the first leg of their Europa League semifinal.

SPORT-Golf-Guan-China-Open

He became the youngest player in European Tour golf history after teeing off at the China Open and Guan Tian-Lang's record-breaking round was below par -- but not in a good way.

SPORT-football-morosini-funeral-italy

Thousands of mourners descended on a suburban church in northern Italy on Thursday for the funeral of footballer Piermario Morosini, who died after collapsing on the pitch last week.

U.S.A.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Florida authorities have picked 17 people to tackle a heated question brought on by the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin: whether the state's "stand your ground law" should be changed.

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation

More than three decades after a 6-year-old boy disappeared on his way to a bus stop in New York City, police and federal investigators relaunched their search for him Thursday, scouring the basement of a commercial building in Lower Manhattan. It is a largely unexplained development in a milestone case that helped draw the plight of missing children into the national consciousness.

New-York-Terror-Trial

A confessed terror plotter calmly told a jury how he acquired the ingredients to make bombs he and his co-conspirators hoped would blast through New York subway trains during rush hour.

New-York-Emergency-Landing

A Delta Air Lines flight made an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Thursday afternoon after encountering an engine problem -- possibly because of a bird strike -- shortly after takeoff, a Delta spokesman said.

North-Carolina-Soldier

Police seeking a missing Fort Bragg soldier Thursday concluded their search of a pond northeast of Fayetteville, North Carolina, saying no new leads were developed from the effort.

Washington-Powell-Case

A letter of reprimand was sent to the 911 operator who handled the emergency call from a social worker seeking help as Josh Powell killed his sons and himself in his Graham, Washington, home in February.

Texas-Cockfight-Shooting

Gunmen opened fire at an illegal cockfighting ring in southern Texas early Thursday morning, killing three people and wounding at least eight, the Hidalgo County sheriff's office told CNN.

Oregon-Airport-Naked-Protest

John Brennan says he did not go to the Portland International Airport intending to get naked. But after feeling harassed by airport screeners Tuesday, the 50-year-old Portland, Oregon, man stripped off his clothes in a protest that brought him even more attention from airport authorities, national headlines and a short stint in jail.

California-Marine-Wife-Dead

A body found Tuesday in California is that of Brittany Killgore, the missing wife of a deployed Marine, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday.

US-Secret-Service

More Secret Service resignations are expected Thursday or Friday in the wake of an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee told CNN.

US-Secret-Service-Sullivan

"Worthy of trust and confidence" is the motto of the almost 150-year-old U.S. Secret Service, and Director Mark Sullivan now faces the dual task of proving it true and keeping his job. Sullivan, a Secret Service veteran for almost three decades who was sworn in as director on May 31, 2006, is the focus of demands by the White House and Congress -- and a perplexed American public -- to figure out exactly what happened.

US-Terrorism-Women

Women are increasingly being used to carry out terrorist attacks and raise money to support terrorist actions, but on the flip side, more policy makers are waking up to the fact that women can also be an extremely effective tool in combating the spread of terrorism.

US-Gulf-Aircraft-Search

A small plane with an unresponsive pilot crashed in the central Gulf of Mexico Thursday after circling above the ocean for several hours, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

US-Bieber-Imposter-Sex-Abuse

A Canadian man has been arrested, accused of coercing a 12-year-old girl to perform sex acts online by pretending to be pop star Justin Bieber.

SPORT-Pat-Summitt-Award

Former University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt got some unexpected news just before meeting with the media to discuss her retirement Thursday. President Barack Obama announced that she will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award handed out by the government.

MED-Health-Insurance-Gap

The fate of health care reform legislation is still up in the air, resting with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the law's constitutionality in late June. But today's news about health insurance isn't about the justices; it's about the people who had gaps in coverage in 2011. The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of U.S. Adults found that 26% of Americans had a hole in their health insurance coverage in 2011. That would equate to about 48 million people who were uninsured at some point during the year, the Commonwealth Fund said.

MED-measles-cases-rise

Back in 2000 measles was eliminated from the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But now a new CDC study tells us there were 17 outbreaks and 222 cases of the highly infectious disease reported in 2011.

MONEY-Short-Sale-Rise

Short sales are rising sharply, offering many struggling homeowners a better alternative to foreclosure in many of the nation's hardest hit states. In short sale deals, the sale price of the home is less than what the seller owes. Often, the bank that holds the mortgage takes so long to approve the sale that the deal falls through. But in recent months, the pace of short sales has increased, a trend that should gain momentum, according to RealtyTrac.

MONEY-Stocks

Stocks finished lower Thursday, as a trifecta of downbeat U.S. economic reports overshadowed encouraging signs out of corporate America and Europe.

MONEY-Microsoft-Earnings

Microsoft's sales growth for Xbox and Kinect slowed sharply last quarter, but other sectors like Windows helped the company post earnings that beat analysts' estimates.

MONEY-Splunk-Tumi-Ipo

Shares of software firm Splunk and luggage-maker Tumi shot up Thursday in their first day of trading, continuing the recent run of successful IPOs.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Energy

Shares of Chesapeake Energy remained under pressure Thursday, a day after Reuters reported that the company's chief executive has been taking out personal loans to finance stakes in the company's wells, and using those same stakes as collateral for additional loans.

MONEY-Morgan-Stanley-Earnings

Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected quarterly results Thursday helped by a steep run up in its stock and bond trading activity.

MONEY-Sprint-Tax-Fraud-Lawsuit

New York's attorney general filed a tax fraud lawsuit against Sprint Nextel on Thursday, accusing the wireless carrier of intentionally underpaying sales tax in the state for seven years.

MONEY-Ceo-Pay

Chief executives at some of the nation's largest companies earned an average of $12.9 million in total pay last year -- 380 times more than a typical American worker, according to the AFL-CIO.

MONEY-Credit-Cards-Bad-Credit

Credit card issuers are ramping up lending to consumers with poor credit. But borrowers beware: The terms aren't always going to be good.

MONEY-Short-Sales

The Federal Housing Finance Agency laid out new rules aimed at speeding up the short sale process, a move that could keep many homes from falling into foreclosure.

MONEY-Home-Sales

The housing market continued to struggle in March, with sales of existing homes falling 2.6% compared with a month earlier, according to an industry report issued Thursday.

MONEY-Gas-Prices-AAA

The price of an average gallon of regular gasoline dropped below $3.90 on Thursday.

MONEY-Economists-Recovery

The recovery is still chugging along at a sluggish pace, and unfortunately, it looks like it may stay that way for a while.

MONEY-Jobless-Claims

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits last week fell slightly, but was still much higher than expected.

MONEY-Women-Jobs

More jobless Americans are finding work these days, but they are mainly lucky fellas.

POL-House-Tax-Vote

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed a $46 billion small business tax cut bill -- an election year measure that has virtually no chance of clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate or surviving a presidential veto.

POL-Keystone-Pipeline

A proposed new route through Nebraska for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline will require six to nine months of review under the normal process conducted by state and federal officials, a Nebraska official said Thursday.

POL-Nugent-Secret-Service

Ted Nugent, the rocker whose comments about President Barack Obama have come under scrutiny, was interviewed by agents with the Secret Service Thursday, according to a statement from the entertainer.

POL-US-Senators-Kony

On the eve of a day of action aimed at an African militia leader, a bipartisan group of senators is inviting Americans to sign on as co-sponsors of legislation condemning Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Arizona-RNC-Gathering

Not too long ago, it appeared this week's meeting of the Republican National Committee in Arizona might be consumed with squabbles. Instead, it's looking more and more like a Mitt Romney pep rally in the making.

POL-NBC-Poll-Romney

A new national poll offers more evidence that now Mitt Romney's pretty much wrapped up the race for Republican nomination, public opinion of GOP presidential candidate is on the rise. But Romney still lags behind President Barack Obama. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, 33% see Romney positively, with 36% viewing the former Massachusetts governor in a negative light. That's better than Romney rated the NBC/WSJ March poll, when he had a 28% positive rating and a 39% negative rating.

POL-Romney-Ohio-Endorsements

Mitt Romney on Thursday announced the endorsement of Ohio governor John Kasich and the state's lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor.

POL-Rubio-VP-Immigration

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida put his foot down once again Thursday, firmly denying he would accept an offer from Mitt Romney to join the GOP ticket and floated another name for the spot instead.

POL-Romney-Obama-Response

Mitt Romney on Thursday responded to President Barack Obama's "silver spoon" comment by highlighting his father's rags to riches storyline.

POL-Romney-Obama-Ohio

Visiting a closed Ohio drywall factory Thursday, Mitt Romney seized on the plant's years-long shuttering to hammer home the point spelled out on a banner hanging over his head: "Obama Isn't Working."

POL-Obama-Clooney-Fundraiser

For those who have always dreamed of an evening with George Clooney, the president may have the hook up - that is, if you donate to his campaign. President Barack Obama's re-election team is offering a chance for two supporters to attend a fundraiser with the president and Clooney at the actor's pad in Los Angeles.

POL-DSCC-Fundraising

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee brought in nearly $18 million in the first quarter of 2012, marking the fundraising arm's most successful quarter, according to the group.

POL-NRSC-Fundraising

The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $5.76 million in March, bringing its first quarter haul to $15 million, the group announced Thursday.

POL-Hatch-Utah-Senate

Two years after Republican Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah was defeated in his bid for renomination at the GOP's state convention, Sen. Orrin Hatch faces the same test.

FEATURES

ENT-Obit-Levon-Helm

Levon Helm, the drummer, multi-instrumentalist and singer for The Band who kept the band's heart for more than three decades, died "peacefully" Thursday afternoon, according to his record label, Vanguard Records. He was 71.

ENT-Desperate-Housewives-Retrial

Actress Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination lawsuit against the studio that produces "Desperate Housewives" will be retried in September, a Los Angeles judge ordered this week.

ENT-Dick-Clark-Death

He was one of the most recognizable and influential voices in rock n' roll, and he never sang a note. So in the wake of Dick Clark's death, Americans of all stripes -- including music icons -- shared memories throughout the night and into Thursday.

ENT-dick-clark-business-influence-legacy

Dick Clark was a businessman first, an entertainment talent second, producing more than 7,000 hours of TV programming.

ENT-Kevin-Hart-Interview

Do not try and tell Kevin Hart that he's a scene-stealer in his new film, "Think Like A Man." Despite the many ribald, laugh-out-loud moments his character has in the movie - which is based on the best-selling relationship guide for women by "Family Feud" host Steve Harvey - Hart insists it was a collaborative effort.

ENT-Murphy-Brown-Throwback

Ten years, 247 episodes and 93 assistants later, "Murphy Brown" remains beloved to this day. At last weekend's TV Land Awards, which will air on April 29, the series received the coveted Impact Award.

ENT-Kardashian-Mayoral-Run

Don't print up the official stationary yet, but reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian has designs on political office. More specifically, she'd like to be the mayor of Glendale, California.

War-Digital-Media

The unfiltered nature of new media in the 21st century war has created a string of controversies for the U.S. military all the way up to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

TECH-Games-Violence-Norway-React

Norway's alleged mass killer testified on Thursday that he played video games as a way to train for a shooting spree that killed 77 people last summer. In particular, Anders Behring Breivik said at his trial that he played "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" as a means of shooting practice, according to CNN's report. Bloggers, columnists are quick to say violent video games don't induce violent behavior, however.

FEA-cnnheroes-lecroy-robinson-peete

For the last decade, Carolyn LeCroy has been helping children stay connected to their incarcerated parents through video messages. LeCroy was honored as a CNN Hero in 2008, and has since expanded her Messages Project to prisons in five states.

FEA-steampunk-festival

Where past meets present meets future: My weekend with the steampunks

FEA-ireport-prom-photos

Cecelia Owens just couldn't bear to get rid of the photo of her and the young man whose heart she broke a few months after junior prom. She kept their prom picture in a box in a closet and rarely looked at it. She disliked her date's "horrible" suit and the fact that the photographer made her look "like a china doll," as she sat while he stood. Still, she couldn't part with the young man in that ugly suit. "Several times over the years, I moved and packed up and ran across the picture and thought 'I can't get rid of it,'" said Owens, 47. "I thought maybe I'll see him again one day and we can share that memory." Corsages and tokens from prom night eventually fade, but images are indelible snapshots of the way we were, one of the few keepsakes mostly unchanged in generations. In an era when the average prom night costs north of $1,000 and dress codes complicate the perfect outfit, the power of the prom photo remains timeless. Beyond projecting personal style, they reflect socioeconomic and cultural values from an American rite of passage, documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark said.

US-time-100-undocumented-latina

This week Time Magazine released its 100 Most Influential People in the World list. Among the presidents, CEOs and entertainers was a 27-year-old activist and undocumented Latina, Dulce Matuz. Matuz has become a public face of undocumented students. She organizes protests and has been arrested. CNN.com profiled Matuz last year as part of its coverage leading up to the documentary "Don't Fail Me: Education In America."

US-Education-The-new-graduation-rates

The District of Columbia's 2011 high school graduation rate is down 20 percentage points from 2010. Utah's rate dropped from 90% in 2010 to 75% in 2011 - 15 percentage points. And Georgia's 2011 rate dropped 13 points from the year before. These significant drops aren't because of performance. It's all in the math. States are changing the way they figure out graduation rates.

US-gorilla-heart-mystery

"Good. Hold," said great ape keeper Amanda Bania to the 200-pound gorilla Kojo as she held what looked like a computer mouse to his back. The western lowland gorilla leaned his back against his cage at the National Zoo in Washington while being hand fed grapes by zookeeper Elliot Rosenthal.

MONEY-corruption-africa-technology

Students asked to fork out thousands of Kenyan shillings for a bursary; drivers pushed to pay police officers for traffic offences; people asked to shell out large sums to speed up the process of getting a new passport or making a land transfer. These are just some of the most common reports of bribery that can be found in ipaidabribe.or.ke, a recently-launched website dedicated to battling rampant public corruption in Kenya and uncovering its economic impact.

SPORT-Tennis-Titanic-Survivors-Olympics

When one of the Titanic's four giant funnels collapsed, Dick Williams saw his father Charles killed in front of him. Grief stricken but with his survival instinct still intact, the 21-year-old dived into the icy waters of the Atlantic to take his chances and swim for his life.

TRAVEL-zulu-kingdom-travel-guide

Spread across a 600-kilometer stretch of South Africa's east coast, the former Zulu Kingdom boasts one of sub-Saharan Africa's most eclectic blends of wildlife, history and culture. Largely contained today within the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the Kingdom's historical borders offer the adventure-minded traveler everything from traditional Zulu ceremonies to spectacular safaris, and a remarkably diverse array of scenic beauty. Here is CNN's guide to exploring this unique region.

MED-feeding-tube-diet

A doctor says his diet involves inserting a feeding tube into a patient's nose into the stomach. A bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, describes this diet as "stupid" and "outrageous."

COMMENTARY-daschle-elect

Nathan Daschle says Americans have long had two choices: Democrat or Republican. But he says Americans Elect allows them to pick a third presidential ticket in online "convention."

COMMENTARY-Preston-Holocaust-Legacy

A Holocaust saga: From the sewers to a garden.

COMMENTARY-Kilian-oil-speculation

High gas prices are likely to stay.

COMMENTARY-navarrette-latino

Latino, Hispanic labels don't matter; issues do.

COMMENTARY-France-Election-Social

French candidates bank on social media.


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



127 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Contra Costa Times (California)


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Letters to the Editor


BYLINE: Times Herald


SECTION: MY TOWN; Alameda; News; Local


LENGTH: 1143 words


Want birth control? Buy it yourself

From a letter you published on April 6: "Don't like contraception? Don't use it. Don't like abortion? Don't have one." OK, but don't make me pay for your use of it.

I believe President Barack Obama is wrong to require Catholics to pay for your use of those services. According to its statements, the Catholic Church objects to Obama's mandate forcing it to pay for health insurance coverage that includes contraception, abortion-causing drugs and sterilizations.

"Keep your religious beliefs between your church and yourself." I'm sorry, but that statement is silly. If the religious beliefs of Catholics don't impact how they spend their money, then those beliefs don't really exist. If the church believes that messing up a normally functioning human reproductive system with drugs is wrong, then that belief darn well better affect how the church spends its money. And that includes how money is spent on health insurance.

David Hipple

Livermore

Birth control uproar just a smoke-screen

Who should pay the cost ($9 per month at Target and Walmart in the D.C. area) for birth control pills? That issue apparently has risen to the same level of importance (or higher) as immigration reform, clean energy, the debt ceiling, Afghanistan, etc., in light of the attention it has been given recently by some members of Congress and the president.

Common sense says that this should be an item for the individual budget, cheaper than a month's supply of coffee from Starbucks and bottled water from Safeway. Instead, it appears to have a politically contrived "war on women" issue. Disgusting! At least Rush Limbaugh had the decency to apologize for the equally disgusting remarks about a Georgetown Law School student's testimony at a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing that someone else should pay for her and her fellow cash-strapped students' laudable desires to have birth-control sex. Free condoms? Not a politically useful issue!

Walter D. Harvey

Livermore

ObamaCare critics just don't like president

This is an open opinion to all those who are against ObamaCare.

Those opposed have not done their homework. We pay for the uninsured no matter which way we go. If ObamaCare is ruled "unconstitutional" and overturned, we are still paying and have been for years for all those who have no insurance. In order for a hospital to operate and receive its license from the state, it must agree to the attorney general to support and care for all uninsured citizens (legal or illegal) coming through their doors. Therefore, our taxes have been paying for the uninsured all along -- so what is the issue? This seems to me not to be a health care issue but an underlying dislike for our president.

Patricia Sweeney

Pleasanton

Romney, not Obama, to lose Nov. 6 election

A letter writer from Lafayette says "bet the ranch" our next presidential election will be a "blowout."

He wants to blame President Barack Obama for the United States' setbacks now under way and says Obama is playing the race card. Well, I say Mitt Romney is trying to buy the election just like Meg Whitman tried here in California, and it will backfire. The real racists are Rush Limbaugh and others like him, who have been attacking Obama since he took office. Yes, I am white.

Dwaine Johnson

Livermore

For-profit health care is simply wrong

Americans claim we have the best health care delivery system on the planet.

That may be true if you have a team of lawyers watching your back but, in our country, medicine is guided by the profit motive. We cannot be sure whether our doctors prescribe medications because they are good or because they get perks from pharmaceutical reps. Is your doctor prescribing surgery because you truly need it or because he has to quickly fill that surgery room he's already rented when someone else canceled? This happened to me; I was responding to another treatment and they convinced me through heavy pitching on the phone to have surgery before I had time to think about it. Now, I truly am much worse.

Our health care system is riddled with profit-motive traps. You can never truly be certain whether care is given for your good or to line their pockets with loot. And this is really, really scary. As I reflect on my history, every serious health care problem I have began as a result of a doctor maximizing his profits.

As I listen to the squabbles over government-sponsored health care, I have to ask myself how we got so stupid that we didn't, like other intelligent nations, institute single-payer health care for all to protect our citizens from those who are blinded by the profit motive. Profit in medicine is deadly; whether it's from them denying care or whether it's from prescribing care for the wrong reasons.

Paulette Kenyon

Pleasanton

Lab should work on alternative energy solutions

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is known to many Livermore neighbors as a developer of green technology. The lab does some great work researching energy efficiency and developing renewables but not enough.

As a Livermore resident, I would like to see the lab do more with its vast resources. For the lab's 2013 budget, Energy Department officials requested more than $1.1 billion. A staggering 87.7 percent ($987 million) of that budget is to be allocated toward nuclear-weapon activities, while a paltry 0.58 percent ($6.6 million) is designated for renewable energy research.

Channeling more of the Livermore Lab's vast resources toward promoting cleaner, safer and cheaper sources of energy could pave the way for true, long-term energy independence. Part of the Livermore Lab's mission concerns "enhancing the energy and environmental security of the nation." Allocating more money toward that goal would be an investment in the right direction.

Lee Torres

Livermore

Clarifying Buffett Rule for those not clued in

Let's cut out the misleading statements on the Buffet Rule.

Dividends paid by Berkshire Hathaway are not deductible, so have already been taxed, according to Forbes, at 29 percent. When Warren Buffett receives them, he is taxed at 15 percent because the money was already taxed once. Politicians passed that law and many benefit from it.

By the way, when Washington wants to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year, do lawmakers hope you won't notice the Speaker of the House makes $223,500? Or that rank-and-file senators make $173,000, plus perks?

Can you say "led down the garden path"?

Robert C. Olson, CFP

Pleasanton

Business as usual makes sad news indeed

Here's a news item in the Tri-Valley Times on April 11 buried on page A-9 just above the "Sex For Life" ad: "AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban suicide attackers kill at least 16 people."

Stay tuned for more news about the mass protests, rioting and revenge killings spreading across the country of Afghanistan in response to these killings.

Chip Ungermann

Livermore


LOAD-DATE: October 30, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved



128 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CQ Federal Department and Agency Documents
REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE DATA


April 19, 2012 Thursday


INTERVIEW WITH WOLF BLITZER OF CNN


LENGTH: 4039 words


CONTACT: 202-647-2492

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for joining us.

SECRETARY CLINTON: We're glad to be here with you.

QUESTION: Let's talk about Afghanistan briefly - $2 billion a week in U.S. taxpayer dollars being spent to maintain that troop level, the assistance to the Afghan people. Is this money well spent right now, $100 billion a year for another two-and-a-half years?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first of all, Wolf, we are in a transition, and as we transition, the Afghan security forces are stepping up to protect their own people. And as we saw over the weekend with those deplorable attacks, luckily they were not successful. And that was because the Afghan security forces, which our soldiers and others of the NATO-ISAF alliance have been training and mentoring. So I think that if you look, as we do, at the progress that has been made on the security side but also in other indicators - health and education and the economy - there is definite progress. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but we are on the way to fulfilling the commitment that President Obama made about moving toward the 2014 deadline for the end of combat operations.

QUESTION: So this is money well spent, hundreds of billions of additional dollars? Is that what you're saying?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I think you can certainly find fault with any kind of war, and this has been a war. You can go back and look at any of the wars that the United States has fought. But if you consider why we're there and the fact that, thank goodness, we've not been attacked again since 9/11, and we have dismantled al-Qaida thanks to a lot of great work when Leon was at the CIA before going to the Defense Department, I think there's no doubt that America is more secure, Afghanistan is more secure, but we're not resting on our laurels. We're looking forward to what kind of relationship we all will have, NATO and the United States, after 2014 to help Afghanistan continue on this path.

QUESTION: You trust Afghan President, Mr. Secretary, Hamid Karzai?

SECRETARY PANETTA: He is the leader of Afghanistan.

QUESTION: Do you trust him?

SECRETARY PANETTA: (Inaudible.) I mean, I've sat down with him. I talk with him. We talk very frankly with each other. And he is the leader and he is the person we have to deal with.

QUESTION: Does that mean you trust him, though?

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, I mean, certainly you trust the leaders that you have to deal with, but you always kind of watch your back at the same time.

QUESTION: That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of the leader of Afghanistan.

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, it's true for any leader we deal with.

QUESTION: This one has said awful things about the United States.

SECRETARY PANETTA: No, I understand. And obviously, that's been a concern. But at the same time, we have had the ability to directly relate to him when it comes to some of the major issues that we've had to --

QUESTION: When you served in Congress, you were on the budget committee, as I well remember. Hundred billion dollars, you know what that kind of money can spend in the United States during these tough economic times, and the American public is increasingly frustrated when they see this money is being spent in Afghanistan rather than in the United States.

SECRETARY PANETTA: I understand what you're saying, Wolf, but you know what? The whole purpose of this is to protect the American people. That's what this war is about.

QUESTION: But bin Ladin is dead.

SECRETARY PANETTA: I know, but the reality is that the attack on the United States on 9/11 was planned from where? It was planned from Afghanistan. And our mission there is to make sure that we have an Afghanistan that can secure and govern itself and it never again can become a safe haven for terrorists who would plan attacks on our country. That's what this war is all about.

QUESTION: But you know that U.S. intelligence officials have told Congress there are more al-Qaida operatives in Somalia right now than in Afghanistan.

SECRETARY PANETTA: The danger is this, that if we don't succeed in Afghanistan, then there is the real probability that the Taliban will come back, establish the same kind of safe havens that they have in the past. And who will be the first people to take advantage of it? Al-Qaida. That's what we have to protect against.

QUESTION: Are we asking too much of these American troops who spend three, four, five tours of duty? And now these reports - posing once again with dead bodies of Taliban fighters, urinating on dead bodies, burning Qu'rans. One American soldier starts killing 17 Afghan civilians, including children. Is the stress too much to bear right now on these troops?

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, there's - look, there's no question we've been 10 years at war. And obviously, 10 years of war takes a toll on people and families. But the reality is that the vast majority of our men and women in uniform have performed according to the highest standards that we expect of them. And for every one incident that we sometimes read about and the kind of atrocious behavior that we all condemn, there are a hundred incidents where our people have helped Afghans or they have performed courageously in battle.

So I've been there a number of times, as has the Secretary. I've got to tell you that I am always impressed by the quality of our people that are fighting the battle on behalf of the United States.

QUESTION: Let's talk about Iran. As you know, these talks with the Iranians are continuing. Another meeting is scheduled for May 23rd. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, says - and I'm quoting now, when he heard about the - there'll be another round on May 23rd, he said, "My initial impression is that Iran has been given a freebie." A freebie.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think that is not accurate because what came out of the first meeting was a commitment to a second meeting with a work plan between the two meetings. We are really getting down to testing whether or not there is a willingness on the part of the Iranians to reach some kind of negotiated resolution --

QUESTION: Are you encouraged by the first round?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I believe that the first round was positive because, from our assessment, after having no contact for 15 months, the Iranians came back to the table at a time when sanctions are really continuing to put a lot of pressure on the Iranian Government and are willing to talk about their nuclear program, which is an important, positive step.

Now we have a long way to go, and this has got to be very clearly laid out as to what the international community expects, what is acceptable, of course, to the United States since we are at the table with the P-5+1. But there is a chance - and I don't want to oversell it - that between now and the second meeting, we will hammer out what the international community, represented by the so-called P-5+1, requires of Iran and what Iran is willing to do.

QUESTION: And if they do take these measures, will you encourage the alliance to slow down on these economic sanctions?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I can't answer that because it's so hypothetical right now. I believe in very clear action for action. We have to see what the Iranians are willing to do, then we have to make sure they do it, and then we have to reciprocate. That's what a negotiation is all about. And right now, we are still in the testing stage.

QUESTION: If they don't do what you want them to do, the Iranians, are you - and you're the Defense Secretary - ready to use military force to destroy their nuclear capabilities?

SECRETARY PANETTA: As the President has pointed out, and as I've pointed out, we are prepared with all options on the table if we have to respond.

QUESTION: And is there a plan in place? Because I know the Pentagon; I used to cover the Pentagon. There are always contingency plans for everything. Do you have a specific contingency plan to do that?

SECRETARY PANETTA: One of the things I found out as Secretary of Defense is we do one hell of a lot of planning on everything.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.)

SECRETARY PANETTA: So I can assure you that there are plans to deal with -

QUESTION: And if you have to do it, will it succeed? Are you convinced it would succeed?

SECRETARY PANETTA: I don't think there's any question that if we have to implement that plan, it will be successful.

QUESTION: On Syria, is President Bashar al-Assad, according to your opinion, Madam Secretary, a war criminal?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I'm not going to get into the labeling, Wolf, because what I'm doing now is trying to see whether or not he is going to implement Kofi Annan's plan. And I don't think it's useful to do anything other than focus on the six points of the plan. Right now, it doesn't appear, once again, that he is going to follow through on what he has pledged to the international community he will do.

We are still working to see about getting monitors in to be able to have an independent source of information coming out to the Security Council. I will be going to Paris tomorrow afternoon to meet with like-minded nations at an ad hoc meeting to take stock of where we are. But it was significant that the Security Council endorsed Kofi Annan's six-point plan, the Syrian Government said they would abide by it, and yet we still see shelling going on in Homs and Idlib and other places.

QUESTION: Are these crimes against humanity?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I think what we want to do is begin an accountability project to gather evidence. We really don't want to be labeling what we see, which are clearly disproportionate use of force, human rights abuses, absolutely merciless shelling with heavy weaponry into unarmed civilian areas, even shelling across borders now into Turkey and Lebanon, as happened last week. We're interested in stopping the behavior, but at the same time we do want to see evidence collected so that there could be in the future accountability for these actions.

QUESTION: It sounds like the answer is yes. You do believe these are crimes.

SECRETARY CLINTON: No, I don't want you to put words - don't put words in my mouth. We're not making those kinds of charges or claims. Our goal right now is if the Assad regime were to say okay, we agree we're going to everything that Kofi Annan asks us to do, that would be our focus, not some future maybe unlikely outcome in terms of criminal accountability. What I'm interested in is let's stop the violence; let's start the political transition.

QUESTION: Senator McCain says the U.S. should take the military lead in arming the rebels, maybe even going forward with a no-fly zone. Here's the question. We're at NATO headquarters, Mr. Secretary. Is NATO impotent in Syria right now?

SECRETARY PANETTA: I don't think so. I think that NATO, frankly, has shown that it can take on the challenges.

QUESTION: In Libya, it did. But in Syria, it's not doing anything.

SECRETARY PANETTA: And it did a great job. And it shows that when the international community comes together and decides to take action, that we can take action that achieves the result --

QUESTION: The argument is that Libya -

SECRETARY PANETTA: In this situation, the international community, Wolf, has not made that decision.

QUESTION: If it does, would NATO take action?

SECRETARY PANETTA: If the international community makes the decision that we have to take further steps, we'll be prepared to do that.

QUESTION: A no-fly zone, arming the rebels, all of that?

SECRETARY PANETTA: I mean, obviously, that'll - that would have to be discussed as part of what our plan is required in order to achieve the mission --

QUESTION: Any chance China and Russia will go forward with what they did in Libya and allow such a resolution to go forward at the UN Security Council?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, right now that's a longshot. There doesn't seem to be any willingness on their part to go further than where we are right now. But this is a fast-changing situation. And countries have a lot of relationships. We know that there are relationships, certainly, with Syria. There are also relationships with Turkey, there are relationships with the Gulf, there are relationships with European countries - all of whom are very worried about what will happen if Syria either/or both descends into civil war or causes a larger regional conflict.

So I don't think we are even - I don't think we're halfway through this story yet, Wolf. We're going to see a lot happen over the next few weeks. And it truly is up to the Assad regime. They're the ones who hold it in their power to end the violence and begin the political transition.

QUESTION: How much time do they have?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I mean, they're running out of time because they've made so many promises which they've never kept. So their credibility, even with those countries that support them --

QUESTION: Like Russia and China?

SECRETARY CLINTON: -- like Russia and China, is beginning to fray.

QUESTION: North Korea. Mitt Romney says the Obama Administration's, in his words, "incompetence" emboldened the North Korean regime and undermined the security of the United States and its allies. Do you want to respond to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee?

SECRETARY PANETTA: No, not necessarily. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Well, he makes a serious charge: incompetence.

SECRETARY PANETTA: No, I think it's pretty clear that this Administration took a firm stand with regards to the provocative behavior that North Korea engaged in. We made clear that they should not do it. We condemned that action. Even though it was not successful and it was a failure, the fact is it was provocative. And we have made very clear to them that they should not take any additional provocative actions. I think that was a clear, strong message that not only our country but the world said to North Korea. And that's the way, frankly, the United States ought to (inaudible).

QUESTION: If they do an underground nuclear test, for example, what would you do?

SECRETARY PANETTA: That would be, again, another provocation --

QUESTION: And what would you do?

SECRETARY PANETTA: And it would worsen our relationship. I'm not going to get into how we would respond to that, but clearly we are prepared at the Defense Department for any contingency.

QUESTION: There's still 30,000 U.S. troops along that demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

SECRETARY PANETTA: That's right.

QUESTION: A million North Korean troops, almost a million South Korean troops, nuclear arms - this is a very dangerous part of the world.

SECRETARY PANETTA: No question we're within an inch of war almost every day in that part of the world, and we just have to be very careful about what we say and what we do.

QUESTION: Does that keep you up at night more than any other issue?

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, unfortunately these days, there's a hell of lot that keeps me awake. But that's one of the ones at the top of the list.

QUESTION: What are the others?

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, obviously Iran, Syria, the whole issue of turmoil in the Middle East, the whole issue of cyber war, the whole issue of weapons of mass destruction, rising powers - I mean, all of those things are threats that the United States faces in today's world.

QUESTION: You've got a lot of issues over there. What do you think of this new young leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un? Not even 30 years old yet.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we really are waiting and watching to see whether he can be the kind of leader that the North Korean people need. I mean, if he just follows in the footsteps of his father, we don't expect much other than the kind of provocative behavior and the deep failure of the political and economic elite to take care of their own people. But he is someone who has lived outside of North Korea, apparently, from what we know. We believe that he may have some hope that the conditions in North Korea can change.

But again, we're going to watch and wait. He gave a speech the other day that was analyzed as being some of the old, same old stuff and some possible new approach. But it's too early.

QUESTION: When I was in Pyongyang in December of 2010, I was amazed that I could see CNN International in my hotel. They watch CNNI very closely. If you had a chance to speak to Kim Jung-un, even a sentence or two, what would you say to him?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I would say that as a young man with your future ahead of you, be the kind of leader that can now move North Korea into the modern world, into the 21st century; educate your people; open up your system; allow the talents of the North Korean people to be realized; move away from a failed economic system that has kept so many of your people in starvation; be the kind of leader who will be remembered for the millennia as the person who moved North Korea on a path of reform; and you have the opportunity to do that.

QUESTION: Are you ready to meet with him?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, under circumstances that don't exist today. The United States, as you know, was willing to try and reach out to him, which we did. We had several high-level meetings. We agreed to provide some food aid in return for their ending some of their uranium enrichment and missile development. And then they do what has been already termed by Leon and the rest of the world as a provocative action.

So it's hard for us to tell right now. Is this the way it will be with this new leader, or does he feel like he has to earn his own credibility in order to have a new path for North Korea? Too soon to tell.

QUESTION: The story of these military personnel in Cartagena, it's a shocking story, I know. I mean, I can only imagine when you heard about the prostitutes and Secret Service agents and U.S. military personnel, I can only imagine, Mr. Secretary, what went through your mind. But tell us what went through your mind.

SECRETARY PANETTA: Well, I don't usually use those words in public. It was very disturbing. And the reason it was disturbing is that whether it takes place in Colombia or any other country or in the United States, we expect that our people behave according to the highest standards of conduct. That obviously didn't happen here, and as a result we're investigating the matter. And as a result of that investigation, we'll hold these people accountable.

QUESTION: Diplomatic fallout for this incident? It's unfortunate, obviously.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, I don't think so much diplomatic fallout as the unfortunate fact that it certainly ate up a lot of the coverage of the summit, which was a meaningful get-together, only happens once every three years, an opportunity to showcase Colombia. Think about how much Colombia has changed. And the United States, with our Plan Colombia support, has really been at the forefront of helping Colombia emerge as a real dynamo in the region.

As Leon said, there'll be investigations both in the military and the Secret Service. I've had Secret Service protection for more than 20 years, and I've only seen the very best, the professionalism, the dedication of the men and women who have been around me and my family.

QUESTION: When we were in Cairo a year ago, I asked you a few political questions. We're in a political season, as you well know, in the United States.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Are we?

QUESTION: I don't know if you've heard about it.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah, and I don't know about these things anymore.

QUESTION: All right. Let's go through the questions that I'm sure you've been asked, but I'm going to ask them again. If the President of the United States says, "Madam Secretary, I need you on the ticket this year in order to beat Romney," are you ready to run as his vice presidential nominee?

SECRETARY CLINTON: That is not going to happen. That's like saying if the Olympic Committee calls you up and said are you ready to run the marathon, would you accept? Well, it's not going to happen.

QUESTION: I disagree.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, well --

QUESTION: I think it's - it's unlikely, I will say that.

SECRETARY CLINTON: It's more than unlikely.

QUESTION: But if he sees in July that he is going down, he doesn't want to be a one-term president.

SECRETARY CLINTON: But Leon and I are in this awkward position, because we were - we've both been in politics and now we're in two jobs that are out of politics for all the right reasons. So I don't comment on politics anymore. But I'm very confident about the outcome of this election. And as I've said many times, I think Joe Biden, who is a dear friend of ours, has served our country and served the President very well. So I'm out of politics, but I am very supportive of the team that we have in the White House going forward.

QUESTION: But you would do whatever it takes to help the President get re- elected? You don't want to see him be a one-term president, and you certainly don't want to see Romney name one or two Supreme Court justices in four years.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I could just imagine your poor mother. "Why? Why, mother? Why, mother? Why, Mother?" (Laughter.) No, honestly, it is not going to happen, so I'm not going to speculate on something that I know is not going to be happening.

QUESTION: Let's try this one. (Laugher.) I asked my Twitter followers for a question for the Secretary of State. Shelly tweeted this: "Has Hillary seen the movie The Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher, and it is time for a female president of the United States of America?" And then she writes, "My answer is yes." Is it time for a female - like you, for example - in 2016 to run for president of the United States? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me depersonalize it, take it away from me. Of course I believe it's time for a woman to be president. I was just in Brazil with the extraordinary Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, at the Summit of the Americas. We had three presidents, two prime ministers of countries in our hemisphere. We just saw a woman succeed to the presidency in Malawi. It's happening in the world, and obviously --

QUESTION: Except in the United States.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it will. I just hope I'm still around when it does. I want to mark my ballot.

QUESTION: Well, let me ask the Secretary of Defense. If she runs in 2016 --

SECRETARY CLINTON: Here it comes, here it comes. You're out of politics, remember? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: If she runs, will you support her in 2016, if she runs? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, let's not (inaudible). (Laughter.)

QUESTION: It's an easy question -

SECRETARY PANETTA: Are you kidding me? (Laughter.) You want her to run in 2016. She's a great leader. She's been a great leader and she will be a great leader in the future.

QUESTION: They really want you, and a lot of Democrats and others, they would like you to run in 2016. I just see you smiling. So you can go ahead and announce your --

SECRETARY CLINTON: Look, I am honored. That is not in the future for me. But obviously I'm hoping that I'll get to cast my vote for a woman running for president of our country.

QUESTION: Did you see those pictures of her drinking a little beer? Have you seen those, Mr. Secretary? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY PANETTA: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: Those were great pictures.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we were having a good time celebrating the birthday of one of my colleagues. And I sometimes forget that everybody is now a potential reporter or photographer, but it was a lot of fun. We had a very good time just enjoying beautiful Cartagena.

QUESTION: I love that picture of you texting at the summit. You've seen that one too, right?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, I have seen that, too. Yes, that actually was very funny, and a lot of the back and forth of the kinds of inventive dialogue was very funny. I've gotten a lot of comments about that.

QUESTION: Of course you have. Well, thank you so much to both of you for joining us. On behalf of all of our viewers in the United States and around the world, good luck to you, whatever you decide to do down the road. Mr. Secretary, you've got a lot on your agenda. Both of you have a lot on your agenda. We're all counting on you to get the job done. Thanks very much.

SECRETARY PANETTA: Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Wolf. It's great to talk to you. Appreciate it.

QUESTION: Thanks.


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The Frontrunner


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Obama Camp, GOP Intensify Battle For Hispanic Voters' Support


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 750 words


USA Today (4/19, Kucinich, 1.78M) reports that the RNC "and the Obama campaign launched dueling outreach programs this week to" woo Hispanics, "a pitch to Latino voters that's likely to continue throughout the 2012 cycle." Obama's "campaign is emphasizing the work the administration has done to expand educational programs and healthcare access" for Hispanics, while the GOP "pitch will focus on the economy and promises they say were broken by the Obama administration." The President's camp on Wednesday "released the first in a series of Spanish-language television and radio ads featuring tributes to Obama in Colorado, Nevada and Florida. The RNC announced Monday that it is placing Hispanic outreach directors in six states: Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina and Nevada."

The Washington Times (4/19, Dinan, 77K) reports, "Dream Act students rallied outside Mitt Romney's campaign speech in North Carolina on Wednesday, accusing him of forsaking Hispanic immigrants and vowing to make him pay in the November election," while the Obama camp "announced its own outreach efforts to try to shore up" the President's "support among Hispanic voters. The Obama campaign also launched its first set of Spanish-language ads, airing in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, that tout his expansion of federal funding for education. The moves are designed to try to hold on to Hispanic voters, who backed Mr. Obama 67 percent to 31 percent over John McCain in 2008, and whom the president's campaign deems critical to a repeat win this year."

The Hill (4/18, Parnes) reported on its website, "The Obama campaign on Wednesday intensified its push to appeal to Hispanic voters, launching a new outreach effort, 'Latinos for Obama,' and calling the demographic the 'deciding factor' in the 2012 presidential election." During "a conference call...Messina said the Hispanic vote will be critical to President Obama's reelection efforts. He touted Obama's support on issues that appeal to Hispanic voters, including education and healthcare, and said Obama's policies have created 1.2 million jobs in the Hispanic community so far."

Politico (4/18, Tau, 25K) reported on its website, "Campaign surrogates [for Obama] pointed to" GOP "opposition to two measures important to activists in the Hispanic community: comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a pathway to citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrations, and the narrower DREAM Act that would only deal with the children of immigrants brought to the US as minors." During the conference call, San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, "a co-chair of the Obama campaign, said...Romney's position was more 'extreme' than even congressional Republicans. 'Mitt Romney has become very, very clear over these last few months that he's on the wrong side of every single issue that's important to the Hispanic community -- whether it's healthcare, or immigration or jobs,' Castro said."

The Los Angeles Times (4/19, Memoli, 630K) reports that Obama's "campaign also addressed what they see as Romney's vulnerabilities among Latinos on other issues, including both immigration and the economy." Noting that the RNC on Monday "announced a Hispanic Outreach Program that included dispatching state directors to Florida, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and North Carolina," The Times added that Obama campaign manager Jim Messina "said he feels 'very sorry' for those organizers who he said would be struggling to explain the party's record on immigration reform, the DREAM Act and healthcare reform." Said Messina, "They're naming one person per state ... whereas we've had operations on the ground for over a year and are working every single night hitting the doors,' he said."

The Palm Beach (FL) Post (4/19, Bennett, 100K) reports that Messina "also used the word 'extreme' to describe Romney's immigration stance - echoing criticism from Romney Republican rival Newt Gingrich, who called Romney 'anti-immigrant' in a January radio ad that was pulled after Sen. Marco Rubio objected." The Post added, "Romney adviser Albert Martinez accused Obama's allies of trying to divert attention from the president's 'record of failure on the issues most important to Latinos. Hispanics have been hit especially hard as a result of three years of President Obama's record of high unemployment, soaring debt, and skyrocketing gas prices. President Obama will do everything possible to make this election about anything other than his failed record.'"


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The Frontrunner


April 19, 2012 Thursday


MA: Warren Supports Repeal Of Device Tax In Healthcare Act


SECTION: SENATE CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 407 words


The Hill (4/18, Baker) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog that Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D) "said she would support repealing part of President Obama's healthcare law." In an op-ed appearing in the trade publication Mass Device, Warren said that "Congress should repeal the health law's tax on medical devices." She said that could be done "without cutting healthcare coverage for millions of people or forcing Americans to fight the whole healthcare battle all over again." The story notes that both Sens. John Kerry and Al Franken, Democrats "from a device-industry state" have criticized the tax, but did not support Sen. Scott Brown's (R) "proposal to repeal the policy in 2010."

New York Yankees President Donates $2,500 To Brown.

In his Boston Herald (4/18, 107K) column, Joe Battenfeld wrote that Brown "may be rooting for the Red Sox against the Yankees this week, but the head of the hated Pinstripes is going to bat for Brown." New York Yankees president Randy Levine donated the maximum $2,500 to Brown's campaign last month. "We're happy to accept Randy Levine's donation," Brown campaign spokesman Colin Reed said. "The way Scott Brown looks at it is, this is their way of paying us back for Babe Ruth."

Politico (4/19, Weinger, 25K), noting Battenfield's column on Brown receiving donations from Yankees executives, adds that Brown recently "launched a radio ad about his support and love for Fenway Park, which is currently celebrating its 100-year anniversary." He also "debuted a web ad focused on Opening Day, showing himself and his wife greeting people outside the stadium." He said, "The beginning of baseball, the beginning of the new season, it's always a hopeful season. I listen to every single Red Sox game I can."

Brown Blogs About His Dogs.

Politico (4/18, Lee, 25K) reports, "With the Obama and Romney campaigns busy defending their respective candidate's bona fides as pet owners," Brown "is out to prove he's a dog's best friend with the launch of a blog about his two canine companions, Koda and Snuggles." The newest part of the Brown campaign website "features a video of the Republican freshman snuggling with his dogs, as well as pictures of rescue dogs that visit the Brown campaign office in South Boston." Brown wrote on the blog, "I've only been in the Senate for two years, but I definitely agree it's helpful having our two family pets, Koda and Snuggles, by my side whenever possible."


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The Frontrunner


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Late Night Political Humor


SECTION: LAST LAUGHS


LENGTH: 503 words


Conan O'Brien:

"President Obama is gearing up for his presidential campaign. He's created a new series of ads aimed at Latinos. The first ad boasts that 'Just last week my Secret Service created jobs for 11 Colombian women.' That's a lot of jobs."

Conan O'Brien:

"The Secret Service scandal is getting worse because ... apparently agents were also snorting cocaine. However, in the agents' defense, hotels in Columbia offer cocaine in the mini bar. If you think it's expensive on the street ?"

Conan O'Brien:

"Mitt Romney is weighing in. He said Secret Service personnel involved in the scandal should be fired for putting 'play time ahead of the nation.' So I think the real story here is that Mitt Romney describes prostitutes and cocaine as 'play time.' He's cooler than I thought."

Jon Stewart:

"Two days ago we were discussing an issue concerning the General Services Administration. Basically the facilities manager of the United States government. Their mission is to exemplify efficiency and cost-cutting, a task they felt could best be expressed by a lavish $822,000 three-day Las Vegas conference/epic [bleep] fest. Since then scandal has broadened out from one ostentatious not lost enough weekend to apparently systemic issues of corruption. So the GSA must now face one of the most feared groups in all of Washington. The House Oversight Committee, a terrible collection of people who, but for the grace of God, would probably have ended up working for an organization like the GSA."

Stephen Colbert:

"Nation, now that we conservatives are all thrilled to have no option but Mitt Romney speculation turns to who we will be forced to accept as his running mate."

Stephen Colbert:

"Maybe Romney should go with someone blander [than Sen. Portman] like a headless Joseph A. Bank mannequin or a rice cake or a heel of white bread. No, they're all too fascinating. Damn it. Who can Mitt Romney find who won't overshadow him? Wait! That's it! The perfect ticket! Romney/Romney's Shadow 2012. And the best part is it will change positions every time he does!"

Jimmy Kimmel

: "Mitt Romney is getting a lot of heat from animal lovers because of a story he told of when he put his dog Seamus in a pet carrier and strapped the carrier to the roof of his car for a 12 hour road trip. But now President Obama is the subject of a canine controversy, thanks to his own book. In Obama's memoir, called, 'Dreams from My Father,' he talked about his childhood in Indonesia living with his stepfather, Lolo, he said when he was eight years old, Lolo introduced him to a number of unusual meats, including dog. Our President ate dog."

Jimmy Kimmel:

"What I find most amazing about this is this is not something that someone dug up on him from a distant relative in Indonesia or something. This was in chapter in a book the President wrote about himself. How did we miss this? If Ryan Seacrest wrote a book saying he ate dog, we would go nuts. I guess now you are either on Team Strap Your Dog to the Roof or Team Throw Your Dog on the Hibachi."


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Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Canadian health care system isn't so bad


BYLINE: R-J Readers


SECTION: B; Pg. 6B


LENGTH: 994 words


To the editor:

I read with interest Sherman Frederick's Sunday column on ObamaCare, which he called a "bastardized Canada-lite system that eventually delivers timely care only to those who know somebody with pull in the government." Then he states, "Canadians know what I'm talking about."

I wonder what Canadians he is speaking of.

I spend every winter here in Las Vegas, love your city, your state and your country. Last year, upon my return to Calgary, I went to my family doctor on May 4 complaining about cramps, etc. She scheduled a colonoscopy for May 16 and on that day informed me that I had colon cancer. She referred me to a surgeon. After my May 24 visit with him, the operation was scheduled for May 26. I came home on May 30 and a month later was told the good news, no further treatment required.

Now I know nobody in government. I did not pay one dime for this service. I realize, of course, that my tax dollars are paying for health care, but that is OK with me - and what the government pays the doctors is also OK with me. And now that I have a "pre-existing" condition, I am still guaranteed service.

Judy McCallum

Las Vegas

Romney's choice

To the editor:

On the issue of Mitt Romney's running mate:

Mr. Romney, the probable GOP presidential nominee, might hit a home run with Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge who was elected Nevada's first-ever Hispanic governor two years ago. Gov. Sandoval has also been a former attorney general, served in the Assembly and been chairman of the Gaming Commission. The Silver State is a bellwether state.

Bill Byrnes

Dayton

Life experience

To the editor:

Terry O'Neill, president of NOW, added another insult when - in trying to clarify Hilary Rosen's recent comments - she said Ann Romney lacks the "life experience" and "imagination" needed to understand most Americans. But I believe I have an answer for those asking how the rich Romneys could possibly relate to the poor.

Mitt Romney was a Mormon bishop. Having been an active Mormon most of my 55 years, I can provide an idea of what means. It is an unpaid position, and as a bishop you are called to tend to not only the spiritual but also the temporal needs of your ward. Anyone who needs assistance with food or clothing or shelter can go to the bishop, and he can give assistance through the funds set aside for that purpose.

I have seen rents paid and utility bills paid. The money for all of this comes from the individual members through fast offerings that are given the first Sunday of each month, as members are asked to skip two meals and give the price of those meals to the ward.

The bishop of the ward often learns who needs help through the relief society president, who leads the adult women of the ward. As part of her duties to know where help may be needed, the relief society president sees that every sister in the ward is visited by someone each month. Oftentimes the wife of the bishop is called to that calling, especially back east, where the members are spread out more.

If Mrs. Romney ever served in this calling, her life experiences give her plenty of knowledge about the problems poor people can have. I think before Ms. O'Neill starts making judgments, she should do a little research. I'm not sure Mother Teresa got paid for her job, either.

bree wallis

Caliente

Equal pay

To the editor:

In response to your Sunday story, "Gender gap: Myth or reality?"

Are these men who are earning 20 percent more than women in Nevada and elsewhere also fathers? Why is it that a working father does not opt for a less highly compensated job with more flex time? Perhaps because he makes the "life choice" to leave the problem of schedule contortion to his wife with the low-paying job so he can focus on his career.

Until men can conceive and deliver babies or start to participate equally in parenting, women will not be able to "choose" jobs to which they are required to devote their undiluted energies with associated higher pay. Not until then will we see whether people are really paid what they are worth.

Those who argue against changes that would allow women economic equality are the same ones who are benefiting from the current system that promotes lower pay for women. I am surprised that this article did not mention this very real explanation for the non-mythical gender gap in pay.

Kathleen M. Maynard

Las Vegas

More money

To the editor:

Sunday's Review-Journal included a full-page ad from The Council for a Better Nevada, a group of "Southern Nevada leaders," saluting the Clark County School Board, the superintendent and the district administration.

I will give credibility to this group when it takes out another full-page ad which addresses the No. 1 problem facing education in this state. That is the lack of a funding system that will bring in enough revenue to build a strong educational system.

Nearly every ranking of expenditures per student has the state in the bottom three or four in the country. Teacher salaries are average, at best, and they still are asked to give up more. How can you expect a strong teaching staff when a valet driver can make more than twice that of a beginning teacher? Class sizes in many areas are too high to give the attention needed to all students.

When I see members of this group publicly stand up for a better-funded education system, then I will tip my hat to them. It might be hard to do because those two dreaded words - tax increase - may be necessary to do this.

Window dressing goes only so far to improve the system. You have to address the main problem.

Robert Gregorich

Henderson

THE FINAL WORD

"At the time, I remember thinking it didn't seem to be a great use of taxpayer money."

A potential juror in the retrial of former baseball star Roger Clemens (left), who is accused of misleading a House committee at a drugs-and-sports hearing in 2008. The woman was expressing her thoughts this week on the original trial, which a judge ended abruptly after prosecutors introduced inadmissible evidence.


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Marketwire


April 19, 2012 Thursday 5:00 AM GMT


CrowdFanatic Releases Today at DEMO Spring 2012 a 'Groups-Connectivity Layer' on Facebook;
The Revolutionary App Connects Facebook's Groups and Pages Directly With Each Other and Forms a New Layer of Functionality on Facebook


LENGTH: 621 words


DATELINE: SANTA CLARA, CA; Apr 19, 2012


CrowdFanatic announces today at DEMO Spring 2012 event, the release of a game changing environment on Facebook, CrowdFanatic App, the 'Groups-Connectivity Layer.' A revolutionary application which directly connects groups and pages on Facebook with each other.

Using the app, The Hunger Games fans can challenge Twilight fans, Apple aficionados can engage hard core Androiders and Romney supporters can try to convert Obama's voters to win the election.

According to CrowdFanatic, Facebook groups and pages act as isolated islands with no bridges to other groups and limited ways to promote their causes or challenge rivals. Facebook connects individuals with individuals, but misses a layer to connect groups with each other to reflect real world interactions.

No more. CrowdFanatic presents today the 'Groups Connectivity Layer' on Facebook. The gamified app enables Facebook users to engage directly two Facebook groups or pages with each other in a competitive, gamified Arena.

In that A vs B arena, supporters of two rival groups engage directly to promote their cause, initiate a democratic dialog or challenge opponents. They vote for their group, debate over relevant topics, recruit more supporters and send viral messages to promote their group -- all in order to win public debates and sway public opinion to their side.

The new environment is poised to revolutionize the way commercial brands, political movements, sports teams, celebrities and their supporters can gain public support and engage rivals.

"CrowdFanatic on Facebook is a game changer," said Matt Marshall, executive producer of DEMO. "It empowers users with the ability to fight actively for their groups and has a good potential to change the way groups use social media to promote their cause."

"Our goal is to provide a democratic arena that promotes direct dialog between rivals in a fun and entertaining way," said Yaron Bazaz, founder and CEO of CrowdFanatic. "A healthy competitive rivalry is in the heart of our culture. We believe that an environment that facilitates direct engagements of groups is an important step in the evolution of the internet and a great tool for brands and users to adopt."

To experience the CrowdFanatic app on Facebook go to https://apps.facebook.com/crowdfanaticapp (make sure to login to Facebook first).

A Video of the CrowdFanatic presentation at Demo Spring 2012 will be released at www.demo.com in the coming days.

About CrowdFanatic CrowdFanatic is the first Direct Engagement Platform -- a totally new genre of online services for groups to deliberately engage rivals in order to win public debates, initiate direct dialogue with opponents and sway public opinion. CrowdFanatic is based in Vancouver, BC and Sunnyvale, California. Join us at apps.facebook.com/crowdfanaticapp and www.crowdfanatic.com . Follow us at https://twitter.com/crowdfanatic

About DEMO Produced by the IDG Enterprise events group, the worldwide DEMO conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products innovations, which are hand selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying cutting-edge technologies and helping entrepreneurs secure venture funding and establish critical business. For more information on the DEMO conferences, visit http://www.demo.com/.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1954601

 For more information and interview opportunities please contact:

 

 Yaron Bazaz 

 Founder and CEO 

 CrowdFanatic Online Inc. 

www.crowdfanatic.com 

Email Contact 

 1-650-319-8877 

 1-778-895-2703 

 440 N. Wolfe Rd., Sunnyvale, CA 94085 

 Suite 200-52 A Powell Street Vancouver, BC V6A 1E7 

 
 

SOURCE: CrowdFanatic


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


April 19, 2012 Thursday


The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, Granite Status column


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 2563 words


April 19--QUARTERLY REPORTS. So, who's giving to whom? The quarterly reports are in, so it's a good time to take a look at the congressional races.

In the 2nd District, Democrat Ann McLane Kuster leads Republican incumbent Charlie Bass not only in overall fund-raising but also in the percentage of contributions received from individual donors, as opposed to PACs.

Kuster in the first quarter raised $348,024, with $267,290 from individuals and $80,189 from PACs. Since the 2010 election, she has raised $1.4 million, with $1.19 million coming from individuals and nearly $210,000 from PACs.

Bass raised $268,483 in the first quarter with $94,583 from individual donors and $173,900 from PACs. He's raised a total of $1.03 million since the 2010 election, with $336,714 from individuals and $691,537 from PACs.

Among the PACs making heavy contributions to Kuster are NARAL-PAC, New York Rep. Steve Israel's New York Jobs PAC, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the United Auto Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, United Steelworkers and Progressive Choices PAC.

While many of Kuster's individual donors are from New Hampshire, she did receive $1,000 from TV producer Stephen Bochco and $250 from Fox television executive Nancy Cotton.

Bass's PAC contributors included the AT&T, the Edison Electric Institute, Northeast Utilities, the National Restaurant Association, Lockheed Martin employees, the American Gas Association, Verizon, the Solar Energy Industries PAC and Boeing.

The second quarter began with Kuster having $1.03 million, and Bass, $790,416, on hand.

As expected, there has been a lot less money raised, spent and saved so far in the 1st District. Republican incumbent Frank Guinta in the first quarter raised $179,842, with $101,592 coming from individuals and $77,250 from PACs.

Since the 2010 election, Guinta has raised $962,672, with $521,417 from individuals and $441,254 from PACs.

Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter raised $101,289 in the first quarter, with $80,289 from individuals and $21,000 from PACs.

She has raised a total of $395,154 since the 2010 election, with $310,154 from individuals and $85,000 from PACs.

A sampling of Guinta's PAC contributions came from the American Bankers Association, Citizens Financial, Clear Channel Communications, Independent Community Bankers, Boeing, Liberty Mutual Insurance, AFLAC and AT&T. Sen. Kelly Ayotte's KellyPAC contributed $5,000.

Shea-Porter's PAC donors were the Teamsters, the AFSCME public workers union, Progressive Choices PAC and several contributions earmarked through the JStreet PAC, a self-described pro-Israel PAC supported by people who "believe that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to Israel's survival."

Guinta entered the second quarter with $674,747 on hand, while Shea-Porter reported having $183,159.

FORBES FOR OVIDE. Conservative financial magazine publisher and Fox News television personality Steve Forbes is endorsing fellow Republican Ovide Lamontagne for New Hampshire governor.

Forbes, a two-time presidential candidate, backed Lamontagne in his run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, a race Lamontagne narrowly lost in a party primary to Ayotte.

In backing Lamontagne in 2010, Forbes called him "a proven conservative leader of principle and conviction" who will be a "friend to taxpayers."

On May 8, Forbes will be featured at a reception for Lamontagne at the Devine Millimet law firm. On May 9, Lamontagne and Forbes will co-host a small business roundtable for regional small business leaders at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

MEETING VOTERS. We've learned that Republican Kevin Smith next week will be the first candidate for governor to announce a full schedule of open town hall meetings, something that's seen often during presidential races, but rarely on the gubernatorial level.

Smith's town halls, complete with Q & A from Granite Staters, will take place in all 10 counties during the next two months. He will discuss his "New Hampshire's Future Is Now" economic plan.

The schedule will include, but not be limited to, Kingston during the first week of May; Hudson, May 15; Dover, May 21; Laconia, May 22 or 23; Plymouth, May 29;

Newport, May 31; Conway and Berlin, June 5; Keene, June 11; Hampton, June 12; Bow, the week of June 18; Merrimack, June 20; Colebrook and Littleton, June 28.

TARGETING GUINTA, BASS. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is reserving $520,000 worth of advertising time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day buys.

A Democratic source confirmed the report in Politico, which said that the DCCC is preparing $32 million worth of broadcast ad buys nationally, targeting the seats of 26 GOP incumbents, including Guinta and Bass, as well as seven Democratic incumbents and three open seats.

Both New Hampshire congressmen, especially Bass, are viewed as vulnerable by the Democrats. As Politico noted, Democrats need to pick up 25 seats to gain control of the House.

According to a Democrat familiar with the planned buys, this is the first of multiple "waves" of advertising buys planned by the DCCC, some focusing on swing states where the presidential contenders will be vying.

The $520,000 planned to be spent at WMUR may focus on one or both of the races. To what degree one race takes precedence over the other -- or how much is actually spent in New Hampshire in total -- remains to be seen, although it is clear that the Bass race against Kuster will receive much attention from both sides.

"Congressmen Bass and Guinta were swept into office on a Tea Party wave that is now nowhere to be found," said DCCC regional press secretary Josh Schwerin. "Since then, both have voted to end Medicare while protecting tax breaks for billionaires and, in the process, proven that they are wildly out of touch with Granite State voters and extremely vulnerable in November."

A Republican source says he has been told by national GOP media buyers that WMUR has not yet heard from the DCCC regarding the buy.

"It's clear that Nancy Pelosi is planning to use her Washington special-interest money to boost Annie Kuster," said NHGOP executive director Tory Mazzola, "but the reality is that this is more smoke-and-mirrors because a meaningless reservation has no money behind it. If they really thought Kuster had a chance, they'd pre-pay, but that's a gamble they are not willing to take."

"Meaningless" or not, that didn't stop GOP state chairman Wayne MacDonald from immediately sending out a fund-raising email asking for contributions to counter "the overwhelming influx of advertising being shipped in for the Democrats from Washington."

O'BRIEN: NO MORE NAME-CALLING. House speaker Bill O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, after announcing his bid for reelection to the House and as speaker, said he realizes he's a target of the Democrats, but will ignore "name-calling."

Soon after we reported O'Brien's bid for reelection on Monday, state Democratic chairman Raymond Buckley said the speaker "has pursued a radical agenda: cutting funding for higher education in half, cutting health care for seniors and children, pushing for guns in college dorm rooms, as well as the State House, and trying to cut access to contraception for women."

The Democratic Party said the speaker "has become known for his tyrannical attitude and disregard for long-established House rules and traditions -- pushing through a vote to override the governor's veto without public notice; taking away aisle seats from disabled members who displease him; and removing from committee members that vote their consciences."

Buckley said he expects to have a strong opponent in O'Brien, whom he called "the poster boy for bad government."

House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli immediately solicited contributions for the House Democratic Caucus PAC through the party clearinghouse "ActBlue," saying, "The last two years have been devastating for Granite Staters."

But O'Brien said, "We really want to get past all this name-calling and false process stories and stories that say thing are happening now in a way that are different than in past terms."

He said he and members of his caucus this summer "will get out there and talk about a budget that has stopped over-spending.

"We've passed bills that have put in place intelligent deregulation and I think the results are beginning to show. The workforce in New Hampshire is growing."

As for the Democrats' criticisms, "On a personal level I know who I am, so it's not really a concern," O'Brien said. "In terms of its effect on politics in New Hampshire, it's unfortunate that we've now gone to this level of trying to engage people through name-calling. I hope the people require the opposition party to come up with specific policies."

O'Brien is looking to pass significant public-employee pension reform, welfare reform and a compromise education-funding constitutional amendment question for the voters this November.

Such an amendment resolution "has to be bipartisan because we won't get two-thirds of the vote unless we can say it came out of both parties."

He said that if a Republican governor is elected, it will lead "almost certainly" to right-to-work legislation, which he said would be "great for New Hampshire."

LILLY LEDBETTER HITS NHGOP. President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in New Hampshire recruited women's equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter for a conference call yesterday to criticize state Mazzola and Mitt Romney.

Ledbetter is the namesake for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations for filing discrimination lawsuits beyond the previous 180 days. It was the first piece of legislation Obama signed into law three years ago.

Mazzola was critical of the law this week, telling WBIN-TV, "Instead of being about fair pay, it is really about a handout to trial lawyers because it expands the areas that people can sue their employers unnecessarily."

Ledbetter said that Mazzola's comments "presumably show exactly where Mitt Romney stands on the issue."

Norelli and Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan also tried to tie the Mazzola comments to Romney.

Norelli said Romney has declined to say whether he would have signed the Ledbetter act.

Romney did say, however, that with the fair pay act now law, "It's certainly a piece of legislation I have no intention of changing."

Sullivan said that Mazzola, in his party post, "is a spokesperson not only for the NHGOP but also for the Republican candidates in the state, and that includes Mitt Romney."

The Obama campaign has been holding phone banks on the issue throughout the state this week.

Mazzola had no comment on the Democrats' criticism of him, but the Republican National Committee responded by saying that women "are being left behind in the Obama economy."

The RNC said that since Obama has been in office, women's unemployment has risen from 7 to 8.1 percent," fewer women are participating in the labor force and the poverty rate among women has risen.

"The past few years under Barack Obama have been devastating for American women," said RNC spokesperson Allie Brandenburger. "New Hampshire women and hardworking families cannot afford any more broken promises from Obama, they need real solutions to reduce our deficit and get our country back on track."

PARTY FUND-RAISING. New Hampshire Democrats lead the Republicans in fund-raising as the second quarter is now underway and general election preparations are picking up.

Looking at the two parties' federal accounts only, the state Democratic Party will report to the Federal Election Commission this week that in March, it took in $243,310, including $163,000 from the Democratic National Committee and $38,000 from individuals.

For the quarter, the NHDP raised $612,448, spent $545,472, and entered the second quarter with $210,988 on hand. The party will report debt totaling $35,414.

The state Republican Party during the same period raised $91,391, spent $76,473, and entered the second quarter with $45,545 on hand.

It reported debt of $52,988, split almost evenly between money owed to law firms in Manchester and Washington, D.C.

JULIANA'S NARROW WIN. Former Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron's victory in the contested race for Republican National Committeewoman was a narrow one last Saturday.

At the Republican State Committee meeting, she defeated Deputy House speaker Pam Tucker 175-170. We understand that Tucker supporters who were there were frustrated because others who had committed to Tucker did not show up.

Others said Tucker was hurt by being named in the controversial National Organization for Marriage full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader last week listing the names of all Republican House members who did not vote in favor of repeal of the same-sex marriage law.

Tucker had an excused absence.

On other hand, Bergeron worked hard quietly behind the scenes to earn the win and will succeed Phyllis Woods on the RNC at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention.

The state committee also voted in favor of a by-laws change to ensure that in the future a two-thirds vote of the party executive committee will be required to remove any of its members, including party officers. The measure addresses the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Jack Kimball as chairman earlier last year.

The state committee also voted to make it easier for county committee members to remove members who are inactive. And in another by-laws change, the state College Republicans were given a seat on the party executive committee.

QUICK TAKES:

-- Candidate for governor Smith plans a "Cowboy Up" fund-raiser featuring the Tom Dixon Band at Murphy's Tap Room in Manchester from 2 to 4 p.m. May 5.

-- Smith has responded to Democratic candidate for governor Hassan's criticism of his call for health-care reform. "Maggie Hassan is living up to the Democrat stereotype of crying wolf and scaring seniors," Smith said. "It's emblematic of how desperate the Democrats will be come November."

He said his plan "would not impact Medicare coverage," as Hassan charged, "services to seniors in New Hampshire, or change how the federal Medicare program is handled in the state."

-- Hassan yesterday picked up the endorsement of former Democratic state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock and former Republican state Sen. Mark Hounsell. The campaign also announced the endorsements of former State Rep. and former Nashua Democratic Chair Harvey Keye, Nashua Alderman Diane Sheehan, Coos County Democratic Chair David Mitchell of Whitefield, pro-choice advocate Christina D'Allesandro of Salem, and Bill Duncan, of Defending New Hampshire Public Education, from New Castle.

-- Manchester state Rep. Phil Greazzo officially kicked off his campaign for the New Hampshire District 20 State Senate seat on Wednesday evening with an announcement at the meeting of the Manchester Republican Committee. Greazzo will oppose Goffstown state Rep. John Hikel in a party primary. Incumbent Lou D'Allesandro is so far the only Democrat in the race.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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Palm Beach Post (Florida)


April 19, 2012 Thursday
FINAL EDITION


Obama aims ads at Florida Latinos ;
His allies call Romney 'extreme' on immigration, but GOP fires back.


BYLINE: By GEORGE BENNETT Palm Beach Post Staff Writer


SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 621 words


As President Obama's campaign launched a Spanish-language TV ad blitz in Florida and other swing states with large Hispanic populations, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro painted presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney as "extreme" on immigration.

Republicans, who launched their own Latino outreach program this week, countered by blaming Obama for a sour economy that has been tougher on Hispanics than other groups.

"Mitt Romney would be the most extreme nominee that the Republican Party has ever had on immigration," said Castro, who joined Messina and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., on a Wednesday conference call to tout the "Latinos for Obama" campaign initiative.

Messina also used the word "extreme" to describe Romney's immigration stance -- echoing criticism from Romney's Republican rival Newt Gingrich, who called the former Massachusetts governor "anti-immigrant" in a January radio ad that was pulled after Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., objected.

Romney has called for beefed-up border security and tougher employer verification standards to curb illegal immigration. He also said Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants was a "model." And Romney has said he would veto the Dream Act, which would offer a path to citizenship to children of illegal immigrants who were raised in the U.S. and complete two years of college or military service.

Romney adviser Albert Martinez accused Obama's allies of trying to divert attention from the president's "record of failure on the issues most important to Latinos. Hispanics have been hit especially hard as a result of three years of President Obama's record of high unemployment, soaring debt and skyrocketing gas prices. President Obama will do everything possible to make this election about anything other than his failed record."

The Obama camp Wednesday began airing ads in Florida, Nevada and Colorado aimed at Latino voters, who supported Obama by a 2-1 margin in 2008. But Hispanic allegiance to the Democratic Party slipped to 60 percent in the 2010 congressional elections.

Obama, who won Florida with 51 percent in 2008, got 57 percent of the state's Latino vote over Republican John McCain, after Republican George W. Bush was supported by 56 percent of Florida Hispanics four years earlier. Hispanics are about 13 percent of the electorate in Florida.

The Obama campaign touted the president's support for immigration reform and said Hispanics are benefiting from the federal health care overhaul and programs such as Head Start and Pell Grants.

Republicans fired back that Latinos have been harder hit by the economic downturn.

The Hispanic unemployment rate was 10 percent in January 2009, when Obama took office. It reached 13.1 percent in November 2010 and stood at 10.3 percent last month -- 2 percentage points higher than the overall national unemployment rate.

"Does President Obama think Hispanics suffer from amnesia?" said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami. "He may think we have forgotten about his broken promises to save or create 3.5 million jobs, pledge to cut the deficit by half by the end of his first term, or make immigration reform a top priority during his first 12 months as president.

"Not even the most eloquent rhetoric in the world can hide the fact that this has been a failed presidency with nothing but empty promises."

Republicans pointed to Obama's 2008 campaign promise to make immigration reform a "top priority" during his first year in office.

But Menendez blamed Republicans for blocking immigration reform by using Senate procedural rules to require 60 votes to pass legislation. The senator called Obama "someone who clearly stands on our side."

~ george_bennett@pbpost.com


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Roll Call


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Spending Battle for Senate Kicks Into Gear


BYLINE: Kyle Trygstad


SECTION: POLITICS


LENGTH: 972 words


The end of the first fundraising quarter also marked the end of the calm before the storm of spending in the 2012 fight for control of the Senate.

Millions will be doled out over the next seven months, most of it on TV ads and other pricey forms of voter persuasion. So far, outside group spending has yet to kick into high gear, and head-to-head polls in individual races haven't moved much. But Senate races in states such as Missouri and Montana have already seen third-party ad offensives, and the campaign committees are beginning to tip their hand on TV spending strategies.

"There will come a moment in the summer or early fall when people begin to pay attention," said Jonathan Collegio, spokesman for the GOP-aligned American Crossroads, which will likely spend one-third of its potential $300 million budget on House and Senate races.

There is no doubt Democrats feel better than they did six months ago about holding the majority, and Republicans continue to see multiple paths to the finish line. Some races are still shaking out, with another new Republican candidate possibly emerging in Florida and primaries in other crucial states still unfolding. But tossup races in states such as Montana and Virginia, where the players have been known for a year now, are still within the margin of error.

That will all reach a tipping point once nominations are won, voters tune in and campaigns and outside groups gear up for an onslaught of spending at the presidential and Congressional levels.

"It's not the calm before a sea-change storm, but it is a calm before all the money," Democratic media strategist Steve Murphy said.

It's too early to tell exactly where the majority will be won or lost, but the field has mostly solidified into a dozen or so competitive seats out of 33 this cycle. Senate control might ultimately rest on a handful of swing states such as New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin, should Republicans close the deal on four open Democratic seats in GOP-leaning states and Democrats pick up a couple of Republican seats - none of which is a given.

Republicans would need to net four Democratic seats to win the majority if President Barack Obama wins re-election, one fewer if Mitt Romney claims the White House.

Outside money has already begun flowing into some of these states in the form of independent expenditures and issue advocacy ads. According to Federal Election Commission IE records, most of the IE spending has come in races with competitive Republican primaries, including Indiana, Nebraska, Texas and Utah. 

"Republicans are going to have access to more money than Democrats," Murphy said of outside groups. "As long as the Democrats are competitive financially, a lot of this super PAC money is just going to be bombing the rubble."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee signaled last week where it intends to spend its valuable resources, reserving $25 million in airtime in six top battlegrounds. In its initial wave of reservations, the committee is targeting Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and the open Democratic seats in Nebraska, Virginia and Wisconsin. It's also assisting Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.), who is in a tossup race in a top presidential battleground.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has not yet indicated where it will spend, but both committees will likely be targeting most of the same states and will no doubt move money around as November approaches.

Additional states where outside money could end up are Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, North Dakota and Ohio. Florida is prohibitively expensive, making Sen. Bill Nelson's (D) $9.5 million in cash on hand at the end of March an even greater advantage in that competitive state. Ohio will also be pricey, given its competitiveness at the presidential level.

"There will be enormous political clutter in the key presidential battleground states," Republican media strategist Erik Potholm said. "So campaigns will look at a variety of media strategies and tactics to try to get their messages out, including going up earlier to try to define their races."

McCaskill, who is likely the most vulnerable incumbent in the country, still has no idea who her opponent will be. Running as an independent Democrat against a generic Republican in a state the Obama campaign isn't targeting, McCaskill used her first TV ad in February to run against the outside groups already spending against her.

Based on the vulnerability of the incumbent and the relatively reasonable cost of running ads, Missouri is a top candidate for outside spending. McCaskill is getting air support as well from outside groups. Patriot Majority USA reported an IE of just more than $200,000 on April 13, according to FEC records.

Collegio, of American Crossroads, said New Mexico could be the sleeper race of the cycle and noted Ohio and Wisconsin as other top pickup opportunities for Republicans outside of the ones getting the most press.

While polling has been generally stagnant in most races, Democrats say the needle is indeed moving in their direction.

"It's proving to be a favorable political climate for Democrats, increasing the chances that Democrats will hold the majority in the Senate," said J.B. Poersch, a media strategist and former DSCC executive director.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leaked this week where it's placing $32 million worth of its first TV reservations. The DSCC and National Republican Congressional Committee, which are working to hold their majorities, might also soon follow suit.

"The most important reason to place early is to save money and get the best inventory," Potholm said. "But another strategic benefit of reserving time early is that it signals very clearly to your friends and allies in outside groups where they should fill in the calendar with their media placement."


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Letters to the Editor


BYLINE: Times Herald


SECTION: NEWS; Entertainment


LENGTH: 1143 words


Want birth control? Buy it yourself

From a letter you published on April 6: "Don't like contraception? Don't use it. Don't like abortion? Don't have one." OK, but don't make me pay for your use of it.

I believe President Barack Obama is wrong to require Catholics to pay for your use of those services. According to its statements, the Catholic Church objects to Obama's mandate forcing it to pay for health insurance coverage that includes contraception, abortion-causing drugs and sterilizations.

"Keep your religious beliefs between your church and yourself." I'm sorry, but that statement is silly. If the religious beliefs of Catholics don't impact how they spend their money, then those beliefs don't really exist. If the church believes that messing up a normally functioning human reproductive system with drugs is wrong, then that belief darn well better affect how the church spends its money. And that includes how money is spent on health insurance.

David Hipple

Livermore

Birth control uproar just a smoke-screen

Who should pay the cost ($9 per month at Target and Walmart in the D.C. area) for birth control pills? That issue apparently has risen to the same level of importance (or higher) as immigration reform, clean energy, the debt ceiling, Afghanistan, etc., in light of the attention it has been given recently by some members of Congress and the president.

Common sense says that this should be an item for the individual budget, cheaper than a month's supply of coffee from Starbucks and bottled water from Safeway. Instead, it appears to have a politically contrived "war on women" issue. Disgusting! At least Rush Limbaugh had the decency to apologize for the equally disgusting remarks about a Georgetown Law School student's testimony at a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing that someone else should pay for her and her fellow cash-strapped students' laudable desires to have birth-control sex. Free condoms? Not a politically useful issue!

Walter D. Harvey

Livermore

ObamaCare critics just don't like president

This is an open opinion to all those who are against ObamaCare.

Those opposed have not done their homework. We pay for the uninsured no matter which way we go. If ObamaCare is ruled "unconstitutional" and overturned, we are still paying and have been for years for all those who have no insurance. In order for a hospital to operate and receive its license from the state, it must agree to the attorney general to support and care for all uninsured citizens (legal or illegal) coming through their doors. Therefore, our taxes have been paying for the uninsured all along -- so what is the issue? This seems to me not to be a health care issue but an underlying dislike for our president.

Patricia Sweeney

Pleasanton

Romney, not Obama, to lose Nov. 6 election

A letter writer from Lafayette says "bet the ranch" our next presidential election will be a "blowout."

He wants to blame President Barack Obama for the United States' setbacks now under way and says Obama is playing the race card. Well, I say Mitt Romney is trying to buy the election just like Meg Whitman tried here in California, and it will backfire. The real racists are Rush Limbaugh and others like him, who have been attacking Obama since he took office. Yes, I am white.

Dwaine Johnson

Livermore

For-profit health care is simply wrong

Americans claim we have the best health care delivery system on the planet.

That may be true if you have a team of lawyers watching your back but, in our country, medicine is guided by the profit motive. We cannot be sure whether our doctors prescribe medications because they are good or because they get perks from pharmaceutical reps. Is your doctor prescribing surgery because you truly need it or because he has to quickly fill that surgery room he's already rented when someone else canceled? This happened to me; I was responding to another treatment and they convinced me through heavy pitching on the phone to have surgery before I had time to think about it. Now, I truly am much worse.

Our health care system is riddled with profit-motive traps. You can never truly be certain whether care is given for your good or to line their pockets with loot. And this is really, really scary. As I reflect on my history, every serious health care problem I have began as a result of a doctor maximizing his profits.

As I listen to the squabbles over government-sponsored health care, I have to ask myself how we got so stupid that we didn't, like other intelligent nations, institute single-payer health care for all to protect our citizens from those who are blinded by the profit motive. Profit in medicine is deadly; whether it's from them denying care or whether it's from prescribing care for the wrong reasons.

Paulette Kenyon

Pleasanton

Lab should work on alternative energy solutions

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is known to many Livermore neighbors as a developer of green technology. The lab does some great work researching energy efficiency and developing renewables but not enough.

As a Livermore resident, I would like to see the lab do more with its vast resources. For the lab's 2013 budget, Energy Department officials requested more than $1.1 billion. A staggering 87.7 percent ($987 million) of that budget is to be allocated toward nuclear-weapon activities, while a paltry 0.58 percent ($6.6 million) is designated for renewable energy research.

Channeling more of the Livermore Lab's vast resources toward promoting cleaner, safer and cheaper sources of energy could pave the way for true, long-term energy independence. Part of the Livermore Lab's mission concerns "enhancing the energy and environmental security of the nation." Allocating more money toward that goal would be an investment in the right direction.

Lee Torres

Livermore

Clarifying Buffett Rule for those not clued in

Let's cut out the misleading statements on the Buffet Rule.

Dividends paid by Berkshire Hathaway are not deductible, so have already been taxed, according to Forbes, at 29 percent. When Warren Buffett receives them, he is taxed at 15 percent because the money was already taxed once. Politicians passed that law and many benefit from it.

By the way, when Washington wants to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year, do lawmakers hope you won't notice the Speaker of the House makes $223,500? Or that rank-and-file senators make $173,000, plus perks?

Can you say "led down the garden path"?

Robert C. Olson, CFP

Pleasanton

Business as usual makes sad news indeed

Here's a news item in the Tri-Valley Times on April 11 buried on page A-9 just above the "Sex For Life" ad: "AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban suicide attackers kill at least 16 people."

Stay tuned for more news about the mass protests, rioting and revenge killings spreading across the country of Afghanistan in response to these killings.

Chip Ungermann

Livermore


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The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL)


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Suppression of voters a quiet quest


SECTION: OPINIONS; Pg. 7


LENGTH: 596 words


LOS ANGELES - The 2012 presidential election is not only about who votes for Barack Obama and who votes for Mitt Romney.

It is also about who votes.

In a national campaign that does not get much national publicity, at least 41 states have passed laws or are considering new laws making it more difficult to vote in November, or legislation designed to discourage people from even trying to cast ballots, according to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

The center reports on a quiet wave of new state legislation sweeping the country that focuses on voting eligibility and estimates that these laws could reduce presidential voting by as many as 5 million votes. To put that number in perspective, in 2008, Obama won the presidency by 9 million votes.

The recently issued report lists five types of laws:

· Photo identification cards. At least 34 states have passed or are considering laws requiring voters to show photo IDs to get to a ballot box or machine. The bills have become law just this past year in Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Mississippi. It seems amazing, but 21 million Americans apparently do not have government-issued identification, including even driver's licenses.

· Proof-of-citizenship laws. At least 15 states have passed or are considering laws requiring voters to show birth certificates or passports to vote.

· Making voter registration more difficult. At least 16 states have passed or are considering legislation that would end same-day registration.

Three of those states, Florida, Illinois and Texas, have also passed laws restricting voter registration drives.

· At least nine states have passed laws or are considering legislation to end early voting days, and four are trying to restrict absentee voting.

· Making it harder to restore voting rights. Two states, Florida and Iowa, have reversed executive action that permitted restoration of voting rights for ex-felons after a given period of time.

I would add at least one more factor in holding down voter turnout: negative advertising. There is some evidence that voters can get so disgusted with massive negative commercials, posters, mail, etc. that they decide not to vote. That could have been a factor in the lower-than-usual turnout in Republican primaries this year. There is no doubt that negative advertising works with many voters, but it may also be creating ex-voters.

Voter suppression is as old as the Republic. After all, only white males who owned property were allowed to vote in a couple of states in our first elections. And the franchise was notoriously denied blacks and women for decade after decade.

At the moment, much of the vote suppression is in Republican-controlled legislations. The phrase "voter fraud" is thrown around, but there is no doubt the idea now is designed to discourage poor people, who are usually both less-informed about the law and more likely to vote for Democrats.

There are and have been many tricks of this old trade. Men in police uniforms, some real, some not, have stood near voting stations, intimidating possible voters who may have had trouble with the law or are just afraid of cops. Men in suits with clipboards asking questions also have an effect on some possible voters. In fact, that was the way William Rehnquist in Arizona began the political activity that eventually made him chief justice of the United States.

Richard Reeves is a columnist for Universal Press Syndicate. His email address is richardreevesweb@aol.com


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St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Pakistani jet crashes; 127 may have died


BYLINE: Pioneer Press


SECTION: NATIONAL


LENGTH: 950 words


Nation & World briefing

ISLAMABAD - Emergency workers with flashlights searched the smoldering wreckage of a passenger jet carrying 127 people that crashed into a muddy wheat field Friday, April 20, while trying to land in a violent thunderstorm at Islamabad's main airport.

The government said there appeared to be no survivors in the crash of the Boeing 737-200 near Benazir Bhutto International Airport - the second major air disaster in the Pakistani capital in less than two years.

Bhoja Air, a domestic carrier that has just four planes, only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 because of financial difficulties.

Bhoja administrative director Javed Ishaq told reporters and relatives of those on board that the jet was in good condition and was brought down by "heavy winds."

Egyptian protests weakened by split

CAIRO - Egypt's Islamist and secular forces sought to relaunch the street uprising against Egypt's ruling military Friday, packing Cairo's Tahrir Square with tens of thousands of protesters in the biggest rally in months and accusing the generals of manipulating upcoming presidential elections to preserve their power.

But attempts by protest organizers to form a united front against the military were blocked by competing agendas. The protest was riven by distrust and resentments that have grown between Islamists and liberals during the rocky, military-run transition process since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago.

Liberals and leftists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of abandoning the "revolution" months ago and allying with the military in hopes of securing power. In Friday's rally, many said the Brotherhood was only turning to the streets after the generals proved more powerful in decision-making even after an Islamist-dominated parliament was elected.

Syrian troops clash with protesters

BEIRUT - Syrian troops fired tear gas and bullets on thousands of protesters who spilled out of mosques after noon prayers Friday, activists said. State media reported that bombs and shootings killed 17 soldiers as the latest diplomatic efforts failed to halt more than 13 months of bloodshed in the country.

Opposition activists reported that at least 11 Syrian civilians were killed in regime shelling and other attacks Friday, the main day for protests calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The United Nations hopes to have 30 observers in Syria next week to monitor the tenuous cease-fire between regime troops and opposition, and plans are being made for the deployment of up to a total of 300.

Whatever, you're not guilty anyway

SAN DIEGO - A San Diego court commissioner is denying that a scientist's physics paper had anything to do with her dismissing his $200 traffic ticket.

News outlets reported this week that Dmitri Krioukov of the University of California, San Diego, used an equation-filled paper on the physics of a car in motion to successfully appeal a ticket for failure to stop.

Superior Court Commissioner Karen Riley says that's not true. She tells U-T San Diego that she listened to the physics argument but much of it went over her head.

Riley says she found Krioukov not guilty because the officer who cited him wasn't close enough to the intersection to have a good view.

Mexico truck-bus crash kills at least 43

VERACRUZ, Mexico - A trailer broke loose from a cargo truck and slammed into a passenger bus Friday, killing at least 43 people in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, state government spokeswoman Gina Dominguez said.

Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte said 27 people were injured in the crash, including seven children.

The victims were workers traveling from Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz to the northern border state of Coahuila, Dominguez said. The accident occurred on a winding stretch of highway near the town of Alamo in the northern part of the state.

The driver of the trailer truck hauling sorghum fled the scene and was being sought by authorities, she said.

Duarte and his wife visited the accident site to oversee the rescue and recovery efforts, promising state support for victims and their families.

Stephen Covey hurt in bicycle accident

SALT LAKE CITY - Motivational speaker and author Stephen R. Covey was recovering Friday in a Provo, Utah, hospital after being knocked unconscious the previous night in a bicycle accident.

The 79-year-old Covey was in stable condition and responding to family members, said his publicist Debra Lund. While there was no timetable for his release, Lund said doctors had not found any sign of long-term damage to his head.

"He just lost control on his bike and crashed," Lund said. "He was wearing a helmet, which is good news."

W.Va. Dem unsure he'll back Obama

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he's unsure whether he'll vote for his party's leader, President Barack Obama, or the likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

In a statement Friday, the West Virginia lawmaker said he had "some real differences" with both leaders, finding fault with Obama's energy and economic policies while questioning whether Romney could understand the challenges facing ordinary people.

Suspected sale by China stirs concern

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration says it believes that a Chinese manufacturer sold North Korea the chassis and other parts for a missile-transport vehicle displayed in a military parade this week, a senior official said Friday, raising new concerns about China's ability to enforce a ban on military sales to North Korea.

The official said the White House would use the episode to tighten pressure on the Chinese government to better enforce U.N. sanctions forbidding the sale of weapons or technology to North Korea.

- Associated Press, New York Times


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Tampa Bay Times


April 19, 2012 Thursday
Politifact.com Edition


DID OBAMA POLICIES ON ALASKA, SOLYNDRA AND KEYSTONE CONTRIBUTE TO TODAY'S HIGH GAS PRICES?


BYLINE: ANGIE DROBNIC HOLAN


SECTION: POLITIFACT: FLORIDA


LENGTH: 2017 words


Gas prices have doubled because "Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump."

American Energy Alliance on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 in a television ad

* * *

The oil industry group American Energy Alliance released this ad in Virginia, Florida and other states.

Gas prices are fueling a drag race of political ads on Florida television. In one lane, itÕs spiking gas prices under President Barack Obama. In the other, itÕs "Big OilÕs" support for Mitt Romney.

WeÕve fact-checked several claims from these ads. But for this fact-check, weÕre returning to an ad put out by the American Energy Alliance, an advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research, which is connected to the oil industry.

"Since Obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled," the ad says. "Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump.

"Obama's energy secretary said we need to, quote, 'boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.Õ That's $9 a gallon. É Tell Obama, we canÕt afford his failing energy policies."

WeÕve fact-checked whether Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska (Half True -- he opposed it in some parts), whether he gave millions of dollars to Solyndra (a federal program for alternative energy did), and whether Energy Secretary Steven Chu said gas prices should be at European levels (yes, but it was before he joined the administration).

The ad is right that gas prices have doubled (more than doubled, in fact) since Obama took office in 2009. The average price for gasoline was $1.90 in January 2009; now it's $3.98, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Here, we wanted to explore the adÕs larger point, that ObamaÕs policies on Alaska, Solyndra and Keystone are contributing to those higher gas prices.

Energy exploration in Alaska

The adÕs first claim is that Obama "opposed exploring for energy in Alaska." We found in a previous fact-check that while Obama opposes exploration in some parts of Alaska, his administration has approved drilling in other parts.

Specifically, Obama has opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a large nature preserve (roughly the size of South Carolina) managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge is a protected area for wildlife including caribou, polar bears and gray wolves.

But the Obama administration recently approved a plan for Shell Oil to drill in the Chukchi Sea, off the northwest coast of Alaska, giving the green light to ShellÕs contingency plans for cleaning up any spills. The company called that a "major milestone" and said it hopes to drill up to three wells there this summer.

The company also has plans for two wells in the Beaufort Sea, off AlaskaÕs northern coast. The administration approved ShellÕs disaster response plan for that area in March.

But if Obama had given a green light to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, would gas prices be lower today? Not according to the evidence we reviewed.

A 2008 study done by the independent Energy Information Administration for the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, found that it would take 10 years to actually produce oil from the area. And thatÕs only if there were no protracted legal battles, environmental challenge or delays in getting government permits.

So even if Obama had approved drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the day he was inaugurated, thereÕs no way oil in the ground there would have made it to gas pumps in 2012.

Solyndra

Heard of Solyndra? It was a solar panel manufacturer that won government loan guarantees but then went belly up. We looked into Solyndra when we fact-checked an earlier political ad that said Obama showered special favors on his political friends. The particular charge of cronyism got a Mostly False from the Truth-O-Meter. Solyndra's loan application predated the Obama administration, and career Energy Department officials handled the deal.

We did find that the administration tried to hurry the process, but the evidence pointed to the Obama team wanting to brag about green jobs efforts, not to enrich political cronies. Many private investors also lost money on the Solyndra deal.

Solyndra, based in Silicon Valley, formed in 2005 to build and sell a unique type of solar cell, cylinders that were cheaper and worked better than traditional flat panels. Designed for rooftops, the panels were intended to generate electricity to power buildings like warehouses and retail stores. (Read more details about SolyndraÕs rise and fall here.)

Solyndra walked away from $529 million in federal loans, according to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Energy. But Solyndra was an energy company that focused on generating electricity for buildings -- not gasoline for cars. We searched for any connection between Solyndra and gas prices or even just cars and came up empty.

The Keystone XL pipeline

The ad says Obama blocked the Keystone pipeline. Obama did block the Keystone XL, an addition to an existing pipeline so that oil sands (also known as tar sands or bituminous sands) could be moved from Canada to refineries near Houston, Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Because the pipeline crosses the U.S. border, the State Department must sign off. Back in November, the State Department said it would delay a decision while environmental concerns about the pipeline were addressed. Back then, the pipeline was set to cross over drinking water sources in Nebraska, and people were asking TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline project, for an alternate route.

The company has since said it would work with officials to shift the route. But environmentalists have still said the pipeline shouldnÕt be built at all, because oil sands are harder to clean up when spilled and cost more to turn into gasoline.

Then Congress put new deadlines into play, passing a law that said the Obama administration had to make a decision on the pipeline by February. Obama said that wasnÕt enough time for a thorough environmental review and rejected the pipeline.

The ad again suggests the delay of the pipeline is somehow responsible for todayÕs high gas prices. Since the pipeline was only proposed in 2008 with a then-projected opening of 2013, itÕs hard to see how gas prices in 2012 would be lower. (PolitiFact Ohio also looked in detail the question of whether Keystone approval would cause gas prices to drop in the near term; they ruled that claim False.)

Whether Keystone will reduce gas prices in the future is a contested point that we wonÕt settle in this fact-check. TransCanadaÕs analyst said it would bring down gas prices by 3.5 to 4 cents per gallon, according to Forbes. But environmentalists have seized on arguments that the pipeline could drive gas prices up, by giving Canadian oil an outlet to world markets through the Gulf of Mexico and bypassing U.S. customers. (The Christian Science Monitor explored these issues in some detail.)

Greg Laskoski, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, said Keystone had the closest connection to gas prices, but even that connection was far from simple and more oriented toward future prices. Lower-priced Canadian oil could be of some benefit to refineries in the United States, but that assumes it stays in the United States and isnÕt sold to foreign countries.

"ItÕs not as simplistic as some of these sound bites make it out to be," he said.

None of the above

We contacted the American Energy Alliance to ask them about the connection between these issues and todayÕs gas prices. Spokesperson Benjamin Cole said that ObamaÕs overall policies are hostile to the domestic oil and gas industry, and that markets have reacted with increased prices. (We should note thatÕs a more subtle point than is made in the 30-second ad.)

Not everyone sees it that way, though. ObamaÕs energy policies have been "surprisingly constructive," said Michael Levi, an expert on energy with the Council for Foreign Relations, in a March op-ed for ForeignPolicy.com. In an article titled "The Driller in Chief," Levi argued that ObamaÕs regulations are aimed at "dumb and preventable accidents" that would "do far more to set back U.S. oil and gas development than some smart minimum standards set out at the federal level."

Getting back to todayÕs pump prices, the experts we spoke with were dubious about the impact of any of the above issues -- drilling in Alaska, Solyndra, the Keystone pipeline -- on todayÕs gas prices.

Gas prices reflect the cost of oil on world markets and tend to reflect long-term trends, expectations for economic growth and geopolitical concerns. One example: Rising tensions with Iran, a major oil exporter.

"Looking at this year, whatÕs affected prices are the issues with Iran," said Jessica Brady, a spokesperson for the travel organization AAA, which monitors gas prices.

What about drilling in Alaska, Solyndra and Keystone? "Really, none of those three issues have had an impact on the gas prices weÕve been paying," she said.

Laskoski of GasBuddy.com said a presidentÕs power over gas prices comes mostly from reducing regulations for domestic exploration and refining, as well as discouraging speculation in the oil market. But even those powers are somewhat limited.

"Those are things that can be done that can bring reductions (in prices)," Laskoski said. "All of those things combined might help lower gas prices, but I donÕt know how you can quantify it."

Our ruling

The American Energy Alliance connects todayÕs higher gas prices to a grab bag of ObamaÕs energy policies. We canÕt see how the failing of Solyndra -- a solar panel company that focused on powering commercial buildings -- has any connection with todayÕs gas prices. On Alaska, if Obama had approved drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (which, to be clear, he opposes), actual production would still be at least six years away, and thatÕs a best-case scenario. The Keystone pipeline, meanwhile, is more directly related to gas prices, but even that project would have more impact on future gas prices, not todayÕs higher prices.

We rate the statement False.

* * *

About this statement:

Published: Thursday, April 19th, 2012 at 10:58 a.m.

Subjects: Energy, Gas Prices, Message Machine 2012

Sources:

American Energy Alliance, via YouTube, $9 gas, March 27, 2012

Interview with Benjamin Cole of the American Energy Alliance, April 16, 2012

U.S. State Department, Keystone XL project home page, accessed April 12, 2012

The New York Times, For G.O.P., Pipeline Is Central to Agenda, Feb. 1, 2012

The New York Times, Rejecting Pipeline Proposal, Obama Blames Congress, Jan. 18,2012

Foreign Policy, The Driller in Chief, by Michael Levi, March 1, 2012

PolitiFact, Energy group says Obama objects to energy exploration in Alaska, April 2, 2012

PolitiFact, Sen. Rob Portman says easing access to drilling would immediately reduce dependence on foreign oil, May 4, 2011

Energy Information Administration, "Analysis of crude oil production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," May 2008

Interview with Philip Budzik of the Energy Information Administration, April 17, 2012

Foreign Policy, The Driller in Chief, by Michael Levi, March 1, 2012

Factcheck.org, Bogus Oil Claims by Crossroads GPS, March 22, 2012

TransCanada, Keystone XL Pipeline Project, accessed April 16, 2012

U.S. State Department, Keystone XL Assessment, Dec. 23, 2010

Email interview with Damien LaVera of the U.S. Department of Energy

Forbes, "Is Obama Really to Blame for Rising Gas Prices? Do You Really Care?" Feb. 27, 2012

TarSandsAction.org, Key Facts on Keystone XL , accessed April 16, 2012

National Resources Defense Council, Keystone XL Pipeline: Undermining U.S. Energy Security and Sending Tar Sands Overseas, accessed April 16, 2012

Written by: Angie Drobnic Holan

Researched by: Becky Bowers, Angie Drobnic Holan, Louis Jacobson, Stephen Koff, Molly Moorhead

Edited by: Aaron Sharockman


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The White House Bulletin


April 19, 2012 Thursday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 442 words


President. The Charlotte (NC) Observer reports Mitt Romney, "in what sounded like a preview of his own acceptance speech," came to the Charlotte, where President Obama will be re-nominated, to paint him "as a failed leader whose policies have made the economy worse." ... The Washington Post reports in its "The Fix" blog writes that if Romney "can use the GSA and Secret Service scandals to erode confidence in Obama's ability to competently manage the affairs of the federal government -- the most basic task of any president -- his challenge of unseating the incumbent becomes considerably easier."

Meanwhile, The Hill reports Romney "said Wednesday that he would 'clean house' at government agencies beleaguered by growing scandals." ... The AP reported Romney "wants the United States to get much tougher with Iran and to end what a top adviser calls President Barack Obama's 'Mother, may I?' consensus-seeking foreign policy." ... Bloomberg News reported that Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) says "it's a 'big question mark' whether" Obama "will be able to carry his state again in this year's election because Obama's handling of the health-care overhaul harmed his credibility." ... The AP reports Newt Gingrich "returned to Delaware on Wednesday, hoping a victory in the state's primary on Tuesday will lend credibility to his flagging presidential campaign and his plans to shape the Republican national platform."

Senate.

Larry Sabato said on MSNBC's Hardball that the key in the Virginia Senate race between George Allen (R) and Tim Kaine (D) is the prospect for presidential coattails, adding, "I think the winner of the presidential contest in Virginia gets a bonus Senate seat." ... Politico reports that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Sen. John McCain "have cut ads" in support of Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar "that are likely to air in the closing weeks of his neck-and-neck Republican primary" battle with state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

House.

The Westchester Journal News reports that Rye town Supervisor Joe Carvin (R), who's seeking to oust NY18 Rep. Nita Lowey (D) in the new NY17 district, "has opened his wallet to kick-start his campaign with $1 million." ... The Miami Herald reports, "Miami-Dade prosecutors on Wednesday formally closed their" probe of FL25 Rep. David Rivera (R) "without filing criminal charges, and called on state lawmakers to stiffen the campaign-finance laws that they say frustrated their 18-month investigation." ... Roll Call reports Ron Barber (D), an ex-aide to former AZ8 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), on Wednesday "went up with his first ad," a positive bio spot, "in the race to finish his one-time boss's term."


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Associated Press Online


April 19, 2012 Thursday 9:06 PM GMT


Commercials give hint of campaign ad war to come


BYLINE: By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 125 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


Get ready. The presidential ad campaign coming to a TV and radio near you will be nasty, expensive and heavily influenced by independent groups.

President Barack Obama's campaign is already running ads in six swing states tying Republican Mitt Romney to big oil companies. An independent group that supports Romney is also on the air in battleground states with a spot linking Obama's energy policies to the recent spike in gasoline prices.

Several media buyers provided information to The Associated Press showing that Obama's campaign has spent about $2 million on its ad this month in Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Florida and Nevada.

The Republican group isn't far behind. It has spent about the same amount, or $1.8 million, in the same six states.


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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Chicago Daily Herald


April 20, 2012 Friday


Ask whether stables meet building codes


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 18


LENGTH: 509 words


Ask whether stables meet building codes

We all have read with sadness of the terrible horse stable fire at Black Tie Stable in McHenry County last week. Eighteen beautiful, well-trained and loved horses destroyed in a matter of minutes from an unknown cause.

The news articles cause the reader to ask what could have been done to save more horses. I believe by now the horse owners have thought of several ways the fire started and spread so quickly.

A significant part of the analysis should deal with the fact that horse stables and show horse arenas in the northeast corner of Illinois have rarely complied with building and fire codes.

These stables are considered by state law to be agricultural and therefore exempt from building codes.

While local governments have tried for decades to get the state to consider hobby and commercial stables and arenas as needing inspections, there has been strong and successful pressure from the horse industry to avoid complying with even the most basic building and fire codes applicable to their buildings.

Could the destruction from the fire have been lessened if the building had met codes? First, you should ask if the stable had been inspected and complied with codes? If it did not, then it is nationally recognized that meeting building and fire codes will reduce fire damage. Many other states already require such code compliance.

Do the horse owners know if their stable and arenas have been inspected and meet building codes? I hope they asked. It's only reasonable to ask if you own a horse such as those destroyed in the fire.

Philip Rovang

Lindenhurst

Make Lake County residents fund road

After reading the Our View column in April 12 Daily Herald, I am upset at some of the proposals for paying for the extension of Route 53 in Lake County.

Why do the people of Lake County feel this should not be a toll road?

They suggest that there should be a toll imposed on Route 53 in Cook County or that the tolls should be increased on the entire tollway system. This extension is for Lake County, and the people who use it should pay for it just like they are proposing to do if they build the new Illiana road in the South suburbs from I-55 to I-65.

Don't take highways that are now free and hand them over to the tollway authority. Also, they are calling it a parkway with a 45 mph speed limit. What is that all about?

If Lake County officials don't want to make the new extension a tollway and let the drivers who use it pay for it, maybe it shouldn't be built and it should not be talked about anymore.

Let the drivers who use it pay for it, or forget about it and move on.

Joe Clark

Palatine

The hypocrisy on Romney wealth

Why are the Democrats making such a big deal out of Mitt Romney's wealth? It sure didn't bother them when the Kennedys were running for office, and they had more money than Romney probably will ever have.

And Obama's Buffet Tax, what a joke. There isn't an economist, Democrat or Republican, who thinks that this tax will pay for Obama's deficits for more than a month. Then what?

Herb Hupfer

Kildeer


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Paddock Publications, Inc.



153 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 20, 2012 Friday 10:35 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4060 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

US-Secret-Service (will update)

Three more Secret Service employees have "chosen to resign" from the agency in the wake of a prostitution scandal that emerged last week, according to a statement Friday from the Secret Service.

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation (will update)

A carpenter whose former Manhattan basement is the scene of an exhaustive search for clues about Etan Patz said Friday through his lawyer that he had no involvement in the 6-year-old boy's disappearance more than three decades ago.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 (will update)

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the country's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday, while opposition activists accused the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations in advance of the race.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian protesters gathered Friday for demonstrations that were met with armed resistance from government forces, opposition groups said.

Pakistan-Plane-Crash (will update as merits)

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Rawalpindi just before it was to land at an Islamabad airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure (will update as merits)

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect continued Friday afternoon after a busy California interstate highway between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento reopened after a six-hour closure.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Pakistan-Plane-Crash

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Rawalpindi just before it was to land at an Islamabad airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

US-Secret-Service

Three more Secret Service employees have "chosen to resign" from the agency in the wake of a prostitution scandal that emerged last week, according to a statement Friday from the Secret Service.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (with Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline and Florida-Zimmerman-Details)

George Zimmerman apologized Friday to the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African-American teen that he shot in a confrontation that riveted a nation and sparked intense discussions about race, racial profiling and gun laws.

INTERNATIONAL

Norway-Breivik-Trial

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, gave chilling details at his trial Friday of the gun rampage in which he systematically shot dead scores of young people.

France-Election

France's presidential contenders are making their final appeal to voters Friday on the last day of campaigning before they go to the polls Sunday.

French-Election-Five-Things

Five things to know about the French election.

Syria-Unrest

Syrian protesters gathered Friday for demonstrations that were met with armed resistance from government forces, opposition groups said.

Mexico-Deadly-Wreck

Forty-three people were killed and 18 injured Friday morning in a roadway crash involving a bus in the state of Veracruz, the governor's office said.

Egypt-NGOs

Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans charged for overstepping in their pro-democracy work in Egypt, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Egypt-Election-Protests

The scene Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square felt familiar. Only this time, the protest came ahead of critical elections. Thousands of Egyptians from across the political spectrum turned out at the iconic plaza unified in their opposition to remnants of Hosni Mubarak's regime and in their determination to protect the goals of a hard-fought revolution.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 (SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-Prince-Ecclestone)

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the country's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday. Opposition activists accuse the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations in advance of Sunday's race.

Bahrain-F1-Explainer

Democracy campaigners in Bahrain and politicians around the world are calling for this Sunday's Formula 1 race in the Gulf state to be canceled as violent clashes continue between activists and authorities. What are the issues around the controversy, and how are the sport and its fans reacting?

Japan-Bear-Attacks

Two female employees were found mauled to death Friday after six bears escaped their enclosure at a park in northern Japan, a local fire official told CNN.

US-Cyberattack-Warning

On April 27, 2007, the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia -- one of the most wired countries in the world -- was hit with a massive cyberattack. Websites for banks, government ministries, newspapers, Parliament and media outlets were paralyzed, swamped by a distributed denial of service attack. "We were frankly shocked when this happened," said Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. "Botnets attacked all aspects of society." He contends it was "political act" in which Russia, angered over Estonia's decision to move a Soviet-era statue dedicated to a World War II Russian soldier in Tallinn, tried to shut down the country. Russia has always denied the charge.

TRAVEL-Cruise-Ship-Apology

An American cruise line said Friday it "deeply regrets" the deaths of two Panamanian fishermen amid claims that one of its cruise ships failed to help their stranded boat.

Sudans-Disputed-Region

South Sudan announced Friday it was withdrawing its troops from a contested oil-rich area it seized last week in a move that escalated tensions and fears of a return to war with Sudan.

Pakistan-Attack

Authorities were still searching Friday for hundreds of inmates that were freed after Taliban militants raided a northwest Pakistan prison, including Adnan Rashid who was convicted of trying to murder former President Pervez Musharraf.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

The Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party are unlikely to attend the first session of parliament since their election amid a dispute over the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take, a party spokesman said Friday.

China-react-india-missle

China downplayed India's successful missile launch this week, saying that the two sides are not rivals but cooperating partners.

North-Korea-Chinese-Truck

After weeks of military analysts examining the latest North Korean rocket before and after it's failed launch, now the focus has turned to a truck.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup

Guinea-Bissau political parties announced a president to lead a transitional government that would rule for up to two years, the proposed timeframe for planning new elections.

Iraq-artist-george-bush-shoe-thrower

An Iraqi artist is inspired by the George W Bush shoe thrower. To Iraqi artist Hanaa' Malallah her shoes are weapons of mass destruction that appear in many of her works. Her inspiration is an incident in 2008, when Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at former president George W. Bush, five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The invasion was aimed at rooting out Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, but U.S. inspectors eventually conceded that he did not have any.

MONEY-Imf-Funding-G20

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that it has received commitments from several nations for more than $430 billion in additional funding to guard against global risks.

MONEY-Ecb-Euro-Financing

The European Central Bank has pulled out all the stops over the past few months to prevent a credit crunch by providing banks with (EURO)1 trillion in ultra-low cost financing.

MONEY-Argentina-Energy-Takeover

Argentina's government announced a brazen takeover of the country's largest energy company this week, potentially quashing a domestic shale gas boom.

MONEY-japan-olympus-board

Shareholders of the Olympus Corp. are widely expected to approve a new board Friday despite objections from a vocal minority of shareholders seeking new management that can distance the company from the $1.7 billion cover-up that rocked Japan Inc.

SPORT-Golf-China-Guan

He created history as the youngest player to participate in a European Tour event but 13-year-old Guan Tian-lang's debut did not have the dream ending he was hoping for.

SPORT-motorsport-sebastian-vettel-f1

Sebastian Vettel is hoping to kickstart his season in Bahrain this weekend as he continues his bid to win a third consecutive world drivers' championship.

SPORT-Football-El-Clasico-Real-Barcelona

Arch rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid meet for the sixth time this season Saturday in an El Clasico clash which is likely to decide the destination of the Spanish title.

SPORT-tennis-serbia-fed-cup

Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic is hoping to lead Serbia to a historic first Fed Cup final in Moscow this weekend.

SPORT-Tennis-Djokovic-Murray-Carlo

An emotional Novak Djokovic claimed his late grandfather was with him in spirit as he beat Robin Haase to reach the last four of the Monte Carlo Masters.

SPORT-Olympics-Ennis-London-Gold

She's one of Great Britain's brightest medal hopes ahead of the London Olympics but Jessica Ennis isn't relying on home comforts to help land her a maiden Games gold. The heptathlete has had numerous chances to visit the newly-built Olympic Stadium in the east of the English capital and steal a march on her rivals. But the 25-year-old insists she wants her first trip to the arena to come when she takes to the track to make up for the disappointment of missing the 2008 Games in Beijing.

U.S.A.

Florida-Zimmerman-Details

For nearly two months, George Zimmerman has been largely a cipher, a riddle whose voice has been heard only in 911 calls reporting a young man acting "real suspicious." On Friday, the world learned more about Zimmerman as he, his wife and parents testified during a hearing in Sanford, Florida, to decide whether he would be released on bond while awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge in the February 26 death of Trayvon Martin.

Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline

Here's a look at the timeline of events in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the ensuing uproar.

California-Marine-Wife-Dead

A 25-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the California death of a deployed Marine's wife, San Diego County authorities said Friday.

Kansas-Inmates

Investigators in Kansas have captured a convicted murderer who escaped from jail this week along with three other inmates, authorities said Friday.

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation

A carpenter whose former Manhattan basement is the scene of an exhaustive search for clues about Etan Patz said Friday through his lawyer that he had no involvement in the 6-year-old boy's disappearance more than three decades ago.

US-Etan-Patz-Case-Significance

More than 30 years ago, 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished from a Manhattan street on his way to a school bus stop. His parents never saw him again. The case -- lately reopened by police -- riveted millions. It also changed the country. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement."

US-Coast-Guard-Suspends-Search

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a pilot who for hours circled above the Gulf of Mexico in his twin-engine Cessna 421 before crashing into the water, the guard said Friday.

US-Toyota-subpoenas-auto-advocate

Toyota Motor Corp. has subpoenaed Sean Kane, an auto safety advocate and outspoken critic of the company, asking that he hand over his communications with the media, Congress, government agencies and individual Toyota drivers inquiring about sudden unintended acceleration.

US-University-Colorado-marijuana-rally

When the clock strikes 4:20 p.m. today (4/20), marijuana fans were coming out of the shadows to proudly smoke pot in parks and on college campuses across the country. The number 420 has become synonymous with all things marijuana, but exactly why is less clear. Whatever the number's origin, "420" events across the country have become opportunities to advocate the legalization of marijuana. The expansion of medical marijuana in California, Colorado and other states is making efforts to legalize marijuana more mainstream and making more people comfortable coming out and smoking pot in public, according to Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect continued Friday afternoon after a busy California interstate highway between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento reopened after a six-hour closure.

MED-Walgreens-Prescription-Settlement

Walgreens will pay governments $7.9 million in a settlement reached amid allegations the drugstore chain illegally paid kickbacks so that prescriptions would be transferred to its pharmacies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.

TECH-facebook-privacy-policy

Facebook unveiled changes to its terms-of-use document on Friday, tweaking earlier drafts in an apparent effort to ease users' concerns about privacy and how their information is used.

POL-Poll-Economy-Mood

The number of Americans who think things are going well in the country is on the rise, according to a new national poll.

POL-Progressives-Target-Democrats

A progressive group is again taking on some Democratic state legislators, calling on Friday for them to drop their membership or association with the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC bills itself as a think tank and research resource that brings together state legislators and private business leaders. It says it does not lobby, but holds meetings which bring together legislators and business leaders, as well as provides draft legislation and research to state policymakers.

MONEY-Us-Airways-American-Airlines

Workers for three American Airlines unions have agreed to support a potential merger with US Airways Group, according to a US Air document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Energy-Fire-Sale

Can Chesapeake Energy's chief executive pull yet another rabbit out of his hat? To plug what's been estimated as a $9.2 billion gap between Chesapeake Energy's 2012 capital expenditures and its cash flow, CEO Aubrey McClendon needs to sell assets fast.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Friday, as investors welcomed another round of strong earnings from corporate America and positive news out of Europe.

MONEY-Student-Loans

President Obama will use his bully pulpit to urge lawmakers to prevent a doubling of interest rates on federally subsidized student loans. On July 1, the interest rate on federal subsidized loans will go from 3.4% to 6.8%. That means students taking out loans for the next school year will have to dig deeper in their pockets to pay them off.

MONEY-Social-Security-Medicare

Critical to reining in the United States' long-term debt will be finding ways to control the burgeoning costs of Medicare and Social Security, both of which will face serious funding shortfalls over the next two decades. On Monday, the trustees of those programs will offer their annual update on just when those shortfalls will occur.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Romney-Arizona-Speech

With the Republican primary fight comfortably in his rear view mirror, Mitt Romney made an appeal for party unity Friday in a speech to GOP leaders from around the country.

POL-Romney-GOP-Delegates

Members of the Republican National Committee gathering in Arizona were invited to meet with Mitt Romney in private Friday and have their pictures taken with the presumptive GOP nominee, but there was a price of admission: loyalty.

POL-Kyl-Endorses-Romney

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl threw his support behind Mitt Romney, the candidate's campaign announced Friday.

POL-Romney-Kobach-Adviser

Controversial anti-illegal immigration activist Kris Kobach is an "informal adviser" to Mitt Romney, a spokeswoman for the likely GOP nominee confirmed to CNN.

POL-Jeb-Bush-Romney

Jeb Bush, whose endorsement of Mitt Romney helped secure the candidate as the all-but-certain GOP nominee, said an interview Romney should avoid the urge to wage a negative campaign. The popular former Florida governor also offered up his pick for Romney's running mate, and said he'd consider a spot on the GOP ticket if asked.

POL-Daniels-Romney-Advice

Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had some advice for Mitt Romney this week, describing the likely Republican nominee's campaign for the White House as too negative.

POL-Romney-Rubio-Campaign

A rising Republican star considered to be on the party's vice presidential short list will campaign on Monday with likely nominee Mitt Romney, campaign officials told CNN.

POL-Romney-Superpac-Fundraising

The primary pro-Mitt Romney super PAC raised $8.7 million in March but also spent heavily, pouring $12.7 million into the month before his primary rival for the GOP nomination withdrew.

POL-Romney-March-Fundraising

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says they raised nearly $12.6 million in primary funds in March.

POL-Obama-March-Fundraising

President Barack Obama's reelection team increased their war chest by roughly $20 million in March, bringing the incumbent Democrats' cash on hand funds to just over $104 million, more than ten times the amount his likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney declared in federal filings Friday.

POL-Manchin-Vote-Unsure

As a Democrat in conservative West Virginia, Sen. Joe Manchin has sought to make his independence clear. And that independence might just extend all the way to the November voting booth, as the senator -- who is up for re-election - said in a report published Thursday that he might not cast a ballot for the top name on his party's ticket, President Barack Obama.

POL-Paul-Fundraising

Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign says they raised more than $2.6 million last month, bringing to nearly $10.4 million the amount they took in during the first quarter of this year.

POL-Gingrich-Secret-Service

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign continued to face outrage and claims of "wasteful spending" of taxpayer money on Friday as the candidate keeps his Secret Service detail, which could cost north of $40,000 per day. "Newt Gingrich just needs to really do the right thing and do the particularly responsible thing and say, 'Okay, I don't need Secret Service protection anymore,'" David Williams, president of the taxpayers watchdog group Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told CNN.

POL-Santorum-Campaign-Debt

Rick Santorum's now-suspended campaign for the Republican presidential nomination raised just over $5 million last month, bringing to $18.6 million the campaign brought in over the first three months of the year.

POL-American-Crossroads-Fundraising

A pro-GOP independent super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove says it has raised nearly $100 million so far this campaign cycle.

POL-RNC-Facebook-Campaign

Tapping into the online social networks of voters is a top priority for the digital strategists working for President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney -- and no site offers a larger trove of personal data than Facebook. Now the Republican National Committee is getting into the social media game.

COMMENTARY-Waldman-Prebuttal

Mitt Romney has been using campaign strategy of "pre-buttal" and "bracketing." He idea is to undercut Obama's speeches around the country by getting there first with remarks.

POL-Hatch-Utah-Convention

Sen. Orrin Hatch's political future rests in the hands of 4,000 delegates who will select the party's nominee at Saturday's state Republican convention. In the last year, the six-term incumbent spent millions of dollars to fend off challenges from candidates and outside groups seeking to drive him out of the Senate - a fate that so far looks unlikely for Hatch.

POL-Brown-Warren-Taxes

Sen. Scott Brown's campaign cried "hypocrite" at Elizabeth Warren on Friday over her decision not to pay the optional higher tax rate on her state return. Warren, the Democrat who's challenging Brown for his U.S. senate seat in Massachusetts, has been a stalwart advocate for the so-called Buffett Rule--a proposal advanced by the Obama administration that calls on people making more than $1 million a year to pay federal taxes amounting to at least 30% of their income.

FEATURES

ENT-Dick-Clark-Cremation

Dick Clark, the music impresario and host of "American Bandstand" who died this week, has been cremated, his representative said Friday.

ENT-TheWeight-Lyrics-Debate

The late Levon Helm, who died Thursday, had a wonderfully distinctive voice, but his drawling delivery didn't always make it easy to discern the words of The Band's songs -- which only added to the music's charm.

ENT-bachelor-lawsuit-diversity

Reality programming has long featured contestants of color in their casts. Competition shows like "Amazing Race," "The Biggest Loser" and "Dancing with the Stars" have featured diverse contestants since their inaugural seasons in 2001, 2004 and 2005, respectively. But while African-Americans, Asians and Latinos can be seen racing around the world, losing weight and dancing the paso doble on TV, dating shows continue to be far less inclusive.

ENT-lucky-one-review

No doubt there is a sizeable audience primed for the latest Nicholas Sparks flick, and chances are quite a chunk of that crowd is looking forward to seeing how former teen idol Zac Efron sizes up now he's graduated from "High School Musical."

MONEY-Rich-Ross-John-Carter

The titular hero in the sci-fi epic "John Carter" slayed evil aliens, decimated enemy armies -- and now, he's killed Rich Ross' position as chairman at Walt Disney Studios.

MONEY-Your-Bofa

What would Bank of America look like if it were owned by its customers? YourBofA.com, a parody site launched this week, lets the crowd take a stab at answering that question. Mimicking the real Bank of America site's look, it takes scathing aim at the bank's missteps and invites visitors to share their ideas about what a taxpayer-owned Bank of America should do. Several thousand contributors have already sent in suggestions.

MONEY-Saving-Vs-Spending-Moneymag

I'm 39 with $1.2 million saved. Can I finally live it up?

FEA-Bible-Marketing

Professor David Capes says the Bible "is probably the most owned and least read book out there. That's because, for many, it's too difficult to understand."

FEA-Mormon-Gays

Kevin Kloosterman, a former Mormon bishop, said he "came out" last year -- just not in the way that many people associate with coming out.

MED-bicycle-injuries

Bicycle injuries: Is the right-of-way fight getting ugly?

TRAVEL-national-park-week

Perhaps you've been to the Everglades, toured Yosemite or visited Point Reyes National Seashore and discovered the glorious nature and historical events celebrated and protected by our national parks. Ever been to the longest cave in the world? Or the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier islands in the world? Known to many national park aficionados who collect park passport stamps, the lesser-known national parks throughout the country are also worthy of your visit. Parks will have special programming during National Park Week, April 21-29. And parks that charge admission will waive their fees that week, adding to their allure.

TECH-kinect-star-wars-review

Whenever anything involves the "Star Wars" franchise, there are certain expectations that need to be met to satisfy die-hard, and even casual, fans. So when a new video game wants to bring "Star Wars" to life like never before, that's setting the bar really high. "Kinect Star Wars" tries to use the power of the Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 to put players into the action, using full-body motions to wield lightsabers, drive podracers and, unfortunately, dance for Jabba the Hutt. The game has a few high points but also has more disappointments than a bad motivator on a defective R2 unit.

COMMENTARY-brazile-earth-day-bp

Why we must remember the BP oil spill.

COMMENTARY-risman-mommy-war

Phony "mommy wars" avoid real issues for women.

COMMENTARY-robinson-secret-service

Secret Service still the best and the brightest.

COMMENTARY-rodin-plan-b-world

To prepare for disasters, have a Plan B.

COMMENTARY-Zuckerman-Gergen-Discovery

What Space Shuttle Discovery has inspired in us.

COMMENTARY-Slim-Syria-uprisings

A game changer for Syria?


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



154 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 20, 2012 Friday 2:20 PM EST


Crossroads nears $100 million mark


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 204 words


DATELINE: Washington (CNN)


Washington (CNN) -- A pro-GOP independent super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove says it has raised nearly $100 million so far this campaign cycle.

An official for American Crossroads confirms to CNN that the super PAC and its nonprofit affiliate Crossroads GPS combined brought in $99.8 million since the start of 2011, with $49 million of the haul raised just in the past three months.

The group says that American Crossroads has $24.4 million cash on hand as of the end of March.

"There was a prevailing sense that the GOP primary would dampen fundraising for outside groups like Crossroads, but our supporters are as engaged as ever, and focused on stopping Obama's policies and defeating him at the polls," Crossroads communications director Jonathan Collegio told CNN.

Crossroads, which supports Republican candidates and causes, will most likely play a large role in helping the GOP ticket, especially in the next few months as the campaign of presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney concentrates on fundraising for the general election. Earlier this month the group went up with both TV commercials and radio ads that were critical of President Barack Obama.

Crossroads campaign cash figures were first reported by Politico.


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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All Rights Reserved



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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=15040&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
Daily News (New York)


April 20, 2012 Friday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION


Giving to the enemy Yanks big fills rival's coffers


BYLINE: BY BRIAN BROWDIE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 19


LENGTH: 313 words


WHAT'S NEXT, an endorsement from Derek Jeter?

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown has played up his allegiance to the Red Sox - but has accepted campaign cash from their arch-enemies, the Yankees.

Brown, the Republican incumbent, has played up his local-boy image by touting his ties to the Red Sox and iconic Fenway Park during his hotly contested race against liberal darling Elizabeth Warren.

But he had no qualms about accepting a $2,500 campaign donation from Bronx Bombers president Randy Levine.

Brown's team tried to spin the unlikely - and, to some, unholy - alliance.

"We're happy to accept Randy Levine's donation," Brown spokesman Colin Reed told the Boston Herald. "The way Scott Brown looks at it is, this is their way of paying us back for Babe Ruth."

Before taking his position with the Yankees, Levine was a deputy mayor to Rudy Giuliani - perhaps the nation's most visible Yankees fan.

He has donated to prominent Republicans, including Mitt Romney, as late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner did.

Brown, who stunned the political world by winning Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in a 2010 special election, released a radio ad showcasing his love for Fenway Park, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary Friday in a game against - who else? - the Yankees.

"Families throughout the years will never forget their first Fenway experience," Brown said in the ad. "I know I never will. Go Sox!"

Warren, a former member of President Obama's administration, has committed a Red Sox-related error of her own.

The Harvard professor in December botched the answer to a trivia question asking what years the Red Sox have won the World Series in this century.

She guessed 2004 and 2008 - when the team's second title was actually won in 2007.

Warren edges Brown by just one percentage point, 46% to 45%, among likely voters, a poll released last week by Rasmussen reports.

bbrowdie@nydailynews.com


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: Yankees president Randy Levine Mass. Sen. Scott Brown


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Daily News, L.P.



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The Frontrunner


April 20, 2012 Friday


Air War In Romney-Obama Race May "Be One Of The Most Negative In History."


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 125 words


The AP (4/20) reports, "The presidential ad campaign coming to a TV and radio near you is going to be nasty, expensive and heavily influenced by independent groups, particularly those that favor Republican Mitt Romney over Democrat Barack Obama. ... The emergence of outside groups known as super PACs is all but certain to ratchet up the negativity, adding a level of slash-and-burn rhetoric to the campaign that the candidates themselves might seek to avoid. 'The 2012 Republican primary was by far the most negative we've seen and my expectation will be that the 2012 general election will be one of the most negative in history,' said William Benoit, who studies campaign advertising at Ohio University. 'The super PAC ads will make it even more so.'"


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


April 20, 2012 Friday


The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, Granite Status column


BYLINE: The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 4718 words


April 20--FRIDAY, APRIL 20, UPDATE: "FRANKING" GUINTA. Republican Rep. Frank Guinta spent $164,629 on taxpayer-funded, or so-called "franked" mailings in 2011, which, according to a California newspaper, is tops in the U.S. House.

Guinta's chief of staff did not dispute the figure and said the freshman congressman has cut his office budget significantly, returned more than $50,000 to the Treasury and believes that "constituent service" is his top priority.

The Granite Status verified the figure, which is reported by the U.S. House on its web site in quarterly "statements of disbursement" and is also reported by a nonprofit watchdog group called the Sunlight Foundation.

Christine Bedell, government editor for the Bakersfield Californian newspaper, first reported that Guinta ranked first in franked mail spending. She said she sorted by amount the franked mail data provided in the congressional statements of disbursement and reported by the Sunlight Foundation and Guinta "came out on top."

U.S.Rep. Charlie Bass spent $22,344 on franked mail in 2011, ranking him at 202nd among 435 House members.

In 2010, Guinta criticized Democratic former congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter for sending out taxpayer-funded mailings that he said resembled campaign material.

"There is a thin line between maintaining a rapport with one's constituents and electioneering," then-candidate Guinta wrote on his campaign web site in 2010. "These pamphlets violate the idea of a 'Congressional Update,' and show an abuse of a representative's franking privileges."

Today, Guinta was criticized by state Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley.

"Frankly, Frank Guinta is hypocritical," Buckley said. "He is spending more than any other congressman in the nation and he is using taxpayer dollars to run for re-election."

"These are highly produced, campaign-style mailings that were prepared for and mailed at the taxpayer's expense. A practice that, before he went to Washington, be protested against."

He cited a mailer that was photographed and published on the pro-Democratic Blue Hampshire web site.

Buckley called on Guinta to "return the money he spent on these campaign materials to the taxpayers and issue an apology."

Guinta chief of staff Ethan Zorfas responded, "Congressman Guinta has cut his office's budget by 11.4 percent and, in addition, returned over $50,000 to the Treasury at the end of 2011.

"Constituent service will always be the congressman's top priority," said Zorfas. "Mailings are used for invitations to Job Fairs, Women's Conferences and Manufacturing Job Summits. The benefit to Granite Staters is apparent: increased communication with their government and lower operating expenses."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, UPDATE: EMILY'S LIST FOR CAROL. Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, trailing Republican incumbent Rep. Frank Guinta in fund-raising so far in the 2012 election cycle, received a big boost on Friday.

The pro-choice women's fund-raising group EMILY's List endorsed Shea-Porter for the third time. It also endorsed her in 2008 and 2010.

The backing means she will receive campaign donations from EMILY's list supporters and donors.

Shea-Porter, who is trying to regain the 1st District House seat she held for two terms before losing to Guinta in 2010. As we reported this week, she trailed Guinta in cash on hand after the first quarter, $183,159 to $674,747.

"We are really excited about the campaign she's running. Our members obviously know and love her. And and strong progressive women like Carol are going to be the reason Democrats take the House back this November," said EMILY's List spokesperson Jess McIntosh.

In a statement, EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said Shea-Porter "has been an effective advocate for women and working families throughout her career. A strong and progressive voice for New Hampshire, Carol has spent her career standing up for the rights of middle class families and working to increase access to quality education and health care. Carol's dedication and no-nonsense attitude are exactly what Washington needs and the entire EMILY's List community is thrilled to stand with her."

Shea-Porter was among five Democratic women running for the House recommended by EMILY's List to its members today.

The others were Shelley Adler of New Jersey, Kathy Boockvar of Pennsylvania, Julia Brownley of California and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The group has already endorsed Democratic candidate Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire's 2nd District.

Also on Friday, Guinta and fellow GOP Rep. Charlie Bass reacted to news reported earlier this week by Politico and the Granite Status that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved $520,000 worth of air time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day advertising to oppose them.

Both sent out fund-raising emails mentioning the planned expenditure.

"Liberals on TV!" was the subject of Guinta's email. Bass's plea was entitled "DCCC Tries to Buy New Hampshire."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, UPDATE: A WIN FOR THE NHGOP. A key Republican National Committee panel Thursday backed NHGOP committeewoman Phyllis Woods' proposal to no longer punish New Hampshire delegations to future national conventions if other states force the first-in-the-nation primary to be held as early as January in 2016 and beyond.

An amendment to the party rules sponsored by the outgoing Republican National Committeewoman from Dover was approved by a voice vote of the RNC's rules committee meeting this afternoon in Scottsdale, Ariz. While the vote was not a final passage, it did provide vital momentum as the plan now moves forward through the RNC process.

Woods said going into the meeting she though it had only a "50-50" chance of passing. She said afterward she was surprised at the ease at which the proposal was passed.

Woods said the vote "reinforces the intent of the RNC's existing rule that the early states be recognized as vital to the nominating process and should not be penalized if they are forced to move up."

Her plan now goes to the full RNC at its pre-Republican National Convention meeting in Tampa this summer. If passed there, it will have even more momentum as it's considered by the convention rules committee and, finally, the full national convention.

A significant faction of the RNC has long resented the early primary status of not only New Hampshire, but also Iowa, South Carolina and, more recently, Nevada.

But that sentiment wasn't evident Thursday, much to the surprise of the state RNC members at the meeting, who expected a tough battle.

"It's a great day," said Woods' fellow state RNC member, Steve Duprey.

"It's a tribute to Phyllis' leadership on this issue," added state GOP chairman Wayne MacDonald.

Duprey said, "We were cautiously optimistic going in because Phyllis, Wayne and I have been talking it up for some time, but I was surprised by how little opposition there was."

He said only one member of the rules committee stood up to voice concern and others who were expected to be in opposition remained silent.

Duprey said a few other key players stated that the early state status for New Hampshire and the others "is part of (the party's) history and has shown that it works well."

Woods is trying to amend the RNC rule because she felt it was unfair that Republicans in New Hampshire and the other early states should be penalized by the RNC and lose half their convention delegates because other so-called "rogue" states, by moving up their primaries or caucuses, force these early states to then move up their contests to January of the presidential election year.

The current RNC rules allows New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada to hold their contests a month ahead of all other states, but no earlier than Feb. 1.

This year, the Florida GOP decided to ignore the RNC and hold its primary on Jan. 31, in violation of the RNC's mandate that it be held no earlier than March 1. The Florida move prompted South Carolina Republicans to hold their first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 21.

In turn, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, following a state law that requires the Granite State to hold its primary seven days ahead of any "similar election," set New Hampshire's primary for Jan. 10.

As a result, the RNC is sanctioning New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida by allowing them to bring only 50 percent of their delegates to the Republican National Convention. Iowa, which held a caucus on Jan. 3, is allowed to bring a full delegation because its delegates were officially selected after Feb. 1. Nevada was not sanctioned because it held its caucus after Feb. 1.

For New Hampshire, it means only 12, instead of 23, delegates, will be allowed to participate in the Tampa convention.

Woods' proposed rule change would remove the Feb. 1 restriction for early state contests but still require them to hold their primaries or caucus no earlier than one month before "the next earliest state." It also keeps in place the existing requirement that the early primaries and caucuses must be held "in the year in which a national convention is held." That means state Republicans would still be punished if the primary is, in the future, held in December or earlier of the previous year.

Woods' plan won't undo the punishment levied by the RNC this year, but it would apply to 2016, and, once in the rule book, the likelihood is vastly increased that it would continue to be renewed in future cycles.

Duprey said the larger issue is that it finally appears the powerful RNC rules committee is accepting New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status. He said that in prior years, New Hampshire representatives on the RNC had to fight hard for the early-state "carve out."

"I still think the people who oppose any special status for the early states may try to come after us, but they could have done it today, and they didn't," he said.

"We're going to have to monitor the committee to see if any opposition develops going forward," Duprey said. "But in the years 20 years I've been doing this, this is the first time that people accepted that New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa and Nevada are carved out and should stay there, and it works."

While state Republicans have had to fight for early-state status at the RNC, it's been a different story in recent years for state Democrats. For the last two cycles, they received waivers from the Democratic National Committee and once again this year will be bringing a full delegation to their convention in Charlotte.

"I'm sensing more comfort or acceptance of our first-in-the-nation status," said NHGOP chair MacDonald. He said he believes the RNC, or at least key players in the RNC, are beginning to understand that "there is a case to be made for relatively small states vetting the candidates early in the process."

He said he and other key Granite State Republicans "will continue to pursue" getting a waiver from the existing rule this year so that a full delegation can be seated. "But to be honest, at this point I don't see that happening," MacDonald said.

(An earlier update and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, UPDATE: CONSERVATIVES TO GATHER. Conservatives and Republicans are expected to gather for two key events this weekend.

Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire president Corey Lewandowski says about 300 attendees are confirmed for its second annual "Conservative of the Year" banquet honoring New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, at the Grappone Center in Concord.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will appear as a guest speaker and former Gov. John H. Sununu will speak on behalf of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

On Saturday, Tea Party activists will gather at Guppey Park in Dover for an event entitled the "Jack's Back Save Our Republic Tea Party." Former state Republican Party chairman Jack Kimball, who has returned to chair the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC, is hosting.

Radio talk show host and conservative activist Jeff Chidester will emcee the event. Guest speakers include state Rep. Dan Itse, social conservative activist Karen Testerman, state GOP vice chairman Cliff Hurst, Gold Star Mother Natalie Healy and activist Irena Goddard.

"In the last several months I have been asked countless times, 'Where is the Tea Party?'" said Kimball, "and my response has been, 'We are here, and we are directly involved with taking back our republic.' Now it's time to get back out and become visible.

"The Tea Party folks are all still here," Kimball said. "We do not intend to let Occupy Walkl Street shape the dialogue in New Hampshire."

Also today, the Granite Status has learned that the state Republican Party is planning an annual dinner for May 30 at the Radisson hotel in Manchester. Details have yet to be announced.

(The full April 19 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19: QUARTERLY REPORTS. So, who's giving to whom? The quarterly reports are in, so it's a good time to take a look at the congressional races.

In the 2nd District, Democrat Ann McLane Kuster leads Republican incumbent Charlie Bass not only in overall fund-raising but also in the percentage of contributions received from individual donors, as opposed to PACs.

Kuster in the first quarter raised $348,024, with $267,290 from individuals and $80,189 from PACs. Since the 2010 election, she has raised $1.4 million, with $1.19 million coming from individuals and nearly $210,000 from PACs.

Bass raised $268,483 in the first quarter with $94,583 from individual donors and $173,900 from PACs. He's raised a total of $1.03 million since the 2010 election, with $336,714 from individuals and $691,537 from PACs.

Among the PACs making heavy contributions to Kuster are NARAL-PAC, New York Rep. Steve Israel's New York Jobs PAC, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the United Auto Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, United Steelworkers and Progressive Choices PAC.

While many of Kuster's individual donors are from New Hampshire, she did receive $1,000 from TV producer Stephen Bochco and $250 from Fox television executive Nancy Cotton.

Bass's PAC contributors included the AT&T, the Edison Electric Institute, Northeast Utilities, the National Restaurant Association, Lockheed Martin employees, the American Gas Association, Verizon, the Solar Energy Industries PAC and Boeing.

The second quarter began with Kuster having $1.03 million, and Bass, $790,416, on hand.

As expected, there has been a lot less money raised, spent and saved so far in the 1st District. Republican incumbent Frank Guinta in the first quarter raised $179,842, with $101,592 coming from individuals and $77,250 from PACs.

Since the 2010 election, Guinta has raised $962,672, with $521,417 from individuals and $441,254 from PACs.

Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter raised $101,289 in the first quarter, with $80,289 from individuals and $21,000 from PACs.

She has raised a total of $395,154 since the 2010 election, with $310,154 from individuals and $85,000 from PACs.

A sampling of Guinta's PAC contributions came from the American Bankers Association, Citizens Financial, Clear Channel Communications, Independent Community Bankers, Boeing, Liberty Mutual Insurance, AFLAC and AT&T. Sen. Kelly Ayotte's KellyPAC contributed $5,000.

Shea-Porter's PAC donors were the Teamsters, the AFSCME public workers union, Progressive Choices PAC and several contributions earmarked through the JStreet PAC, a self-described pro-Israel PAC supported by people who "believe that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to Israel's survival."

Guinta entered the second quarter with $674,747 on hand, while Shea-Porter reported having $183,159.

FORBES FOR OVIDE. Conservative financial magazine publisher and Fox News television personality Steve Forbes is endorsing fellow Republican Ovide Lamontagne for New Hampshire governor.

Forbes, a two-time presidential candidate, backed Lamontagne in his run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, a race Lamontagne narrowly lost in a party primary to Ayotte.

In backing Lamontagne in 2010, Forbes called him "a proven conservative leader of principle and conviction" who will be a "friend to taxpayers."

On May 8, Forbes will be featured at a reception for Lamontagne at the Devine Millimet law firm. On May 9, Lamontagne and Forbes will co-host a small business roundtable for regional small business leaders at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

MEETING VOTERS. We've learned that Republican Kevin Smith next week will be the first candidate for governor to announce a full schedule of open town hall meetings, something that's seen often during presidential races, but rarely on the gubernatorial level.

Smith's town halls, complete with Q & A from Granite Staters, will take place in all 10 counties during the next two months. He will discuss his "New Hampshire's Future Is Now" economic plan.

The schedule will include, but not be limited to, Kingston during the first week of May; Hudson, May 15; Dover, May 21; Laconia, May 22 or 23; Plymouth, May 29;

Newport, May 31; Conway and Berlin, June 5; Keene, June 11; Hampton, June 12; Bow, the week of June 18; Merrimack, June 20; Colebrook and Littleton, June 28.

TARGETING GUINTA, BASS. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is reserving $520,000 worth of advertising time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day buys.

A Democratic source confirmed the report in Politico, which said that the DCCC is preparing $32 million worth of broadcast ad buys nationally, targeting the seats of 26 GOP incumbents, including Guinta and Bass, as well as seven Democratic incumbents and three open seats.

Both New Hampshire congressmen, especially Bass, are viewed as vulnerable by the Democrats. As Politico noted, Democrats need to pick up 25 seats to gain control of the House.

According to a Democrat familiar with the planned buys, this is the first of multiple "waves" of advertising buys planned by the DCCC, some focusing on swing states where the presidential contenders will be vying.

The $520,000 planned to be spent at WMUR may focus on one or both of the races. To what degree one race takes precedence over the other -- or how much is actually spent in New Hampshire in total -- remains to be seen, although it is clear that the Bass race against Kuster will receive much attention from both sides.

"Congressmen Bass and Guinta were swept into office on a Tea Party wave that is now nowhere to be found," said DCCC regional press secretary Josh Schwerin. "Since then, both have voted to end Medicare while protecting tax breaks for billionaires and, in the process, proven that they are wildly out of touch with Granite State voters and extremely vulnerable in November."

A Republican source says he has been told by national GOP media buyers that WMUR has not yet heard from the DCCC regarding the buy.

"It's clear that Nancy Pelosi is planning to use her Washington special-interest money to boost Annie Kuster," said NHGOP executive director Tory Mazzola, "but the reality is that this is more smoke-and-mirrors because a meaningless reservation has no money behind it. If they really thought Kuster had a chance, they'd pre-pay, but that's a gamble they are not willing to take."

"Meaningless" or not, that didn't stop GOP state chairman Wayne MacDonald from immediately sending out a fund-raising email asking for contributions to counter "the overwhelming influx of advertising being shipped in for the Democrats from Washington."

O'BRIEN: NO MORE NAME-CALLING. House speaker Bill O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, after announcing his bid for reelection to the House and as speaker, said he realizes he's a target of the Democrats, but will ignore "name-calling."

Soon after we reported O'Brien's bid for reelection on Monday, state Democratic chairman Raymond Buckley said the speaker "has pursued a radical agenda: cutting funding for higher education in half, cutting health care for seniors and children, pushing for guns in college dorm rooms, as well as the State House, and trying to cut access to contraception for women."

The Democratic Party said the speaker "has become known for his tyrannical attitude and disregard for long-established House rules and traditions -- pushing through a vote to override the governor's veto without public notice; taking away aisle seats from disabled members who displease him; and removing from committee members that vote their consciences."

Buckley said he expects to have a strong opponent in O'Brien, whom he called "the poster boy for bad government."

House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli immediately solicited contributions for the House Democratic Caucus PAC through the party clearinghouse "ActBlue," saying, "The last two years have been devastating for Granite Staters."

But O'Brien said, "We really want to get past all this name-calling and false process stories and stories that say thing are happening now in a way that are different than in past terms."

He said he and members of his caucus this summer "will get out there and talk about a budget that has stopped over-spending.

"We've passed bills that have put in place intelligent deregulation and I think the results are beginning to show. The workforce in New Hampshire is growing."

As for the Democrats' criticisms, "On a personal level I know who I am, so it's not really a concern," O'Brien said. "In terms of its effect on politics in New Hampshire, it's unfortunate that we've now gone to this level of trying to engage people through name-calling. I hope the people require the opposition party to come up with specific policies."

O'Brien is looking to pass significant public-employee pension reform, welfare reform and a compromise education-funding constitutional amendment question for the voters this November.

Such an amendment resolution "has to be bipartisan because we won't get two-thirds of the vote unless we can say it came out of both parties."

He said that if a Republican governor is elected, it will lead "almost certainly" to right-to-work legislation, which he said would be "great for New Hampshire."

LILLY LEDBETTER HITS NHGOP. President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in New Hampshire recruited women's equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter for a conference call yesterday to criticize state Mazzola and Mitt Romney.

Ledbetter is the namesake for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations for filing discrimination lawsuits beyond the previous 180 days. It was the first piece of legislation Obama signed into law three years ago.

Mazzola was critical of the law this week, telling WBIN-TV, "Instead of being about fair pay, it is really about a handout to trial lawyers because it expands the areas that people can sue their employers unnecessarily."

Ledbetter said that Mazzola's comments "presumably show exactly where Mitt Romney stands on the issue."

Norelli and Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan also tried to tie the Mazzola comments to Romney.

Norelli said Romney has declined to say whether he would have signed the Ledbetter act.

Romney did say, however, that with the fair pay act now law, "It's certainly a piece of legislation I have no intention of changing."

Sullivan said that Mazzola, in his party post, "is a spokesperson not only for the NHGOP but also for the Republican candidates in the state, and that includes Mitt Romney."

The Obama campaign has been holding phone banks on the issue throughout the state this week.

Mazzola had no comment on the Democrats' criticism of him, but the Republican National Committee responded by saying that women "are being left behind in the Obama economy."

The RNC said that since Obama has been in office, women's unemployment has risen from 7 to 8.1 percent," fewer women are participating in the labor force and the poverty rate among women has risen.

"The past few years under Barack Obama have been devastating for American women," said RNC spokesperson Allie Brandenburger. "New Hampshire women and hardworking families cannot afford any more broken promises from Obama, they need real solutions to reduce our deficit and get our country back on track."

PARTY FUND-RAISING. New Hampshire Democrats lead the Republicans in fund-raising as the second quarter is now underway and general election preparations are picking up.

Looking at the two parties' federal accounts only, the state Democratic Party will report to the Federal Election Commission this week that in March, it took in $243,310, including $163,000 from the Democratic National Committee and $38,000 from individuals.

For the quarter, the NHDP raised $612,448, spent $545,472, and entered the second quarter with $210,988 on hand. The party will report debt totaling $35,414.

The state Republican Party during the same period raised $91,391, spent $76,473, and entered the second quarter with $45,545 on hand.

It reported debt of $52,988, split almost evenly between money owed to law firms in Manchester and Washington, D.C.

JULIANA'S NARROW WIN. Former Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron's victory in the contested race for Republican National Committeewoman was a narrow one last Saturday.

At the Republican State Committee meeting, she defeated Deputy House speaker Pam Tucker 175-170. We understand that Tucker supporters who were there were frustrated because others who had committed to Tucker did not show up.

Others said Tucker was hurt by being named in the controversial National Organization for Marriage full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader last week listing the names of all Republican House members who did not vote in favor of repeal of the same-sex marriage law.

Tucker had an excused absence.

On other hand, Bergeron worked hard quietly behind the scenes to earn the win and will succeed Phyllis Woods on the RNC at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention.

The state committee also voted in favor of a by-laws change to ensure that in the future a two-thirds vote of the party executive committee will be required to remove any of its members, including party officers. The measure addresses the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Jack Kimball as chairman earlier last year.

The state committee also voted to make it easier for county committee members to remove members who are inactive. And in another by-laws change, the state College Republicans were given a seat on the party executive committee.

QUICK TAKES:

-- Candidate for governor Smith plans a "Cowboy Up" fund-raiser featuring the Tom Dixon Band at Murphy's Tap Room in Manchester from 2 to 4 p.m. May 5.

-- Smith has responded to Democratic candidate for governor Hassan's criticism of his call for health-care reform. "Maggie Hassan is living up to the Democrat stereotype of crying wolf and scaring seniors," Smith said. "It's emblematic of how desperate the Democrats will be come November."

He said his plan "would not impact Medicare coverage," as Hassan charged, "services to seniors in New Hampshire, or change how the federal Medicare program is handled in the state."

-- Hassan yesterday picked up the endorsement of former Democratic state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock and former Republican state Sen. Mark Hounsell. The campaign also announced the endorsements of former State Rep. and former Nashua Democratic Chair Harvey Keye, Nashua Alderman Diane Sheehan, Coos County Democratic Chair David Mitchell of Whitefield, pro-choice advocate Christina D'Allesandro of Salem, and Bill Duncan, of Defending New Hampshire Public Education, from New Castle.

-- Manchester state Rep. Phil Greazzo officially kicked off his campaign for the New Hampshire District 20 State Senate seat on Wednesday evening with an announcement at the meeting of the Manchester Republican Committee. Greazzo will oppose Goffstown state Rep. John Hikel in a party primary. Incumbent Lou D'Allesandro is so far the only Democrat in the race.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


April 20, 2012 Friday
State Edition


Obama ad statements have truth, missing caveats


BYLINE: NANCY MADSEN


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B-01


LENGTH: 649 words


President Barack Obama is firing back at ads from the American Energy Alliance blaming him for high gas prices. Obama's campaign has been running a commercial of its own, tying Republican candidate Mitt Romney to Big Oil.

We examined the president's ad as part of our effort to fact check national political spots running in Virginia. The PolitiFact network has reviewed four of the claims in Obama's commercial -- either in direct response to the ad or because similar or identical charges have been made in the past.

Here is a summary of the items checked, with a few updates. To read the complete fact checks, go to PolitiFactVirginia.com.

Ad claim: "Under President Obama, domestic oil production is at an eight-year high"

PolitiFact examined similar statements in January and March, rating each Mostly True.

Oil production in 2011 did reach an eight-year high. The annual totals for the most recent eight years available -- 2004 to 2011 -- show a range from 1,811,817,000 barrels of oil extracted in the U.S. in 2008 to 2,065,366,000 last year.

But there are a few caveats to the numbers. Domestic production is still below levels from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Republicans make some strong points in arguing Obama's policies have little to do with the increase. Most growth in the past year occurred on private lands, which the president does not control. And Obama's numbers benefit from drilling policies that came from presidents before him.

Ad claim: Obama "is fighting to end" oil company tax breaks

The president is fighting on this front, but with little success. PolitiFact's national team said Obama's campaign promise to eliminate tax loopholes for oil companies has stalled.

Several attempts to dismantle about $21 billion in tax breaks over 10 years have failed to gain Congressional traction. They include his 2009 budget, the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act in 2011 and the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act in 2012. The measures would have reinstated royalty payments to the federal government by deepwater drillers in the Gulf of Mexico and ended deductions for a variety of drilling and development costs.

Ad claim: Obama "is raising mileage standards"

Obama signed regulations in 2009 that mandated cars and light trucks average 35.5 miles per gallon of gasoline by 2016. They went in effect in 2010, when such vehicles were averaging 28.3 miles a gallon. The action prompted a Promise Kept ruling from PolitiFact's national staff on Obama's campaign pledge to raise mileage standards.

Last year, the White House announced stricter standards for model years 2017-2025, which will require automobile manufacturers to create a car and light truck fleet that averages 54.5 mpg.

Ad claim: "In all these fights, Mitt Romney has stood with Big Oil, for their tax breaks, attacking higher mileage standards and renewables"

When a pro-Obama super PAC said on March 30 that Romney "pledged to protect" profits and tax breaks for oil companies, PolitiFact Florida rated the claim Half True.

Romney never took an explicit pledge, but he has criticized Obama's plan to end tax breaks for oil companies as a "$4 billion tax increase for oil and gas companies." Romney wants to reduce the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 25 percent. If that gets done, Romney said in an April 2 TV interview that he would be willing to consider eliminating some tax breaks for industries.

Romney has been critical of Obama's mileage standards, saying they will significantly increase the costs of producing and buying cars. He has said Obama is acting "more on faith than fact" when it comes to promoting renewable energy. "The 'green' technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace," the Romney campaign says in its energy platform.

nmadsen@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6739

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Tampa Bay Times


April 20, 2012 Friday
4 State / Suncoast Edition


ROCKS IN HIS HEAD


BYLINE: DANIEL RUTH


SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 13A


LENGTH: 686 words


Well, this much is pretty clear. Mitt Romney appears to have successfully locked up that pivotal D-list, has-been, aging rock 'n' roller vote.

Now that Ted Nugent has become Romney's senior moment adviser from the Planet Paranoia 7, the campaign is on to wooing Milli Vanilli, the surviving Monkees, Bobby Brown and a Kardashian to be named later.

Isn't a presidential campaign about dignity, always dignity?

In what appears to be a craven bid to be named ambassador to the Larry Flynt mansion, Nugent surmised the other day that if President Barack Obama is re-elected, by this time next year Nugent would be either "dead or in jail."

Some observers speculated that the Gen. Curtis LeMay of the NRA had just issued a not too thinly veiled threat against the president of the United States, something about which the Secret Service has absolutely no sense of humor.

This is silly of course. Nugent prefers shooting unsuspecting animals, sometimes using illegal commercial bait or a fenced-in controlled environment. This chap is not exactly Hemingway.

Nevertheless, agents were dispatched to the Nugent bunker to divine his intentions, which still had to be a better assignment than pulling the Cartagena card, where careers go to die.

It's more likely the noted author of Cat Scratch Fever was actually suggesting his vocal criticism of Obama meant it would be only a matter of time after the election before Seal Team 6 would be ordered by the leader of the free world to either: assassinate a fading celebrity who wouldn't make the cut on Dancing With the Stars,or place him in solitary confinement and force him to listen to Yoko Ono albums 24 hours a day.

In the addled brain of Ted Nugent, the president of the United States wakes up every morning and asks his national security adviser: "Quick, what did Ted Nugent say about me?"

This may be a humbling revelation to Nugent, but it's probable Obama doesn't give a rat's patootie about his political ramblings. The president has just one or two other more important issues to deal with.

Still, Mitt Romney ought to care that he just landed the endorsement of a guy whose attitudes toward the opposite sex make the Taliban look like a chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Throughout the campaign season, Republicans have been fending off accusations of being more misogynistic than Archie Bunker meets Ralph Kramden. And yet Romney practically went all weak in the knees over Nugent throwing his 16th century support in his general direction.

Even odder, apparently Romney courted Nugent's endorsement, which has to be a bit like seeking the nod of Pete Rose to get into Cooperstown.

Women are running away in droves from the GOP, yet Romney and his giddy sons thought the squeal of approval from the rocker was way cool.

Ted Nugent has a First Amendment right to stay whatever ditsy stuff he wants, including referring to many elected female Democrats as either b------, criminals, communists or "varmints." Varmints? In a free country you're free to be a bore.

For his part, all Romney could muster when he was informed he had just been endorsed by a guy who makes Ike Turner look like Phil Donahue was to issue a call for greater civility. It's a little late for that, Willard.

Would Romney be so circumspect if some critic characterized his wife Ann as a ..., well let's go with varmint? Unlikely.

Perhaps Romney is of the opinion the critical Nugent blessing will help with that rootin'-tootin', gun-toting, good ol' boy crowd. Maybe in Nugent, the uptight, pinched Romney can vicariously live out his inner Bubba yearning to keep women in the kitchen whipping up roadkill.

If Romney can't stand up to Ted Nugent and tell him to take his goober endorsement and hit the road, how would he handle Vladimir Putin when the Russian president decides to go all Cold War on everybody? Plead for greater civility?

As for Deliverance's answer to Cole Porter, for all the faux bravado and delusions of persecution, don't you suspect when the Secret Service badges showed up, Ted Nugent turned into a whimpering, apologetic ... well, let's go with varmint?

- druth@tampabay.com


LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: PHOTO - Associated Press: Musician and gun rights activist Ted Nugent addresses a seminar at the National Rifle Association's 2011 convention in Pittsburgh. Nugent met Thursday with the Secret Service to explain his remarks last weekend about President Barack Obama.


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Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin)


April 20, 2012 Friday
ALL EDITION


YOUR VIEWS


SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A13


LENGTH: 775 words


Duncan visit sheds light on education

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who visited Madison on Wednesday, has it right - no one knows what to do about the achievement gap. Theories abound, but there is no quick or cheap fix to help students achieve, especially when they live in poverty.

Madison's poverty rate is increasing, and our schools have over 900 students who are homeless. How do children without stable housing compete with peers who have the certainty of secure housing and regular, nutritious meals?

Unfortunately, Madison is soon to lose the leadership of schools Superintendent Dan Nerad, who had the courage to take on this issue and work with the community in seeking solutions.

Are we willing to have our taxes increased, and to keep trying different educational approaches if initial strategies fail?

Are we expecting a quick and cheap solution to closing the achievement gap?

Duncan also rightly criticized Gov. Scott Walker's cuts to public education and for demonizing teachers. If we value education and want Wisconsin students to be successful, we should applaud Nerad's efforts to address the achievement gap, support our teachers, and put our money where our values are.

- Mary Maronek, Madison

Gruesome TV ads single out smokers

Regarding the new anti-smoking TV ads, they are gruesome and scary to some people. Where do the people who make these commercials get the right to harass smokers with these ads? We don't see ads about what alcohol can and does do to your body.

There are many things we all use that can cause harm to people, but they are not depicted in ads on TV. How about people who have diabetes from too much sugar? They can end up losing body parts also.

These anti-smoking commercials are unfair and misleading to the public. If they are not harassment, I don't know what they are.

Be fair and don't make smokers look like people who don't care about their health.

- Randy Ree, Stoughton

Thanks to Walker, no Illinois mess here

Gov. Scott Walker, speaking in Springfield, Ill., and citing the mess in the Illinois state government - a huge budget deficit, underfunded pension system, recent 67 percent income tax increase and an unemployment rate higher than Wisconsin's - said: "Is it any wonder? It's because of the choices made right here in the state capital."

This is our governor, tried by fire yet somehow remaining above the fray, his convictions unruffled. Such panache!

Wisconsin voters, "yes, we can!"

- Juliette Sowl, Argyle

Dems must focus efforts to win recall

It is unfortunate at this time in Wisconsin's political history that, as Democrats, we probably will not defeat the Republican train in the recall because we cannot unify our forces in a joint effort to regain control of our future.

Our overall strongest candidate would have been former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, but that seems to be a dead issue because neither he nor the party has pushed him to take control and get us back on track.

You can't blame him - he has a nice job now at Marquette, too bad for our party. Thanks for all your years, Russ, but please don't let us go down the tubes this way.

And to have two strong candidates in separate areas of the state running against each other is only a benefit for the Republicans because it will split the vote. We need to stop working against each other and get behind one candidate to win the gubernatorial race.

Time is quickly running out for us to win back anything, either one candidate to run, or help from Feingold for more leadership.

- Steven Elliott, Portage

Goldberg wrong on youth and Obama

Jonah Goldberg began his Wednesday column with "President Barack Obama's re-election largely hinges on his ability to play young voters for suckers - again ..."

Do young voters think they got "played"? I was a 49-year-old sophomore at UW in November 2008. Yes, students were excited about a candidate who spoke their language, who saw the importance of "green energy."

Passé? Hardly. After four years of no progress, green energy is more of an issue than ever. These "kids" are going to be around for 60 more years. They aren't interested in kicking the can down the road for the next generation to solve. They are the next generation.

Goldberg and Mitt Romney's only hope is that they will blame Obama for the lack of progress rather than seeing it as his opponents doing just what they promised - opposing him at every turn, for political reasons. Sure, they might turn their backs on the whole system, but don't bet on it.

I was pleasantly amazed at how engaged and perceptive they are already. And this year there will be four more years worth of them. Suckers they are not!

- Kevin J. Mack, Madison


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


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Associated Press Online


April 20, 2012 Friday 12:57 PM GMT


Reports to detail post-Super Tuesday campaign cash


BYLINE: By JACK GILLUM, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 451 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


For the first time since the Super Tuesday primaries, voters are getting a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. And whether big-dollar donors are heeding President Barack Obama's belated call for supporting an independent political action committee.

Financial reports due Friday to the Federal Election Commission will also show how much red ink the campaigns are bleeding or, in the case of the Republican super PAC American Crossroads, how much money some groups have been stuffing in their war chests.

Indeed, much has changed since the March 6 Super Tuesday contests, when Republican voters in six out of 10 states chose Mitt Romney as their preferred nominee to compete against Obama. Rick Santorum has since folded his campaign, and Newt Gingrich has been working with a shoestring budget.

Obama's campaign already said it raised $53 million between it and the Democratic Party last month. But Friday's reports will detail just where his donors' money came from, and if he's added to an already-sizeable army of 500 paid staffers that as of March 1 was roughly five times the size of Romney's operation.

But Obama's fundraising advantage puts him at a less-than-solid position when compared with the tens of millions of dollars American Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, have amassed so far. During the last six months of 2011 alone, GPS brought in $28 million from only a few dozen major donors, recent tax filings show. Crossroads has said it plans to raise more than $300 million to beat Obama.

Countering Crossroads' millions in ad spending is Priorities USA Action, a super PAC founded by former Obama advisers. From early 2011 through the end of February, however, the group and its nonprofit arm raised about $10 million. Priorities USA Action, like other super PACs supporting GOP candidates, has counted on major financial support from a handful of wealthy donors.

Those include very generous donors like Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, who have given more than $10 million combined to a super PAC supporting Gingrich. It's unclear, however, if the Winning Our Future PAC will still receive big contributions from Adelson now that Romney is the presumptive nominee.

Obama, for his part, is facing the prospect of being swamped by outside Republican groups in fundraising. That's why he decided three months ago to reverse course and give his blessing to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

Most super PACs and presidential campaigns have until midnight Friday to submit their reports.

Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum


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Associated Press Online


April 20, 2012 Friday 6:38 PM GMT


Romney pulls in $12M as GOP super PAC amasses cash


BYLINE: By JACK GILLUM, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 665 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Mitt Romney's presidential campaign said it raised $12.6 million in contributions in March, adding to roughly $14 million his Republican Party brought in last month. But the combined figure still puts Romney at a disadvantage with the man whose job he wants in November.

President Barack Obama countered Romney's fundraising haul with about $53 million in donations between his campaign and the Democratic Party during the same period. Yet a fire hose of cash from a major GOP "super" political committee is likely to bring some financial parity to the race, and Romney just recently started collecting funds for the general election.

For the first time since Super Tuesday, voters are getting a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. Friday also marks nearly three months since Obama's campaign changed course and asked supporters to pony up cash to a favorable super PAC.

Financial reports due Friday to the Federal Election Commission will also show how much red ink struggling campaigns are bleeding or, in the case of the Republican super PAC American Crossroads, how much money some groups have been stuffing into their war chests. The Republican National Committee reported a March fundraising haul of $13.7 million, which will boost the eventual GOP nominee during the general election.

Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, raised a combined $100 million this election cycle, the group plans to announce Friday. Crossroads, backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove, has run TV ads critical of Obama and is expected to be a major player on the airwaves during the general election.

Indeed, much has changed since the March 6 Super Tuesday contests, when Republican voters in six out of 10 states chose Romney as their preferred nominee to compete against Obama. Rick Santorum has since folded his campaign, and Newt Gingrich has been working with a shoestring budget.

The fundraising flurry left Romney's campaign with about $10 million in the bank at the end of March; Obama had more than $84 million cash on hand by the end of February. At the same time, incumbents like Obama are likely to raise more money because they don't have costly primaries to face.

Still, Obama's fundraising advantage puts him at a less-than-solid position when compared with the tens of millions of dollars the sister Crossroads groups have amassed so far. During the last six months of 2011 alone, GPS brought in $28 million from only a few dozen major donors, recent tax filings show. Crossroads has said it plans to raise more than $300 million to beat Obama.

Countering Crossroads' millions in ad spending is Priorities USA Action, a super PAC founded by former Obama advisers. From early 2011 through the end of February, however, the group and its nonprofit arm raised about $10 million. Priorities USA Action, like other super PACs supporting GOP candidates, has counted on major financial support from a handful of wealthy donors.

Those include very generous donors like Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, who have given more than $10 million combined to a super PAC supporting Gingrich. It's unclear, however, if the Winning Our Future PAC will still receive big contributions from Adelson now that Romney is the presumptive nominee.

Obama, for his part, is facing the prospect of being swamped by outside Republican groups in fundraising. That's why he decided three months ago to reverse course and give his blessing to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

Friday's reports will detail just where the president's campaign donors' money came from, and if he's added to an already sizable army of 500 paid staffers that, as of March 1, was roughly five times the size of Romney's operation.

Most super PACs and presidential campaigns have until midnight Friday to submit their reports.

Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackgillum


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Associated Press Online


April 20, 2012 Friday 8:49 PM GMT


Romney pulls in $12M as Obama builds war chest


BYLINE: By JACK GILLUM, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 813 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Mitt Romney's presidential campaign raised $12.6 million in contributions in March, adding to roughly $14 million his Republican Party brought in last month. But the combined figure puts Romney at a disadvantage with the man whose job he wants in November.

President Barack Obama countered Romney's fundraising haul with about $53 million in donations between his campaign and the Democratic Party during the same period. That left his campaign with $104 million cash on hand about 10 times more than the $10 million Romney had in the bank at the end of March.

Yet a fire hose of cash from a major GOP "super" political committee is likely to bring some financial parity to the race, and Romney just recently started collecting funds for the general election. Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Romney, raised about $8.6 million last month, largely from a handful of wealthy donors. It spent more than $11 million on ads.

For the first time since Super Tuesday, voters are getting a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. Friday also marks nearly three months since Obama's campaign changed course and asked supporters to pony up cash to a favorable super PAC.

Financial reports due Friday to the Federal Election Commission will also show how much red ink struggling campaigns are bleeding or, in the case of the Republican super PAC American Crossroads, how much money some groups have been stuffing into their war chests. The Republican National Committee reported a March fundraising haul of $13.7 million, which will boost the eventual GOP nominee during the general election.

Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, raised a combined $100 million this election cycle, the group plans to announce Friday. Crossroads, backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove, has run TV ads critical of Obama and is expected to be a major player on the airwaves during the general election.

Indeed, much has changed since the March 6 Super Tuesday contests, when Republican voters in six out of 10 states chose Romney as their preferred nominee to compete against Obama. Rick Santorum has since folded his campaign, and Newt Gingrich has been working with a shoestring budget.

Still, Obama's fundraising advantage puts him at a less-than-solid position when compared with the tens of millions of dollars the sister Crossroads groups have amassed so far. During the last six months of 2011 alone, GPS brought in $28 million from only a few dozen major donors, recent tax filings show. Crossroads has said it plans to raise more than $300 million to beat Obama.

Countering Crossroads' millions in ad spending is Priorities USA Action, a super PAC founded by former Obama advisers. From early 2011 through the end of February, however, the group and its nonprofit arm raised about $10 million. Priorities USA Action, like other super PACs supporting GOP candidates, has counted on major financial support from a handful of wealthy donors.

Those include very generous donors like Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, who have given more than $10 million combined to a super PAC supporting Gingrich. It's unclear, however, if the Winning Our Future PAC will still receive big contributions from Adelson now that Romney is the presumptive nominee.

The largest March contribution to Restore Our Future was $1 million from Huron Carbon LLC, a firm based in West Palm Beach, Fla. The company's owner is not revealed in the super PAC files, but it shares a street and suite address with Oxbow Carbon LLC, a fossil-fuel processor and mining firm headed by energy magnate William Koch. Regulatory filings also show a similarly named Canadian firm, Huron Carbon, with ties to Great Lakes Carbon, a company bought by Oxbow in 2007.

Oxbow had previously given $750,000 to the pro-Romney committee and Koch made an earlier personal contribution of $250,000. Koch is a brother of wealthy GOP donors Charles and David Koch, and while William Koch also supports many GOP causes, he has also at times supported Democrats. Oxbow is a fossil fuels processor and mining operation that has pressed for changes to laws and regulations on mining, safety issues and climate change.

Obama, for his part, is facing the prospect of being swamped by outside Republican groups in fundraising. That's why he decided three months ago to reverse course and give his blessing to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

Friday's reports show that Obama has about 600 paid campaign staffers. Romney, meanwhile, had fewer than 100 on his payroll, records show.

Most super PACs and presidential campaigns have until midnight Friday to submit their reports.

Associated Press writer Stephen Braun contributed to this report.

Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackgillum


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


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Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont)


April 21, 2012 Saturday


World in Brief


SECTION: NEWS


LENGTH: 1447 words


Saturday April 21, 2012

Early in national race, Obama and Romney are chasing each other through key states

President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are in the cat-and-mouse stage of their national race, chasing each other around the map as they jockey for position.

The GOP nomination assured, Romney marched this week through three states vital to both men.

In North Carolina, which Obama narrowly won in 2008 but where Republicans see an opening this year, Romney taunted the president with a slashing attack delivered across from the Charlotte stadium where Obama will give his Democratic convention acceptance speech in September.

The trip mirrored 2008. That year, after dispatching primary rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama went to St. Paul, Minn., for a victory speech that helped him pivot toward John McCain. It was no coincidence that he spoke in the same hall where Republicans would later formally nominate McCain.

Obama visits North Carolina early next week. As Romney spoke there this week, Obama was campaigning in Ohio -- his fourth visit since January. He carried the state in 2008 but faces a harder time now.

Pakistani jet carrying 127 crashes amid storm near Islamabad; all feared dead

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Emergency workers with flashlights searched the smoldering wreckage of a passenger jet carrying 127 people that crashed into a muddy wheat field Friday while trying to land in a violent thunderstorm at Islamabad's main airport.

The government said there appeared to be no survivors in the crash of the Boeing 737-200 near Benazir Bhutto International Airport -- the second major air disaster in the Pakistani capital in less than two years.

Sobbing relatives of those aboard the Bhoja Air flight from Karachi to Islamabad rushed to airports in both cities for news of their loved ones.

One rescue official asked residents to bring sheets to cover the remains of the dead, and smashed seats and other wreckage was spread over a wide area near the airport, along with clothing and jewelry belonging to passengers.

Bhoja Air, a domestic carrier that has just four planes, only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 due to financial difficulties.

Relatives listen in horror as Norwegian gunman describes hunting down victims

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Norwegians who lost loved ones on Utoya island relived the horror Friday as far-right fanatic Anders Behring Breivik described in harrowing detail how he gunned down teenagers as they fled in panic or froze before him, paralyzed with fear.

Survivors and victims' relatives hugged and sobbed, trying to comfort each other during the graphic testimony.

"I'm going back to my hometown tonight. My husband, he's going to drive me out to the sea, and I'm going to take a walk there and I'm going to scream my head off," said Christin Bjelland, whose teenage son survived the attack.

Breivik's defense lawyers had warned their client's testimony would be difficult to hear. Still, the shock was palpable in the 200-seat courtroom as the self-styled anti-Islamic militant rolled out his gruesome account, without any sign of emotion.

A man who lost a son squeezed his eyes shut, his pain palpable. A man to his left put a comforting hand to his shoulder, while a woman to his right clutched onto him, resting her forehead against his arm.

Zimmerman takes witness stand, apologizes for shooting Martin; gets $150K bail

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- A routine bail hearing for George Zimmerman took a surprising turn into remorse and explanation Friday when the neighborhood watch volunteer got on the witness stand and told Trayvon Martin's parents: "I am sorry for the loss of your son."

"I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not," Zimmerman said, marking the first time he has spoken publicly about the Feb. 26 shooting of the unarmed black 17-year-old.

The hearing wrapped up with a judge ruling Zimmerman can be released from jail on $150,000 bail while he awaits trial on second-degree murder charges. Zimmerman, who has been in jail for more than a week, could be out within days and may be allowed to live outside Florida for his own safety once arrangements are made to monitor him electronically.

Defendants often testify about their financial assets at bail hearings, but it is highly unusual for them to address the charges, and rarer still to apologize.

An attorney for Martin's parents, who were in the courtroom when Zimmerman spoke, spurned the apology. The parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, had no comment as they left.

West Virginia senator Manchin says unsure whether he'll vote for Obama or Romney

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he's unsure whether he'll vote for his party's leader, President Barack Obama, or the likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

In a statement Friday, the West Virginia lawmaker said he had "some real differences" with both leaders, finding fault with Obama's energy and economic policies while questioning whether Romney could understand the challenges facing ordinary people.

"I strongly believe that every American should always be rooting for our president to do well, no matter which political party that he or she might belong to," Manchin said. "With that being said, many West Virginians believe the last 3 1/2 years haven't been good for us, but we're hopeful that they can get better."

Manchin, one of the more moderate Senate Democrats, has broken with his party on several issues as he seeks re-election this year. His state has backed the Republican candidate in the last three presidential elections, and Obama did not fare well in 2008. Obama lost to GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, 56-43 percent, and was overwhelmed by Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary, losing 67-26 percent.

Manchin, the former governor who won the Senate seat in 2010, remains popular in West Virginia and is not considered vulnerable in his rematch against Republican John Raese.

Workers excavate basement in search
for NYC child
missing since 1979

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investigators ripped up the basement floor of a Manhattan building Friday in a hunt for the remains of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy who disappeared on his way to school in 1979.

Utility workers with jackhammers and saws helped chip away an area around aging pipes, then law enforcers wearing workmen's gloves carried out the basketball-size chunks of rubble and carefully placed them in bins. The material will be sifted and then taken elsewhere for testing.

The space being excavated was about a block from the bus stop where Etan was headed when he vanished. It is one of the few secluded places, easily accessible from the street, that sat along his two-block walk to the bus from his home.

At the time, part of the basement was being used as a workshop by Othniel Miller, a neighborhood handyman who had been friendly with the family.

Police and FBI officials haven't named a suspect in the case.

Romney raises nearly $13M in March as Obama amasses $104M

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mitt Romney's presidential campaign raised $12.6 million in contributions in March, adding to roughly $14 million his Republican Party brought in last month. But the combined figure puts Romney at a disadvantage with the man whose job he wants in November.

President Barack Obama countered Romney's fundraising haul with about $53 million in donations between his campaign and the Democratic Party during the same period. That left his campaign with $104 million cash on hand -- about 10 times more than the $10 million Romney had in the bank at the end of March.

Yet a fire hose of cash from a major GOP "super" political committee is likely to bring some financial parity to the race, and Romney just recently started collecting funds for the general election. Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Romney, raised about $8.6 million last month, largely from a handful of wealthy donors. It spent more than $11 million on ads.

For the first time since Super Tuesday, voters are getting a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. Friday also marks nearly three months since Obama's campaign changed course and asked supporters to pony up cash to a favorable super PAC.

Financial reports due Friday to the Federal Election Commission will also show how much red ink struggling campaigns are bleeding -- or, in the case of the Republican super PAC American Crossroads, how much money some groups have been stuffing into their war chests. The Republican National Committee reported a March fundraising haul of $13.7 million, which will boost the eventual GOP nominee during the general election.


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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170 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 21, 2012 Saturday 7:13 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1981 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Alaska-Nugent-Bear-Hunt 4a

Rocker Ted Nugent has agreed to pay a fine and record public service announcements that promote ethical hunting practices as part of a deal to plead guilty to transporting a black bear he illegally killed in Alaska, according to court documents.

South-Africa-Zuma 4a

South African President Jacob Zuma married his longterm fiancee, making her one of four current wives, a government spokesman said. Syria-Unrest

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet Saturday and vote on a resolution that would expand the size of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Western diplomats said.

Sudans Conflict 330a

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Sudan and South Sudan to resolve their outstanding issues through dialogue and avoid a return to war amid soaring tensions between the neighboring nations.

India-Train 430a

A man was arrested Saturday after traveling on a train with 30 detonators and other explosives, CNN affiliate is reporting.

Pakistan-Plane-Crash (will update as merits)

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Islamabad just before it was to land at a nearby airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

POL-Weekly-Addresses (6 a.m.)

President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to begin pressuring Congress to extend a provision that would keep interest rates on federally subsidized student loans at a low 3.4%. Meanwhile, Republicans chose to focus on energy in their weekly address, delivered Saturday by Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 monitoring

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the nation's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday, while opposition activists accused the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations.

Syria-Unrest monitoring

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet Saturday and vote on a resolution that would expand the size of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Western diplomats said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Pakistan-Plane-Crash

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Islamabad just before it was to land at a nearby airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

US-Secret-Service

Three more Secret Service employees have "chosen to resign" in the wake of a prostitution scandal that emerged last week, the agency said in a news release Friday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (with Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline and Florida-Zimmerman-Details)

George Zimmerman apologized Friday to the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African-American teen that he shot in a confrontation that riveted a nation and sparked intense discussions about race, racial profiling and gun laws.

INTERNATIONAL

Norway-Breivik-Trial

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, gave chilling details at his trial Friday of the gun rampage in which he systematically shot dead scores of young people.

France-Election

France's presidential contenders are making their final appeal to voters Friday on the last day of campaigning before they go to the polls Sunday.

French-Election-Five-Things

Five things to know about the French election.

Syria-Unrest

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet on Saturday and vote on a resolution that would expand the size of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Western diplomats said.

Mexico-Deadly-Wreck

Forty-three people were killed and 18 injured Friday morning in a roadway crash involving a bus in the state of Veracruz, the governor's office said.

Egypt-NGOs

Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans charged for overstepping in their pro-democracy work in Egypt, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Egypt-Election-Protests

The scene Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square felt familiar. Only this time, the protest came ahead of critical elections. Thousands of Egyptians from across the political spectrum turned out at the iconic plaza unified in their opposition to remnants of Hosni Mubarak's regime and in their determination to protect the goals of a hard-fought revolution.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 (SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-Prince-Ecclestone)

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the country's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday, while opposition activists accused the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations in advance of the race. The Bahrain Grand Prix is set to run Sunday.

Bahrain-F1-Explainer

Democracy campaigners in Bahrain and politicians around the world are calling for this Sunday's Formula 1 race in the Gulf state to be canceled as violent clashes continue between activists and authorities. What are the issues around the controversy, and how are the sport and its fans reacting?

.

U.S.A.

North-Carolina-Death-Revoked

A North Carolina judge set aside the death sentence of a convicted killer after concluding Friday that race played a role in the case, a landmark ruling that may call into question a number of death row cases in the state. The ruling by Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks, the first under the state's controversial Racial Justice Act, means that 38-year-old Marcus Robinson now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Robinson, who is black, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect, which involved the closure of a busy California interstate highway, ended Friday night with authorities shooting and killing the suspect.

Florida-Zimmerman-Details

For nearly two months, George Zimmerman has been largely a cipher, a riddle whose voice has been heard only in 911 calls reporting a young man acting "real suspicious." On Friday, the world learned more about Zimmerman as he, his wife and parents testified during a hearing in Sanford, Florida, to decide whether he would be released on bond while awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge in the February 26 death of Trayvon Martin.

Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline

Here's a look at the timeline of events in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the ensuing uproar.

California-Marine-Wife-Dead

A 25-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the California death of a deployed Marine's wife, San Diego County authorities said Friday.

Kansas-Inmates

Investigators in Kansas have captured a convicted murderer who escaped from jail this week along with three other inmates, authorities said Friday.

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation

A carpenter whose former Manhattan basement is the scene of an exhaustive search for clues about Etan Patz said Friday through his lawyer that he had no involvement in the 6-year-old boy's disappearance more than three decades ago.

US-Etan-Patz-Case-Significance

More than 30 years ago, 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished from a Manhattan street on his way to a school bus stop. His parents never saw him again. The case -- lately reopened by police -- riveted millions. It also changed the country. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement."

US-Coast-Guard-Suspends-Search

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a pilot who for hours circled above the Gulf of Mexico in his twin-engine Cessna 421 before crashing into the water, the guard said Friday.

US-Toyota-subpoenas-auto-advocate

Toyota Motor Corp. has subpoenaed Sean Kane, an auto safety advocate and outspoken critic of the company, asking that he hand over his communications with the media, Congress, government agencies and individual Toyota drivers inquiring about sudden unintended acceleration.

US-University-Colorado-marijuana-rally

Steps taken to thwart a public marijuana smoking event Friday at the University of Colorado appear to have worked. Protesters who gathered at a quad on the campus for the customary 4:20 light-up time dispersed without an apparent toke.

US-NRC-Chairman

Hoping to fight off a firestorm that erupted this week on Capitol Hill over the renomination of the only woman appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko on Friday denied allegations he targeted women and created a hostile work environment.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect continued Friday afternoon after a busy California interstate highway between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento reopened after a six-hour closure.

MED-Walgreens-Prescription-Settlement

Walgreens will pay governments $7.9 million in a settlement reached amid allegations the drugstore chain illegally paid kickbacks so that prescriptions would be transferred to its pharmacies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Romney-Arizona-Speech

With the Republican primary fight comfortably in his rear view mirror, Mitt Romney made an appeal for party unity Friday in a speech to GOP leaders from around the country.

POL-Romney-GOP-Delegates

Members of the Republican National Committee gathering in Arizona were invited to meet with Mitt Romney in private Friday and have their pictures taken with the presumptive GOP nominee, but there was a price of admission: loyalty.

POL-Kyl-Endorses-Romney

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl threw his support behind Mitt Romney, the candidate's campaign announced Friday.

POL-Romney-Kobach-Adviser

Controversial anti-illegal immigration activist Kris Kobach is an "informal adviser" to Mitt Romney, a spokeswoman for the likely GOP nominee confirmed to CNN.

POL-Jeb-Bush-Romney

Jeb Bush, whose endorsement of Mitt Romney helped secure the candidate as the all-but-certain GOP nominee, said an interview Romney should avoid the urge to wage a negative campaign. The popular former Florida governor also offered up his pick for Romney's running mate, and said he'd consider a spot on the GOP ticket if asked.

POL-Daniels-Romney-Advice

Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had some advice for Mitt Romney this week, describing the likely Republican nominee's campaign for the White House as too negative.

POL-Romney-Rubio-Campaign

A rising Republican star considered to be on the party's vice presidential short list will campaign on Monday with likely nominee Mitt Romney, campaign officials told CNN.

FEATURES

ENT-Dick-Clark-Cremation

Dick Clark, the music impresario and host of "American Bandstand" who died this week, has been cremated, his representative said Friday.

ENT-TheWeight-Lyrics-Debate

The late Levon Helm, who died Thursday, had a wonderfully distinctive voice, but his drawling delivery didn't always make it easy to discern the words of The Band's songs -- which only added to the music's charm.

ENT-bachelor-lawsuit-diversity

Reality programming has long featured contestants of color in their casts. Competition shows like "Amazing Race," "The Biggest Loser" and "Dancing with the Stars" have featured diverse contestants since their inaugural seasons in 2001, 2004 and 2005, respectively. But while African-Americans, Asians and Latinos can be seen racing around the world, losing weight and dancing the paso doble on TV, dating shows continue to be far less inclusive.

ENT-lucky-one-review

No doubt there is a sizeable audience primed for the latest Nicholas Sparks flick, and chances are quite a chunk of that crowd is looking forward to seeing how former teen idol Zac Efron sizes up now he's graduated from "High School Musical."

MONEY-Rich-Ross-John-Carter

The titular hero in the sci-fi epic "John Carter" slayed evil aliens, decimated enemy armies -- and now, he's killed Rich Ross' position as chairman at Walt Disney Studios.


LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



171 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 21, 2012 Saturday 3:28 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4287 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

North-Carolina-Death-Revoked 12:30a

A convicted murderer was taken off death row on Friday, after a North Carolina judge invoked a law barring anyone from being executed if the court determines that sentence "was sought or obtained on the basis of race." The ruling, issued by Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks, means that Marcus Robinson now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, not a death sentence. Robinson, who is African-American, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994.

Syria-Unrest

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet Saturday and vote on a resolution that would expand the size of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Western diplomats said.

Pakistan-Plane-Crash (will update as merits)

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Islamabad just before it was to land at a nearby airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure (will update as merits)

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect continued Friday afternoon after a busy California interstate highway between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento reopened after a six-hour closure.

POL-Weekly-Addresses (6 a.m.)

President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to begin pressuring Congress to extend a provision that would keep interest rates on federally subsidized student loans at a low 3.4%. Meanwhile, Republicans chose to focus on energy in their weekly address, delivered Saturday by Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 monitoring

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the nation's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday, while opposition activists accused the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Pakistan-Plane-Crash

A commercial airplane carrying 127 people crashed Friday in Islamabad just before it was to land at a nearby airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which cited poor weather as a possible factor. No survivors have been found, officials said.

US-Secret-Service

Three more Secret Service employees have "chosen to resign" in the wake of a prostitution scandal that emerged last week, the agency said in a news release Friday.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (with Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline and Florida-Zimmerman-Details)

George Zimmerman apologized Friday to the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African-American teen that he shot in a confrontation that riveted a nation and sparked intense discussions about race, racial profiling and gun laws.

INTERNATIONAL

Norway-Breivik-Trial

Anders Behring Breivik, who admits killing 77 people in Norway last summer, gave chilling details at his trial Friday of the gun rampage in which he systematically shot dead scores of young people.

France-Election

France's presidential contenders are making their final appeal to voters Friday on the last day of campaigning before they go to the polls Sunday.

French-Election-Five-Things

Five things to know about the French election.

Syria-Unrest

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet on Saturday and vote on a resolution that would expand the size of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Western diplomats said.

Mexico-Deadly-Wreck

Forty-three people were killed and 18 injured Friday morning in a roadway crash involving a bus in the state of Veracruz, the governor's office said.

Egypt-NGOs

Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans charged for overstepping in their pro-democracy work in Egypt, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Egypt-Election-Protests

The scene Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square felt familiar. Only this time, the protest came ahead of critical elections. Thousands of Egyptians from across the political spectrum turned out at the iconic plaza unified in their opposition to remnants of Hosni Mubarak's regime and in their determination to protect the goals of a hard-fought revolution.

Bahrain-Unrest-F1 (SPORT-Motorsport-Bahrain-Prince-Ecclestone)

The Bahrain Grand Prix will act as a unifying force amid the country's unrest, the Bahraini government said Friday, while opposition activists accused the Gulf kingdom's rulers of cracking down on demonstrations in advance of the race. The Bahrain Grand Prix is set to run Sunday.

Bahrain-F1-Explainer

Democracy campaigners in Bahrain and politicians around the world are calling for this Sunday's Formula 1 race in the Gulf state to be canceled as violent clashes continue between activists and authorities. What are the issues around the controversy, and how are the sport and its fans reacting?

Japan-Bear-Attacks

Two female employees were found mauled to death Friday after six bears escaped their enclosure at a park in northern Japan, a local fire official told CNN.

US-Cyberattack-Warning

On April 27, 2007, the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia -- one of the most wired countries in the world -- was hit with a massive cyberattack. Websites for banks, government ministries, newspapers, Parliament and media outlets were paralyzed, swamped by a distributed denial of service attack. "We were frankly shocked when this happened," said Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. "Botnets attacked all aspects of society." He contends it was "political act" in which Russia, angered over Estonia's decision to move a Soviet-era statue dedicated to a World War II Russian soldier in Tallinn, tried to shut down the country. Russia has always denied the charge.

TRAVEL-Cruise-Ship-Apology

An American cruise line said Friday it "deeply regrets" the deaths of two Panamanian fishermen amid claims that one of its cruise ships failed to help their stranded boat.

Sudans-Disputed-Region

South Sudan announced Friday it was withdrawing its troops from a contested oil-rich area it seized last week in a move that escalated tensions and fears of a return to war with Sudan.

Pakistan-Attack

Authorities were still searching Friday for hundreds of inmates that were freed after Taliban militants raided a northwest Pakistan prison, including Adnan Rashid who was convicted of trying to murder former President Pervez Musharraf.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

The Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party are unlikely to attend the first session of parliament since their election amid a dispute over the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take, a party spokesman said Friday.

China-react-india-missle

China downplayed India's successful missile launch this week, saying that the two sides are not rivals but cooperating partners.

North-Korea-Chinese-Truck

After weeks of military analysts examining the latest North Korean rocket before and after it's failed launch, now the focus has turned to a truck.

Guinea-Bissau-Coup

Guinea-Bissau political parties announced a president to lead a transitional government that would rule for up to two years, the proposed timeframe for planning new elections.

Iraq-artist-george-bush-shoe-thrower

An Iraqi artist is inspired by the George W Bush shoe thrower. To Iraqi artist Hanaa' Malallah her shoes are weapons of mass destruction that appear in many of her works. Her inspiration is an incident in 2008, when Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at former president George W. Bush, five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The invasion was aimed at rooting out Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, but U.S. inspectors eventually conceded that he did not have any.

MONEY-Imf-Funding-G20

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that it has received commitments from several nations for more than $430 billion in additional funding to guard against global risks.

MONEY-Ecb-Euro-Financing

The European Central Bank has pulled out all the stops over the past few months to prevent a credit crunch by providing banks with (EURO)1 trillion in ultra-low cost financing.

MONEY-Argentina-Energy-Takeover

Argentina's government announced a brazen takeover of the country's largest energy company this week, potentially quashing a domestic shale gas boom.

MONEY-japan-olympus-board

Shareholders of the Olympus Corp. are widely expected to approve a new board Friday despite objections from a vocal minority of shareholders seeking new management that can distance the company from the $1.7 billion cover-up that rocked Japan Inc.

SPORT-Golf-China-Guan

He created history as the youngest player to participate in a European Tour event but 13-year-old Guan Tian-lang's debut did not have the dream ending he was hoping for.

SPORT-motorsport-sebastian-vettel-f1

Sebastian Vettel is hoping to kickstart his season in Bahrain this weekend as he continues his bid to win a third consecutive world drivers' championship.

SPORT-Football-El-Clasico-Real-Barcelona

Arch rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid meet for the sixth time this season Saturday in an El Clasico clash which is likely to decide the destination of the Spanish title.

SPORT-tennis-serbia-fed-cup

Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic is hoping to lead Serbia to a historic first Fed Cup final in Moscow this weekend.

SPORT-Tennis-Djokovic-Murray-Carlo

An emotional Novak Djokovic claimed his late grandfather was with him in spirit as he beat Robin Haase to reach the last four of the Monte Carlo Masters.

SPORT-Olympics-Ennis-London-Gold

She's one of Great Britain's brightest medal hopes ahead of the London Olympics but Jessica Ennis isn't relying on home comforts to help land her a maiden Games gold. The heptathlete has had numerous chances to visit the newly-built Olympic Stadium in the east of the English capital and steal a march on her rivals. But the 25-year-old insists she wants her first trip to the arena to come when she takes to the track to make up for the disappointment of missing the 2008 Games in Beijing.

U.S.A.

Florida-Zimmerman-Details

For nearly two months, George Zimmerman has been largely a cipher, a riddle whose voice has been heard only in 911 calls reporting a young man acting "real suspicious." On Friday, the world learned more about Zimmerman as he, his wife and parents testified during a hearing in Sanford, Florida, to decide whether he would be released on bond while awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge in the February 26 death of Trayvon Martin.

Florida-Zimmerman-Timeline

Here's a look at the timeline of events in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the ensuing uproar.

California-Marine-Wife-Dead

A 25-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the California death of a deployed Marine's wife, San Diego County authorities said Friday.

Kansas-Inmates

Investigators in Kansas have captured a convicted murderer who escaped from jail this week along with three other inmates, authorities said Friday.

New-York-Etan-Patz-Investigation

A carpenter whose former Manhattan basement is the scene of an exhaustive search for clues about Etan Patz said Friday through his lawyer that he had no involvement in the 6-year-old boy's disappearance more than three decades ago.

US-Etan-Patz-Case-Significance

More than 30 years ago, 6-year-old Etan Patz vanished from a Manhattan street on his way to a school bus stop. His parents never saw him again. The case -- lately reopened by police -- riveted millions. It also changed the country. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement."

US-Coast-Guard-Suspends-Search

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a pilot who for hours circled above the Gulf of Mexico in his twin-engine Cessna 421 before crashing into the water, the guard said Friday.

US-Toyota-subpoenas-auto-advocate

Toyota Motor Corp. has subpoenaed Sean Kane, an auto safety advocate and outspoken critic of the company, asking that he hand over his communications with the media, Congress, government agencies and individual Toyota drivers inquiring about sudden unintended acceleration.

US-University-Colorado-marijuana-rally

Steps taken to thwart a public marijuana smoking event Friday at the University of Colorado appear to have worked. Protesters who gathered at a quad on the campus for the customary 4:20 light-up time dispersed without an apparent toke.

US-NRC-Chairman

Hoping to fight off a firestorm that erupted this week on Capitol Hill over the renomination of the only woman appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko on Friday denied allegations he targeted women and created a hostile work environment.

TRAVEL-California-Interstate-Closure

The intense search for an armed carjacking suspect continued Friday afternoon after a busy California interstate highway between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento reopened after a six-hour closure.

MED-Walgreens-Prescription-Settlement

Walgreens will pay governments $7.9 million in a settlement reached amid allegations the drugstore chain illegally paid kickbacks so that prescriptions would be transferred to its pharmacies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.

TECH-facebook-privacy-policy

Facebook unveiled changes to its terms-of-use document on Friday, tweaking earlier drafts in an apparent effort to ease users' concerns about privacy and how their information is used.

POL-Poll-Economy-Mood

The number of Americans who think things are going well in the country is on the rise, according to a new national poll.

POL-Progressives-Target-Democrats

A progressive group is again taking on some Democratic state legislators, calling on Friday for them to drop their membership or association with the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC bills itself as a think tank and research resource that brings together state legislators and private business leaders. It says it does not lobby, but holds meetings which bring together legislators and business leaders, as well as provides draft legislation and research to state policymakers.

MONEY-Us-Airways-American-Airlines

Workers for three American Airlines unions have agreed to support a potential merger with US Airways Group, according to a US Air document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Energy-Fire-Sale

Can Chesapeake Energy's chief executive pull yet another rabbit out of his hat? To plug what's been estimated as a $9.2 billion gap between Chesapeake Energy's 2012 capital expenditures and its cash flow, CEO Aubrey McClendon needs to sell assets fast.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Friday, as investors welcomed another round of strong earnings from corporate America and positive news out of Europe.

MONEY-Student-Loans

President Obama will use his bully pulpit to urge lawmakers to prevent a doubling of interest rates on federally subsidized student loans. On July 1, the interest rate on federal subsidized loans will go from 3.4% to 6.8%. That means students taking out loans for the next school year will have to dig deeper in their pockets to pay them off.

MONEY-Social-Security-Medicare

Critical to reining in the United States' long-term debt will be finding ways to control the burgeoning costs of Medicare and Social Security, both of which will face serious funding shortfalls over the next two decades. On Monday, the trustees of those programs will offer their annual update on just when those shortfalls will occur.

POL-Breitbart-Autopsy

Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger whose posting of a sexually explicit photo of former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner led to the congressman's downfall, died of heart failure, the Los Angeles County Coroner said in an autopsy report released Friday.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Romney-Arizona-Speech

With the Republican primary fight comfortably in his rear view mirror, Mitt Romney made an appeal for party unity Friday in a speech to GOP leaders from around the country.

POL-Romney-GOP-Delegates

Members of the Republican National Committee gathering in Arizona were invited to meet with Mitt Romney in private Friday and have their pictures taken with the presumptive GOP nominee, but there was a price of admission: loyalty.

POL-Kyl-Endorses-Romney

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl threw his support behind Mitt Romney, the candidate's campaign announced Friday.

POL-Romney-Kobach-Adviser

Controversial anti-illegal immigration activist Kris Kobach is an "informal adviser" to Mitt Romney, a spokeswoman for the likely GOP nominee confirmed to CNN.

POL-Jeb-Bush-Romney

Jeb Bush, whose endorsement of Mitt Romney helped secure the candidate as the all-but-certain GOP nominee, said an interview Romney should avoid the urge to wage a negative campaign. The popular former Florida governor also offered up his pick for Romney's running mate, and said he'd consider a spot on the GOP ticket if asked.

POL-Daniels-Romney-Advice

Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had some advice for Mitt Romney this week, describing the likely Republican nominee's campaign for the White House as too negative.

POL-Romney-Rubio-Campaign

A rising Republican star considered to be on the party's vice presidential short list will campaign on Monday with likely nominee Mitt Romney, campaign officials told CNN.

POL-Romney-Superpac-Fundraising

The primary pro-Mitt Romney super PAC raised $8.7 million in March but also spent heavily, pouring $12.7 million into the month before his primary rival for the GOP nomination withdrew.

POL-Romney-March-Fundraising

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign says they raised nearly $12.6 million in primary funds in March.

POL-Obama-March-Fundraising

President Barack Obama's reelection team increased their war chest by roughly $20 million in March, bringing the incumbent Democrats' cash on hand funds to just over $104 million, more than ten times the amount his likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney declared in federal filings Friday.

POL-Manchin-Vote-Unsure

As a Democrat in conservative West Virginia, Sen. Joe Manchin has sought to make his independence clear. And that independence might just extend all the way to the November voting booth, as the senator -- who is up for re-election - said in a report published Thursday that he might not cast a ballot for the top name on his party's ticket, President Barack Obama.

POL-Paul-Fundraising

Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign says they raised more than $2.6 million last month, bringing to nearly $10.4 million the amount they took in during the first quarter of this year.

POL-Gingrich-Secret-Service

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign continued to face outrage and claims of "wasteful spending" of taxpayer money on Friday as the candidate keeps his Secret Service detail, which could cost north of $40,000 per day. "Newt Gingrich just needs to really do the right thing and do the particularly responsible thing and say, 'Okay, I don't need Secret Service protection anymore,'" David Williams, president of the taxpayers watchdog group Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told CNN.

POL-Santorum-Campaign-Debt

Rick Santorum's now-suspended campaign for the Republican presidential nomination raised just over $5 million last month, bringing to $18.6 million the campaign brought in over the first three months of the year.

POL-Gingrich-March-Fundraising

Newt Gingrich's struggling bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is more than $4 million in debt, according to federal fund-raising figures for March the campaign submitted to the government Friday.

POL-American-Crossroads-Fundraising

A pro-GOP independent super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove says it has raised nearly $100 million so far this campaign cycle.

POL-RNC-Facebook-Campaign

Tapping into the online social networks of voters is a top priority for the digital strategists working for President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney -- and no site offers a larger trove of personal data than Facebook. Now the Republican National Committee is getting into the social media game.

COMMENTARY-Waldman-Prebuttal

Mitt Romney has been using campaign strategy of "pre-buttal" and "bracketing." He idea is to undercut Obama's speeches around the country by getting there first with remarks.

POL-Hatch-Utah-Convention

Sen. Orrin Hatch's political future rests in the hands of 4,000 delegates who will select the party's nominee at Saturday's state Republican convention. In the last year, the six-term incumbent spent millions of dollars to fend off challenges from candidates and outside groups seeking to drive him out of the Senate - a fate that so far looks unlikely for Hatch.

POL-Brown-Warren-Taxes

Sen. Scott Brown's campaign cried "hypocrite" at Elizabeth Warren on Friday over her decision not to pay the optional higher tax rate on her state return. Warren, the Democrat who's challenging Brown for his U.S. senate seat in Massachusetts, has been a stalwart advocate for the so-called Buffett Rule--a proposal advanced by the Obama administration that calls on people making more than $1 million a year to pay federal taxes amounting to at least 30% of their income.

FEATURES

ENT-Dick-Clark-Cremation

Dick Clark, the music impresario and host of "American Bandstand" who died this week, has been cremated, his representative said Friday.

ENT-TheWeight-Lyrics-Debate

The late Levon Helm, who died Thursday, had a wonderfully distinctive voice, but his drawling delivery didn't always make it easy to discern the words of The Band's songs -- which only added to the music's charm.

ENT-bachelor-lawsuit-diversity

Reality programming has long featured contestants of color in their casts. Competition shows like "Amazing Race," "The Biggest Loser" and "Dancing with the Stars" have featured diverse contestants since their inaugural seasons in 2001, 2004 and 2005, respectively. But while African-Americans, Asians and Latinos can be seen racing around the world, losing weight and dancing the paso doble on TV, dating shows continue to be far less inclusive.

ENT-lucky-one-review

No doubt there is a sizeable audience primed for the latest Nicholas Sparks flick, and chances are quite a chunk of that crowd is looking forward to seeing how former teen idol Zac Efron sizes up now he's graduated from "High School Musical."

MONEY-Rich-Ross-John-Carter

The titular hero in the sci-fi epic "John Carter" slayed evil aliens, decimated enemy armies -- and now, he's killed Rich Ross' position as chairman at Walt Disney Studios.

MONEY-Your-Bofa

What would Bank of America look like if it were owned by its customers? YourBofA.com, a parody site launched this week, lets the crowd take a stab at answering that question. Mimicking the real Bank of America site's look, it takes scathing aim at the bank's missteps and invites visitors to share their ideas about what a taxpayer-owned Bank of America should do. Several thousand contributors have already sent in suggestions.

MONEY-Saving-Vs-Spending-Moneymag

I'm 39 with $1.2 million saved. Can I finally live it up?

FEA-Bible-Marketing

Professor David Capes says the Bible "is probably the most owned and least read book out there. That's because, for many, it's too difficult to understand."

FEA-Mormon-Gays

Kevin Kloosterman, a former Mormon bishop, said he "came out" last year -- just not in the way that many people associate with coming out.

FEA-college-roommate-tips

It's that time of year when colleges and universities send out acceptance letters. For prospective students, the euphoria of knowing where they're heading for that first taste of independent living may be mixed with some anxiety about whom they'll be living with. How do I pick a roommate? What if we don't get along? Have no fear! The Schools of Thought blog is here with some college roommate survival tips.

MED-bicycle-injuries

Bicycle injuries: Is the right-of-way fight getting ugly?

TRAVEL-national-park-week

Perhaps you've been to the Everglades, toured Yosemite or visited Point Reyes National Seashore and discovered the glorious nature and historical events celebrated and protected by our national parks. Ever been to the longest cave in the world? Or the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier islands in the world? Known to many national park aficionados who collect park passport stamps, the lesser-known national parks throughout the country are also worthy of your visit. Parks will have special programming during National Park Week, April 21-29. And parks that charge admission will waive their fees that week, adding to their allure.

TECH-kinect-star-wars-review

Whenever anything involves the "Star Wars" franchise, there are certain expectations that need to be met to satisfy die-hard, and even casual, fans. So when a new video game wants to bring "Star Wars" to life like never before, that's setting the bar really high. "Kinect Star Wars" tries to use the power of the Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 to put players into the action, using full-body motions to wield lightsabers, drive podracers and, unfortunately, dance for Jabba the Hutt. The game has a few high points but also has more disappointments than a bad motivator on a defective R2 unit.

COMMENTARY-brazile-earth-day-bp

Why we must remember the BP oil spill.

COMMENTARY-risman-mommy-war

Phony "mommy wars" avoid real issues for women.

COMMENTARY-robinson-secret-service

Secret Service still the best and the brightest.

COMMENTARY-rodin-plan-b-world

To prepare for disasters, have a Plan B.

COMMENTARY-Zuckerman-Gergen-Discovery

What Space Shuttle Discovery has inspired in us.

COMMENTARY-Slim-Syria-uprisings

A game changer for Syria?

COMMENTARY-bahrain-f1-hunger-strike

While sports fans tune in to the Bahrain Grand Prix, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja languishes in detention. He's been on a hunger strike for more than 70 days.


LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



172 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)


April 21, 2012 Saturday


Political ads, Big Bird too


LENGTH: 474 words


The following editorial appeared recently in the Los Angeles Times: Once upon a time there was something called "educational television," which harnessed the technological marvel of a new medium to provide children and adults with edifying programming uncorrupted by advertising. Today, public radio and television continue to devote more attention to educational programs than commercial broadcasters do, but they also seek to entertain viewers of all ages with features ? such as British sitcoms, quiz shows, animal adventures and rock 'n' roll retrospectives ?

that duplicate those on commercial stations. And the programming is punctuated by corporate "sponsorship statements" that are advertisements by another name. Given these changes, a federal appeals court decision last week allowing public stations to air political and campaign advertisements is not that dramatic a development. Last week the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 2-1 vote, struck down on First Amendment grounds a congressional ban on such advertising, while upholding a prohibition on ads by profit-making companies. Under Supreme Court precedents, restrictions on free speech by federally licensed broadcasters must be "narrowly tailored to further a substantial governmental interest." In this case, the asserted interest was Congress' desire to preserve educational programming on public stations. In the court's main opinion, Judge Carlos T. Bea concluded that Congress had good reason to worry that the lure of revenue from ads for commercial products might induce public broadcasters to replace educational programming with fare more likely to garner higher ratings. But Bea said there wasn't "substantial evidence in the record before Congress" to suggest that children's and other educational programming would be similarly endangered by a station's acceptance of political ads. (He ridiculed the notion that a station eager for political ads might air a cartoon in which Mitt Romney or Barack Obama fought crime alongside Superman or Batman.) One can accuse the court of not giving proper deference to Congress' desire to keep public broadcasting ad free. But even if this case had been resolved differently, the notion of public television as a safe harbor from advertising would be a quaint one. In his concurring opinion, Judge John T. Noonan Jr. wrote: "As a viewer of 'Jim Lehrer NewsHour' and its successor, I have seen announcements that to my mind are ads. For example, I have viewed Charles Schwab's message, 'Talk to Chuck' ? it is not about Chuck's golf game." From "Talk to Chuck" to "Vote for Barack" isn't that big a leap. In both cases, one would hope that the proceeds from such advertising would be used to defray the cost of the educational programming that is still more common on public stations than on their commercial counterparts.


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The New York Times


April 21, 2012 Saturday
Late Edition - Final


In Strategy Shift, Obama Team Attacks Romney From the Left


BYLINE: By HELENE COOPER


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; CAMPAIGN MEMO; Pg. 13


LENGTH: 1156 words


WASHINGTON -- So long, flip-flopper. Hello, right-wing extremist.

Mitt Romney may be inclined to start moving to the political center now that he's practically got the Republican nomination won and done, but the Obama campaign would much rather keep him right where he's been for the past few months: in the conservative territory he staked out while battling for Republican primary voters.

After months of depicting Mr. Romney as the ultimate squishy, double-talking, no-core soul, Team Obama is shifting gears. Senior administration officials, along with Democratic and campaign officials, all say their strategy now will be to tell the world that Mr. Romney has a core after all -- and it's deep red.

Mr. Romney's overheard remarks at a fund-raiser in Florida on Sunday night that, if elected, he planned to slash government programs (though he has not spelled that out for the voters) gave Obama backers the perfect opening, and they jumped on it. ''Mitt Romney Tells Rich Voters His Secret Plan to Cut Housing Assistance,'' said a headline from ThinkProgress, a blog put out by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Democratic officials followed that up with a call to reporters on Thursday charging that Mr. Romney's proposal would ''cut critical funds for homeless veterans.''

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama's advisers saw another chance, and they were all over that, too. Hours after Mr. Romney accepted the endorsement of Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, the Democratic National Committee was out with an ad ''Mitt Romney and Tom Corbett: Too Extreme for Women.'' The traditional spooky music accompanies video of Mr. Corbett defending his advocacy of a proposal that could make women undergo ultrasounds before receiving abortions, and saying women could ''close their eyes'' if they didn't want to see what was on the screen.

''Did Mitt Romney close his eyes to accept this endorsement?'' the D.N.C. said in an e-mail it helpfully sent to reporters trumpeting the advertisement. ''Probably not, since Mitt Romney's positions mirror those of the extreme elements of his party,'' the e-mail continued, going on to list a host of conservative Romney positions that Democrats hope will alienate women.

For Mr. Obama, the decision to start going after Mr. Romney from the left is as much a logical evolution as is any attempt by Mr. Romney to move to the center, in particular Mr. Romney's effort now to try to woo Hispanic and female voters who may have been alienated by some of the talk coming out of the Republican primary.

As the general election heats up, a central battlefield promises to be the fights for suburban women in crucial swing states like Florida, Ohio and Colorado, and both camps are now trying to prove their bona fides with that population. When added to recent data that shows an increase in Hispanic voters in key states, the Obama campaign sees an opening to paint Mr. Romney as out of touch among both women and Hispanics.

As far as the Romney campaign is concerned, officials say that efforts to paint their candidate as an extremist will not fly. ''They are grasping at straws,'' said Andrea Saul, Mr. Romney's spokeswoman. ''The Obama campaign first said President Obama was going to run on his record and the election would be a referendum on his handling of the economy. When it was clear that wouldn't work, his team said they were going to adopt a 'Kill Mitt' strategy. Then came the plan to run against President Bush again, and then, against Congress. Next they tried to claim Governor Romney had no core.''

Ms. Saul said that while ''each new day brings a different made-up attack from the Obama campaign, what doesn't change is the fact that President Obama has failed and so is going to try to tear down Mitt Romney instead of talking about his record.''

Still, voters should ready themselves for reminders from the Obama campaign that Mr. Romney proposed eliminating Title X, the only federal program devoted to family planning, that he suggested letting the foreclosure process ''run its course and hit the bottom,'' and that he staked out a position on immigration that was to the right of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. The campaign will make certain it is well known that Mr. Romney just agreed to be the commencement speaker at the conservative Liberty University; in fact, within minutes of Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.'s announcement on Thursday, Democratic operatives were e-mailing the news around.

''Mitt Romney has spent the last two years taking the most extreme positions of his party, whether it's on economic policy or social policy,'' said Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager of Mr. Obama's re-election team. ''He can try to flip-flop to the center, but who is going to believe him?''

David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser, said in a telephone interview, ''Whether it's tax policy, whether it's his approach to abortion, gay rights, immigration, he's the most conservative nominee that they've had going back to Goldwater.'' He added that ''one of the key issues in the campaign is to make sure people know that.''

But what about David Axelrod's Twitter feed, which has, nonstop for the past few months, seemed fixated on a depiction of Mr. Romney as the ultimate feather in the wind? (''Yesterday, Mitt predicted victory. Today, he says 3d would be fine. He can't even stick to the same position on THAT!'' Mr. Axelrod, an Obama adviser, said on Twitter on the morning of the Iowa caucuses in January.)

Obama strategists insist they're not flip-flopping on the flip-flopper label, which they believe can serve them well at any given moment. But there appears to be a clear realization that for general election purposes, they may do better with an emphasis on Mr. Romney's conservative stances.

The reason goes back to the very thing that has, all along, made Mr. Romney the candidate whom the Obama campaign has always viewed as the most formidable out of the Republican herd. Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, the architect of a health care plan which is remarkably similar to Mr. Obama's signature domestic policy item, is still viewed among many independents as something of a moderate, and as such, he is more dangerous to Mr. Obama in a general election than the rest of the Republican field.

That viewpoint made Mr. Romney vulnerable during the Republican primaries and at least partly explains his fierce embrace of conservation positions to offset Republican doubts. But it may make him tougher to beat in November. Mr. Romney himself seemed to acknowledge his need to move to the center during his overheard remarks on Sunday, when he told supporters that ''we have to get Hispanic voters to vote for our party,'' and warned that big Latino support for Mr. Obama ''spells doom for us.'' While he did not explicitly endorse a Republican proposal to chart a path to legality for the offspring of illegal residents, he didn't dismiss the idea either.


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LOAD-DATE: April 21, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: After months of depicting Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper, the Obama campaign is determined to remind voters of Mr. Romney's conservative stances on issues. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
After Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania endorsed Mr. Romney, an ad by Democrats tagged both as ''Too Extreme for Women.'' (PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN HELLER/ASSOCIATED PRESS)


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The Washington Post


April 21, 2012 Saturday
Suburban Edition


Divergent plans of political attack


BYLINE: Dan Eggen


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1055 words


With just more than six months to go before the November elections, two distinct strategies have emerged among political interest groups: an air war on the right and a ground game on the left.

A cadre of super PACs and nonprofit groups backing Republicans plans to spend more than $450 million to oppose President Obama and other Democrats, relying almost exclusively on waves of radio and television ads that will wash over battleground states in coming months. The onslaught has begun as Republican groups strive to damage Obama's standing ahead of the parties' national conventions this summer.

Liberal groups, by contrast, are focused more heavily on grass-roots organizing, led by labor unions that hope to spend more than $400 million to rally their members and nonunionized voters against likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and other Republicans.

The differing strategies mean that voters, particularly in swing states, probably will be inundated with television advertisements attacking Obama well beyond whatever the Romney campaign airs. At the same time, many voters also will encounter swarms of canvassers handing out fliers and knocking on doors in support of Democrats.

Each side is banking on the idea that its approach will help shift the balance in what is shaping up to be a close-fought campaign.

The efforts underscore the prominent role that interest groups will play in the 2012 elections, when their spending could exceed $1 billion. For Democrats, unions are particularly crucial because liberal super PACs and nonprofit organizations have fallen far short of their conservative counterparts in fundraising.

The spending by interest groups comes on top of ambitious goals set by the Obama and Romney campaigns, each of which has suggested to donors that it could meet or exceed Obama's record-setting haul of $745 million in 2008.

Groups on both sides also are taking full advantage of court rulings that have loosened limits on election activities. Well-funded conservative groups are attracting $10 million checksfrom wealthy financiers and corporations that are no longer restricted in their political giving.

Labor organizations, meanwhile, have been able to cast away regulations that made it harder for them to fish for votes among nonunion households.

The contrast already is becoming clear in swing states such as Ohio, where the conservative group Crossroads GPS is blitzing the airwaves this month with TV ads attacking Obama's energy policies.

Labor-backed groups in the state, in the meantime, are focused on canvassing drives to register voters, support Democrats and push for the defeat of a proposed anti-union state ballot initiative.

"What we're doing is much more grass-roots than what the other side is doing," said Michael Gillis, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO of Ohio, which has about 600,000 members. "We have Ohio working people talking to Ohio working people about the issues. It's a sharp contrast with the air war that the other side wages with their rhetoric and outside money financing the whole thing."

But the major conservative groups believe grass-roots organizing is best left to Romney and the Republican National Committee.

"A lot of us don't think it's efficient for outside groups to do ground-game activities," said one super PAC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. "The campaign finance laws are set up to allow the parties to do that, and we believe they do it quite well. Our added value will be on the airwaves."

Labor organizations have long been shackled by limits on their political activity that required them to confine much of their canvassing and get-out-the-vote effort to union members, whose numbers have been steadily dwindling.

But now, unions have concluded they can ignore such restrictions under the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which freed corporations and unions to spend unlimited funds on elections.

The ruling paved the way for the super PACs that have had enormous success, particularly among conservatives, in raising money from wealthy donors with no restrictions.

But labor lawyers say the decision also means that unions can use their treasury funds to encourage nonunion members to vote for specific candidates, a tactic that was barred under previous laws.

"It's always been the bread and butter of labor that we had our ground game, but this really expands the possibilities," said Eddie Vale, spokesman for Workers' Voice, a super PAC formed by the AFL-CIO that plans to focus on grass-roots organizing.

Democrats are relying on such efforts to help counter the high-dollar fundraising of conservative groups. Three of the leading organizations backing Romney and other Republicans - American Crossroads, Restore Our Future and the American Action Network - plan to spend well over $300 million between now and November. Tens of millions more will be spent by Republican-leaning interest groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS groups, said independent conservative groups are "a counterbalance to the long-term influence that labor unions have had on the political process for decades. . . . What's going on on the right is clearly balanced out by the labor unions."

The environmental lobby is also a major player on the left. The League of Conservation Voters, for example, is planning a mix of grass-roots organizing and media buys, including a pro-Obama ad campaign to be launched next week.

Union leaders are coy about their specific plans but say they hope to match the estimated $450 million spent by unions and their political action committees in 2008.

The biggest spender, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, says it expects to surpass the $93 million it spent four years ago on federal, state and local elections. Another major player, the National Education Association, a teachers union, also hopes to beat its 2008 total of $50 million, officials said.

"There are so many different ways to go at voters, but at some point what's really going to matter is who's in your network, who's in your community, and who do you trust?" said Carrie Pugh, campaign manager for the 3.2 million-member NEA. "We are banking on our members."

eggend@washpost.com


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Austin American-Statesman (Texas)


April 22, 2012 Sunday
FINAL Edition


POLITIFACT TEXAS


BYLINE: Compiled by the American-Statesman Politifact Texas team


SECTION: INSIGHT; Pg. E03


LENGTH: 538 words


These items are explained at greater length, with detailed source lists, on our website, www.politifacttexas.com.

Elizabeth Ames Jones

Statement:

She balanced a $10 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes.

Mostly False

Now running in a Republican primary for Texas Senate, the former state representative and railroad commissioner took too much credit in a campaign ad about budget balancing, saying at one point "she did it." Actually, the full Legislature did it - voting in 2003 to balance the 2004-05 state budget in the face of a $10 billion revenue shortfall and without raising taxes. Jones gets some credit for being a member of the budget-drafting House Appropriations Committee at the time, but plenty of other legislators could say they "did it," too.

Charlie Gonzalez

Statement: Mitt Romney, while he was in Arizona, said he believes the state's SB 1070 immigration law should be the model for national immigration laws.

False

The Democratic congressman misinterpreted a remark that Romney made at a presidential debate. Romney called Arizona a "model" because of a law requiring employers to use the E-Verify system to ensure that employees are authorized to work in the United States. That's not part of the SB 1070 law that would give Arizona police more power to identify illegal immigrants. The Obama administration is challenging the SB 1070 law in court. Romney promised to drop the federal challenges to Arizona's law if elected president, but he didn't call the controversial SB 1070 law a model for the nation.

Susan Combs

Statement: The 2011 Legislature did not cut Texas public school funding.

Pants on Fire

"Well, we didn't actually cut it. I think the number was that we actually put in about $2 billion, if my recollections from what I read, but it was not the amount that they would have spent. So it was not less, but it was not as much," the state comptroller told an audience recently. Legislators actually added $150 million to the portion of school funding that comes from general revenue, but they cut elsewhere. Most significantly, the Legislature altered finance formulas so schools would get $4 billion less than if the formulas had stayed the same. All told, the legislated reduction in education funding added up to more than $5 billion through 2012-13.

Roger Williams

Statement: 'The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded ObamaCare will cost the U.S. more than 800,000 jobs.'

Mostly False

Williams, a U.S. House candidate, is not the first to seize on a Congressional Budget Office projection that the health law "will reduce the amount of labor used in the economy by a small amount- roughly half a percent- primarily by reducing the amount of labor that workers choose to supply." That projection equals the 800,000 jobs Williams mentioned. But the CBO wasn't saying that employers will cut jobs, as Williams suggests. Instead, it was arguing that some people seek employment for the health benefits. Once some of those workers have other options under the health care law, the CBO reasoned, they might choose to stop working.

Find coverage of Texas issues at politifacttexas.com.

Contact Politifact Texas at

Twitter: @politifacttexas

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Email: politifact@statesman.com

 
 

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The Christian Science Monitor


April 22, 2012 Sunday


With all this natural gas, who needs oil?;
It's home-grown, plentiful, and touted as the best way to wean the US off Mideast oil. But there are limits to how far the US can tilt toward a natural gas economy.


BYLINE: Alexandra Marks Correspondent


LENGTH: 3809 words


Bob Mann leans against his wife's 2006 Volkswagen Jetta in his tool-packed garage. The mechanic and inventor has just converted the car, which is the color of a ripe crab apple, to run on natural gas. He shakes his head.

"It's a no-brainer. We could jump-start the economy overnight, put 100,000 people to work - easy - and help the environment," says Mr. Mann, a former Volkswagen technician who's as comfortable talking about global energy solutions as he is around a socket wrench.

From his suburban home in a wooded neighborhood once known for its shipbuilding prowess, Mann is crafting automotive gadgets for a future that many believe could help solve the nation's long-intractable energy woes - one fueled mostly by natural gas. During the past five years, Mann has converted more than 10 cars to run on compressed natural gas, in addition to gasoline, using a device he invented, the "CNG Fogger," which boosts the vehicles' mileage. Commuters in the Boston area have snapped up his cars from Craigs­list as have CNG enthusiasts as far away as Wisconsin. Mann has also built a CNG race car and wants to design another to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

His big dream, though, is to create an affordable CNG home fueling station so that anyone who has access to a natural gas line for cooking or heating can also fill up a car, just as he and his wife do. Instead of paying $4 a gallon at the pump, it costs them 60 cents for the equivalent amount of natural gas.

"My wife loves it - she's already saving $180 a month," he says. "What I don't understand is what we are doing sending billions of dollars overseas to buy oil when we've got a 100-year supply of natural gas right under our feet?"

Neither do many others. Natural gas has suddenly become almost everyone's favorite chassis for building an energy independent future. Many people on both sides of the drilling divide view the current abundance of the low-cost fuel as a "global game changer" - an energy source that will help wean the United States off Mideast oil, alter the nation's foreign policy, spur jobs and boost the economy, and reduce greenhouse gases.

President Obama has pledged to "take every possible action to safely develop this energy." Mitt Romney calls the domestic gas "a godsend." Energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, an early natural gas booster, contends it's "obvious" that Washington should enact policies to encourage natural gas production and use throughout the economy.

"Do we have to take advantage of this?" asks Mr. Pickens, with his characteristic Texas Panhandle pragmatism. "Well, if you don't, you're going to go down in history as the biggest fools that ever came to town."

Almost since the birth of the Industrial Age, Americans have fixated at one time or another on different answers to the country's energy needs. Oil has always been the constant, but the splitting of the atom led to talk of a nuclear-powered economy. Coal, because of its abundance, was once a king. In the 1970s, a roster of renewables - solar, geothermal, wind, waves - inspired visions of a post-Mideast, self-sufficient utopia.

Now along comes natural gas, oil's quiet fossil fuel sibling. Like many energy sources, it holds both promise and peril. America does harbor large supplies of the fuel, which would help it break free of the vicissitudes of Arab sheikhdoms.

Yet extracting it from shale is causing new environmental concerns, and the historic volatility of domestic supplies evokes old issues of reliability.

Which leaves one fundamental question: How far can America really tilt toward a natural gas economy?

* * *

No one disputes the prevalence of natural gas in America's basement. For evidence look no further than an Erector Set of pipes and docks and storage tanks in the marshes of Sabine Pass, La., on the edge of the Gulf Coast. There, Houston-based company Cheniere Energy Inc., which opened the facility four years ago to import natural gas amid an impending shortage, is now spending billions to transform it into an export site.

In fact, as recently as five years ago, oil and gas executives thought the nation's accessible natural gas reserves were almost played out. The industry was proposing building 47 import terminals to bring liquefied natural gas into the US. Five were actually constructed. Now most of them sit underutilized.

In March natural gas imports hit a 20-year low while domestic production hit a 20-year high. The US is now the largest producer of natural gas in the world.

The dramatic turnaround in supply is a product of technological advances and high oil prices. Hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling technique, has made it possible to access trillions of cubic feet of natural gas locked in shale formations deep beneath vast swaths of the country. High oil prices have made it economical to extract.

The US Department of Energy estimates that 482 trillion cubic feet of natural gas exists in the US. At the current rate of consumption, that's a 90-year supply.

"In a very short period of time, it has completely transformed the outlook for energy in the United States," says Mary Barcella, a natural gas expert at IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass.

Natural gas already plays a major role in the American economy. It's the primary way more than half of Americans heat their homes and cook their food. It's also used to generate one-third of the nation's electricity and is a major component in the chemical and manufacturing industries. Almost daily, its footprint is expanding because of the sudden surfeit of supply and low prices.

Just consider the nation's highways.

* * *

Ralph Nastro likes to boast that in his new truck he can now "drive and barbecue" at the same time. Just a month ago, Suburban Disposal Inc., a big New Jersey waste and recycling firm, assigned him its first roll-off garbage truck powered by CNG.

While filling up at the new CNG pump at a Gulf station at Newark Airport, he says other truckers have ribbed him about his green Peterbilt cab with the flowers painted on it. But he likes it. "It's cleaner burning. There's no smell. You don't get the diesel on you. It's nice," says the New Jersey garbage collector. "And I'm contributing to the environment, so why not?"

Transportation may be the key frontier natural gas will have to conquer if it is going to dramatically change America's energy future. Traditionally, changing people's driving habits - convincing them of the virtues of alternative-fuel vehicles - is not an easy task. Just look at how many electric vehicles are on the road today, after years of promised "revolutions."

Yet natural gas vehicles are catching on, particularly in the one area where alternative-fuel experimentation usually starts - trucks and commercial fleets. Last year, almost 40 percent of the trash-hauling trucks and 25 percent of the transit buses purchased in the US were fueled by natural gas, according to NGVAmerica, a trade group in Washington. During the past few years, billions of dollars have been invested in infrastructure such as wells, pipelines, and natural gas fueling stations, to support them.

On car lots, the new Honda Civic Natural Gas Vehicle, now available in 38 states, is selling briskly. Chrysler has sped up development of CNG medium- and light-duty trucks; the bifuel vehicles will be available later this year. General Motors will be offering NGV trucks in 2012 as well.

Still, no one should necessarily rush out and trade in their conventional Malibu or Mountaineer just yet. Overall, 112,000 natural gas vehicles now ply US roadways, which represents less than 1 percent of the country's total vehicle fleet. One problem remains setting up the network of fueling depots that can support a growing fleet of CNG vehicles.

Currently, only 1,100 natural gas fueling stations exist like the one at Newark's Airport Plaza where Mr. Nastro was gassing up. About half of those are public. The rest are operated by trucking companies and other large fleet operators. Compare that with the estimated 150,000 gasoline stations that dot intersections in almost every town in America.

There's also the hard reality of history. In the 1990s, many large fleet operators invested millions of dollars and shifted to natural gas because of its lower price and environmental advantages. Then came hurricanes Rita and Katrina, which knocked out some vital natural gas pipelines. Soon afterward, analysts raised fears that domestic natural gas supplies were being depleted. Prices soared. Many fleet operators shifted back to diesel.

Still, advocates believe the shale gas revolution has fundamentally changed the energy landscape. This time, they argue, using domestic gas for transportation is a viable and stable option. "It's not just the abundance of the shale gas; it's the geographic diversity," says Kathryn Clay of America's National Gas Alliance in Washington. "With new parts of the country becoming players, we're not going to suffer from bottlenecks in the interstate pipelines."

Such arguments are convincing more gasoline station owners to consider adding natural gas to their fuel mix. Clean Energy, the nation's largest natural gas supplier to the transportation sector, is in the process of building 150 liquefied natural gas stations at 250-mile intervals along highways from Los Angeles to New York. The goal is to encourage long-haul truckers to shift from diesel to the cheaper, cleaner fuel.

"There's only one fuel that can move an 18-wheeler next to diesel, and that's natural gas," says James Harger, Clean Energy's chief marketing officer.

Suburban Disposal's savings have been significant. The trash-hauling company operates 110 trucks, seven of which now run on CNG. It is ordering four more. The vehicles cost $1.50 less a gallon to operate than their diesel counterparts. "Our trucks use about 40 gallons a day, so you do the math," says Suburban Disposal's Kerry Roselle. "Every day, it's quite a bit of savings."

Many consumers are switching to natural gas to save money in heating their homes as well. Some 70 million Americans now use the fuel - up from 40 million in 1970. That's more than half the homes in the US.

Yet there is a limit to how far the penetration can go, since not everyone lives near a gas line, and the cost of replacing a furnace or converting an existing boiler can be prohibitive.

Utilities, always eager to use the cheapest fuel to spin their power plant turbines, have been making a more dramatic shift. In just the past three years, the amount of electricity generated by natural gas has jumped from 23 percent to 35 percent. Cambridge Energy Research Associates believes it could double in the next 20 years.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the nation that we should be poised to take advantage of in a safe, responsible manner," says Ralph Izzo, the chairman and chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group, New Jersey's largest utility, which recently began using more natural gas than coal to fuel its power plants. "We'd be crazy if we took that to the extreme and said, 'Let's leave that precious resource in the ground and continue to rely upon politically unstable nations for our future energy needs.' "

All this demand for natural gas is spurring a drilling boom from North Dakota to northern Pennsylvania. But it's also causing new environmental woes, such as the explosive gases coming out of Sherry Vargson's faucet.

* * *

Daryl Miller stands on the Wyalusing Rocks Overlook, in northern Pennsylvania's rumpled Bradford County, and points to the Susquehanna River and thousands of acres of farmland and forest before him. "Every 3,000 feet west of us there's a well pad that encompasses anywhere from 640 to 1,000 acres of real estate that makes up a drilling unit," says Mr. Miller, a Bradford County commissioner.

Pennsylvania's land has always been oil and methane rich. It's where the world's commercial oil industry was born in 1859, when Col. Edwin Drake bored a well near Oil Creek in Titusville. That sparked the nation's first oil boom, which lasted in Pennsylvania until the beginning of the 20th century. Then the drilling rigs moved south and west to richer fields.

But in the mid-2000s, oil and gas companies, armed with new technology, started eyeing gas reserves entombed in shale. This included the Marcellus formation, one of the nation's largest shale deposits, a vast bed that stretches across Appalachia and into northern Pennsylvania.

To extract the gas, companies use a combination of directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, also called "fracking." They drill down vertically until they hit the shale layer. Then the bit moves horizontally to follow the bed of gas-bearing rock. A "perforation gun" is fed through the bored hole, which uses small projectiles to puncture holes in the casing that lines the well. Millions of gallons of chemically treated water and sand are then injected under high pressure to fracture the shale and release the gas for pumping to the surface.

In the past few years, companies have turned Bradford County into something of a pincushion, drilling more than 1,000 natural gas wells. That, in turn, has brought jobs and flourishing commerce. Local businesses are thriving. The area's restaurants and hotels are full. Almost overnight, the county's property-tax base has increased by more than $35 million.

At Sugar Branch Farms in the town of Columbia Cross Roads, royalties from four wells have allowed the Van Blarcom family to invest in a new dairy barn and milking parlor.

"The most visible thing we deal with day to day is the local economy," says Rich Van Blarcom, who runs the 500-cow farm with his father and brother-in-law. "Everybody who wants to work has a job. As an employee, that's good. As an employer, it's not necessarily good. We have a hard time finding good employees, and we especially have a hard time finding mechanics to work on our equipment."

Other problems have surfaced in Bradford County as well, from traffic jams in the usually tranquil county seat of Towanda to dust and deteriorating roads caused by the heavy trucks that rumble between drilling sites. Property values have soared, but so, too, have rents. Then, there are the handful of wells that went wrong.

The Vargson place in Granville Summit (pop. 940) is just a few miles from the Van Blarcom farm. In 2008, Chesapeake Energy, after signing an agreement with the family, drilled a well a few hundred feet from their barn. For the first year, everything was fine. The machines on the pad wicked thousands of cubic feet of natural gas from the earth. The Vargsons received royalty checks of more than a $1,000 a month. Then in June 2010, according to Ms. Vargson, a maintenance crew came to work on the well.

"Whatever that crew did, afterward our water changed - there was a lot of pressure and air that hadn't been there before," she says. "It was strong enough that it would knock a cup right out of your hand."

Chesapeake sent a crew to check the water wellhead. "In three to five seconds, every bell and whistle on that meter started going off," she says.

The company began providing the Vargsons with bottled drinking water, contacted Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, and started what they call a "comprehensive investigation." When it was done, they "found no issues with the integrity of any Chesapeake gas wells in the area of the Vargsons," according to a statement from Matt Sheppard, Chesapeake's senior director of corporate development. The company also says the methane in the well water is "significantly different" from the methane coming from the gas well.

Their investigation did turn up two abandoned "historic gas wells" on property near the Vargson farm. Chesapeake believes they are a possible source for the methane in the Vargsons' water supply.

Methane has long been a problem in northern Pennsylvania because of the geological formation and its history of oil and gas exploration. Brian Oram of B.F. Environmental Consultants, a Dallas, Pa.-based firm, says that even before the Marcellus Shale drilling began more than half of Pennsylvania's private wells didn't meet federal drinking-water standards. Of those, 3 to 5 percent had significant problems with methane.

"Methane's been a hidden secret in north Pennsylvania for a long time," says Mr. Oram. "But I also don't want to suggest that someone's methane levels may not have changed because of drilling."

Today the Vargsons' drinking well is so laced with methane that when Ms. Vargson turns on the faucet in her kitchen and lights a match, it catches fire. The contaminated water forced the family to sell its herd of 60 dairy cows and take jobs off the farm. And the royalty checks steadily decreased after the first few months. Vargson says the last few have been about $70 each.

She remains convinced that wherever the methane in her water is coming from, it wouldn't be there if the well on her property hadn't been drilled. "I still believe we need to become less dependent on foreign oil and that we need to find ways to use other resources," she says. "If they would only extract this gas safely, I'd get on their bandwagon. But knowing they can do this safely and aren't, that's my biggest holdback."

For the promised natural gas revolution to transform the nation's economy, advocates say such environmental problems will have to be overcome. And it isn't just the occasional faucet contaminated with some volatile organic compound. There are also the unanticipated consequences, like a series of small earthquakes that recently rattled the Youngstown, Ohio, area. The state determined their cause was a hydraulic fracturing wastewater well improperly sited on a fault line. It has issued new regulations to prevent similar tremors.

While gas companies defend their techniques as environmentally sound, some industry officials admit they could do more to allay public concerns. From the start, they believe they should have addressed the causes of the methane in the wells in northeast Pennsylvania and other states.

"We should have stepped up and said, 'It doesn't have to do with fracturing, but it has to do with well integrity, and let me show you why and how it can be addressed,' " says Mark Boling, a lawyer with Southwestern Energy, a Houston-based oil and gas firm active in Pennsylvania.

Along with the environmental concerns, there's concern about whether natural gas's economic benefits will last. Local opposition to fracking could leave vast tracts of the shale gas undeveloped. New York State has already deemed its major watersheds off limits to drilling and put strict limits on where fracking can be done. Several towns have banned it all together.

In Pennsylvania, which just passed a statewide law regulating the practice, several towns have gone to court to block the statute primarily because it takes away local officials' authority to decide where drilling can take place.

There's also the mercurial law of supply and demand. Natural gas prices are notoriously volatile. The warm winter and generous supplies of natural gas from the current drilling boom have plunged prices to a 20-year low. That has made tapping the shale less profitable. The pace of drilling in Pennsylvania has already slowed, with rigs moving to more oil-rich fields. Will the jobs now vanish? If drilling slows too much, will prices spike again?

* * *

How far the US will pivot toward a natural gas economy will depend not just on economic forces and environmental factors. It will also hinge on Washington.

Ardent supporters of the fuel, like Pickens, believe that natural gas could help the US achieve oil independence from the Middle East within 10 years. He estimates that 15 percent of every barrel of oil America consumes is used by 18-wheelers moving goods around the country. Switching those vehicles alone to natural gas, he says, could go a long way to reducing Mideast imports.

Yet Pickens and others consider natural gas just one part of the solution. They see it as a "bridge fuel." The idea is to use domestic natural gas supplies to keep the nation running until wind, solar, and other sustainable energy sources become more economical. To spur the transition, supporters are pushing the Natural Gas Act, which would provide tax incentives to energy producers as well as buyers of NGVs.

Yet many environmental groups oppose a wholesale shift to the fuel, both because of the inherent risks with fracking under ground and what it could mean for the air overhead. While methane, the primary component of natural gas, burns between 20 and 55 percent cleaner than oil and coal, when released unburned into the atmosphere as a result of leaks, its volatility makes it a potentially bigger contributor to global warming than carbon dioxide, a leading cause of climate change.

"Very small leaks at the point of production, along the pipeline system, or at the local distribution system, can undo all of the greenhouse-gas benefit that you think you're getting when you switch to natural gas," says Mark Brownstein of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Others worry that a tilt too far toward natural gas could undermine the development of solar and wind power, leaving the nation again dependent on a fossil fuel that will eventually run out.

"If we want a future in which our energy is safe and secure and sustainable, we shouldn't be investing in fuel sources that are dirty and dangerous," says Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.

There is a middle ground in this debate. EDF, for one, is working with gas companies like Southwestern Energy to develop better research and technology to avoid fracking problems and methane leakage. It's also pushing the development of wind and solar alternatives.

Many agree that the nation's energy future is best made up of a menu of options. "We would all prefer to have wind and solar, but we can't build wind and solar at scale competitively, unless we want to subsidize them heavily," says Charles Ebinger, the director of the energy security initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "Natural gas can be developed and utilized in huge quantities and can be used in just about every sector of the economy."

Back in his garage in Massachusetts, Mann wants to do his part to solve the nation's energy woes, by encouraging the fuel's use under hoods. He's going ahead with his design for a natural gas home-fueling station. He also wants to get federal certification so he can begin manufacturing conversion kits. He has an inventor friend in Utah who is shipping 25 kits a day and did a million dollars in sales last year.

"It just makes so much sense," says a plaid-shirted Mann. "The stuff is already out there. We might as well use it."

· Alexandra Marks, a former Monitor staff writer who covered energy issues, lives in New York.


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


April 22, 2012 Sunday
TWO STAR EDITION


BYLINE: Steve Twedt


SECTION: BUSINESS; THE WEEK THAT WAS; Pg. C-1


LENGTH: 452 words


A taxing week

U.S. residents may have had an extra day to file their taxes this year, but it didn't make the chore any more fun. And the IRS has let two more celebrities know that you don't mess with taxes. Last week, we learned that champion skier Lindsey Vonn will have to pay $1.7 million in back taxes while singer Lionel Ritchie was told he owed $1.1 million on his 2010 return.

A taxing week in the neighborhood

Tax week in Pittsburgh brought out Occupy-inspired activist groups, who disrupted EQT's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, resulting in two arrests and a two-hour recess of the meeting. The not-so-civil disobedience was apparently spurred by both anti-drilling and "We are the 99 percent" anti-corporation sentiment. A more tax-focused protest earlier in the week targeted UPMC, which organizers say doesn't pay its fair share to help soften looming cuts in public education and public transit.

Happy hour at the bus stop

Looking at a $64 million deficit in the coming year and positioning a 35 percent cut in service this September, the Port Authority may have some helpful advice for commuters driven to drink worrying about how they'll get to and from work -- buses may soon feature ads for alcohol. Meanwhile, those who do commute did get some welcome news: Gasoline prices finally made a U-turn with unleaded fuel falling 2.3 cents per gallon to $3.956 in Western Pennsylvania, while the national average was $3.904.

Scratch that

Comedy video shows love to run those tapes where someone thinks they've just hit the lottery, only to find out the ticket is fake. This wasn't a trick, but you can forgive the Brunner ad agency for feeling pranked: After the state Department of Revenue awarded Brunner the $183 million Pennsylvania Lottery marketing contract last month, it has now canceled the contract and given it back to Marc USA in Station Square after finding problems in the bidding process. Brunner says it had already hired 14 new staffers to work on the account.

That's the way the cookie grumbles

For one day at least, the Obama re-election campaign had a much better public relations outing than presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. While first lady Michelle Obama was photographed hugging Air National Guard members at the 911th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Command in Moon Tuesday, Mr. Romney's meet-and-greet with supporters in Bethel Park will be remembered for him casting a skeptical eye toward a plateful of Bethel Bakery cookies and suggesting they came from a local convenience store. Bethel Bakery owners turned the remark into a promotional plus by offering a "CookieGate Special," offering a half-dozen cookies for free with the purchase of a dozen.


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


April 22, 2012 Sunday
TWO STAR EDITION


LUSTER IS OFF TUESDAY'S PRIMARY;
INTEREST WANES WITH SANTORUM'S WITHDRAWAL FROM REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FIELD


BYLINE: James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


SECTION: NATIONAL; PRIMARY 2012; Pg. A-1


LENGTH: 1030 words


Ron Paul's visit to Pittsburgh Friday was a reminder that, technically, the race for the Republican presidential nomination continues, but Rick Santorum's withdrawal this month put Mitt Romney firmly in general election mode and made Pennsylvania's once highly anticipated primary a national afterthought.

A GOP battle for U.S. Senate nomination and a handful of U.S. House and state legislative races provide a few islands of contention Tuesday but they are scattered across a sea of political ennui.

"We're anticipating an abysmal turnout," said Frank Snyder, secretary treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, the umbrella labor group that's trying to make its voice heard in several races.

"Nobody knows Tuesday is election day," Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto lamented on Thursday at a rally for Democratic state attorney general candidate Patrick Murphy.

Interest in the GOP presidential race -- and the state's primary -- dimmed considerably after Mr. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, announced April 10 he was suspending his campaign. His name will still be on the ballot along with former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Mr. Paul, a congressman from Texas.

By the time Mr. Santorum withdrew, it was too late to get his name off the ballot, a fact that has little actual significance in that the Pennsylvania GOP primary is little more than a beauty contest, with no relation to how many delegates the contenders would collect in the state.

The delegates to the GOP's convention in Tampa are elected as individuals, separate from the presidential contest, and the delegate winners are not bound to any candidate.

Five Republicans are vying for the chance to take on Sen. Bob Casey in the fall. They are Armstrong County businessman Tom Smith; Bucks County U.S. Army veteran David Christian; Marc Scaringi, a former Senate staffer; businessman Steven Welch, of Chester County; and former state representative and candidate for governor, Sam Rohrer.

This race will be a partial referendum on one politician whose name is not on the ballot, Gov. Tom Corbett. Against stiff resistance from some conservatives, Mr. Corbett is credited with delivering the GOP endorsement to Mr. Welch. Tuesday's results will test whether the governor's clout with rank-and-file Republicans is as deep as it is with the party hierarchy.

On the Democratic side, the incumbent, Mr. Casey, is opposed by Joseph Vodvarka, a little known businessman.

Labor unions represent another off-ballot player who will be scored according to Tuesday's tallies, with a Pittsburgh region congressional race their most prominent test. In the new 12th Congressional district, a Democratic incumbent is certain to lose his seat. Pennsylvania lost one House seat in the reapportionment that followed the 2010 census and Reps. Jason Altmire and Mark Critz were forced into a face-off by the map crafted by Republicans.

More than half of the new district is drawn from the old 4th District, Mr. Altmire's current seat, giving him a geographical advantage. But this is a district in which labor unions are heavily involved on the side of Mr. Crist, who won his seat in a special election after the death of his former boss, Rep. John. P. Murtha.

In an increasingly conservative part of the state, both of their former districts were carried by Republican John McCain in 2008. Both candidates have voting records that place them at the conservative end of their caucus, but some union leaders contend that Mr. Altmire was less than forthright in his dealings with them before his vote against the Obama administration's health care legislation, which he ended up opposing.

Mr. Altmire sparked more intra-party friction with an ad that Mr. Critz and some other Democrats contend distorts the Critz voting record on a Republican budget measure. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, took the unusual step last week of releasing a statement upbraiding Mr. Altmire for distorting his colleague's record.

Mr. Altmire contends that his voting record reflects the views of his constituents, but a repeat Republican challenger, Keith Rothfus, will dispute that argument in the fall. In a near-upset, Mr. Rothfus came close to making Mr. Altmire one more victim of the GOP tide two years ago.

Mr. Altmire is a member of an endangered species: the Pennsylvania Blue Dog. As recently as three years ago, that fiscally conservative caucus accounted for almost half of the state's Democratic House members. But the Republican sweep of 2010 took with it the seats of three of the state's Blue Dogs, and the other two are in jeopardy on Tuesday.

Former Reps. Chris Carney, Kathy Dahlkemper and Patrick Murphy, now one of the candidates for attorney general, were victims of that sweep.

In addition to Mr. Altmire, across the state, Rep. Tim Holden faces a well-financed Democratic challenge from Matt Cartwright, a wealthy attorney. Mr. Holden faces the same challenge as that of Mr. Critz, and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Altmire in that most of the voters of the newly drawn 17th District will be seeing his name on a ballot for the first time.

Another Murphy of a different party, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, is defending his House seat in one of the more closely watched Republican races. He is being challenged by Evan Feinberg, a conservative Republican who had hoped to put the incumbent on the defensive over spending votes and support from some labor organizations.

But Mr. Murphy's big spending advantage has underscored his status as the favorite in the 18th District race despite the criticism he has faced from some conservatives. Mr. Murphy has never faced a really potent Democratic challenge in his decade in the House, but Larry Maggi, a Washington County commissioner unopposed for the Democratic nomination, hopes to change that in November.

The other prominent Republican House race is in the center of the state, in a conservative district, the new 4th, which opened up with the retirement of Rep. Todd Platts.

Seven Republicans are vying for the chance to defend what figures to be a safe GOP seat, but two Democrats are also contending for a place on the November ballot there.


LOAD-DATE: April 23, 2012


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


April 22, 2012 Sunday
TWO STAR EDITION


TUESDAY'S CHOICES;
BOTH PARTIES HAVE CRITICAL NOMINATIONS TO MAKE


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. B-2


LENGTH: 1046 words


Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign at a curious moment, just before Republicans in the state where he was a senator could say if he deserved their nomination.

Although that took the steam out of the GOP battle at the top of the ballot in the Pennsylvania Primary, Republicans and Democrats still have plenty of intraparty contests to settle Tuesday. No one should refrain from going to the polls.

In March, Post-Gazette editorial writers began interviewing candidates for the April 24 primary. In the ensuing weeks, the editorial board made 18 recommendations in contested races for statewide, congressional and legislative offices.

What follows is a recap of the Post-Gazette's endorsements this spring.

* * *

Pennsylvania fell short of being a battleground for the Republican presidential nomination, but the party faithful will still find four candidates on the ballot here. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, represents the GOP's best chance to deny President Barack Obama a second term.

At a time when much of the party has swung sharply to the right, its prospects for capturing the White House have not been helped by the intraparty strife. Mr. Romney has the funding, organization and crossover appeal, however, to mount a competitive campaign in the fall.

Although he will have the challenge of defining himself, once and for all, as either the genuine conservative he proclaims to be in 2012 or as the moderate state executive he was in 2003-07, the businessman is the party's strongest hope for selling voters on an economic revival based on free-market principles.

b> U.S. SENATE

/b>

Democrats will be surprised to find a challenger to incumbent Bob Casey, but they should ignore the token candidate, who isn't mounting a serious campaign, and stick with the senator.

Republicans have a more difficult choice to make. In the party's five-way battle, the top two candidates are desperately trying to demonstrate who is more conservative, except when it comes to dumping millions of dollars on dueling ads showing one was previously a registered Democrat (for shame!) longer than the other.

All that said, Steve Welch of Chester County, with the backing of Gov. Tom Corbett and the state committee, stands apart. The founder of a medical device company and, later, of a business incubator, he is a smart, well-informed candidate who is also a job creator. Even though he did leave the party briefly, to protest the big spending of the Bush administration, he can mount the strongest challenge to Sen. Casey in the fall.

b> AUDITOR GENERAL

/b>

Only Republicans have a race for the nomination to become the state's next fiscal watchdog. John Maher of Upper St. Clair is a certified public accountant and founder of a firm that specializes in auditing for government agencies and nonprofits. Although he is no longer part of the company, Mr. Maher has valuable experience that is unmatched by his opponent. As a member of the state House of Representatives since 1997, he also knows a thing or two about public service.

b> ATTORNEY GENERAL

/b>

Democrats are the ones who can choose a nominee to seek the state's top law enforcement job. In a spirited campaign played out in a blizzard of TV commercials, Patrick Murphy of Bucks County holds the upper hand. The former congressman and military prosecutor served in Bosnia and Iraq, where he earned a Bronze Medal for meritorious service.

He supervised the administration of military justice in seven battalions and five companies during combat operations and coordinated the investigation of alleged crimes. He tried Iraqis in Baghdad's criminal court and prosecuted multiple felony courts martial at jury and bench trials. To win the attorney general's race, something no Democrat has done since it became an elected office, the party will need both a prosecutor and politician. Mr. Murphy brings the whole package.

b> U.S. HOUSE

* 12th District:

/b>Two Democratic incumbents were pitted against each other in the redesigned district after the 2010 census. Jason Altmire of McCandless is the one who should advance to the general election. The three-term incumbent disappointed many fellow Democrats with his vote against the president's health care overhaul, but he has been protective of the law ever since and is more in line with the party mainstream than his opponent on other key issues.

b>* 14th District:

/b>Democrat Mike Doyle of Forest Hills has been a member of Congress for 18 years and, while his challenger for the nomination cares about the community, she agrees with him on many issues. There is no reason for the party to switch horses, given the incumbent's wealth of experience and service.

b>* 18th District:

/b> Republican Tim Murphy of Upper St. Clair faces a young upstart in the Tea Party mold. The challenger alleges that the five-term incumbent is not really a conservative -- a hollow claim easily debunked by Mr. Murphy's extensive voting record. The GOP should stick with the man who has served the district for a decade.

b> STATE SENATE

/b>

The three-way GOP contest in the 37th District has been as mean and nasty as they come. Then Mark Mustio of Moon, whom we initially endorsed, crossed a line last week in making a racist appeal for votes. So we have shifted our support to businessman D. Raja of Mt. Lebanon. It's an important choice for Republicans because their nominee could become the next senator since no Democrat is on the ballot.

b> STATE HOUSE

* 16th District Republicans:

/b>Kathy Coder

b>* 20th District Democrats:

/b>Adam Ravenstahl

b>* 22nd District Democrats:

/b>Erin Molchany

b>* 24th District Democrats:

/b>Ed Gainey

b>* 25th District Republicans:

/b>Mike Doyle

b>* 39th District Democrats:

/b>David Levdansky

b>* 39th District Republicans:

/b>Shauna D'Alessandro

b>* 45th District Democrats:

/b> Nick Kotik

b> SPECIAL ELECTION

/b>

All voters in the South Hills' 22nd Legislative District -- Democrats, Republicans and others -- can elect someone to fill the final eight months of the term of Chelsa Wagner, who left the House after being elected Allegheny County controller. Chris Cratsley, an engaging and well-informed Republican from Overbrook, would represent the district well.

b> ON THE WEB

/b>

To read the endorsement editorials for these races, go to:post-gazette.com/news/politics/


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Tampa Bay Times


April 22, 2012 Sunday


APOLOGIES CAN'T HEAL ALL WOUNDS


BYLINE: BILL MAXWELL


SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; Pg. 3P


LENGTH: 814 words


I sense that almost weekly an individual, organization, company or government somewhere in the United States publicly apologizes for doing something wrong.

A few public apologies during just the last two weeks: Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apologized to Ann Romney for saying she had never "worked a day in her life." Richard Land, a Southern Baptist leader, said he erred in accusing President Barack Obama and other black leaders of exploiting Trayvon Martin's death for political gain. Acura, the luxury carmaker, apologized for seeking a "not too dark" black actor for its Super Bowl ad with Jerry Seinfeld. And most notably, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged to Afghanistan that U.S. soldiers were wrong to have posed in 2010 for photographs with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents.

As an undergraduate studying American history, I became interested in the culture of apology. I was particularly interested in public apologies to abused and marginalized minority groups, and I wondered if we overestimate the power of such mea culpas.

A clear definition of apology is offered by Aaron Lazare, author of the book On Apology. He writes that "'apology' refers to an encounter between two parties in which one party, the offender, acknowledges responsibility for an offense or grievance and expresses regret or remorse to a second party, the aggrieved. Each party may be a person or a group or a larger group such as a family, a business, an ethnic group, a race, or a nation. The apology may be private or public, written or verbal, and even at times, nonverbal."

Many Americans do not know that our federal government and several states have committed atrocities against minority groups that warranted apologies.

President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1988 that apologized for the internment of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans following the Pearl Harbor attack. The legislation said government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership." The government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to the victims and their heirs.

In 2010, Congress passed a bill apologizing to American Indians. The bill stated in part that the government apologizes "on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by the citizens of the United States." The bill also ask Americans "to move toward a brighter future where all the people of this land live reconciled as brothers and sisters, and harmoniously steward and protect this land together."

Several months after Obama became our first black president, Congress grudgingly approved a formal resolution apologizing for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery" of black Americans. The legislation also apologized for Jim Crow, the separate-but-equal system that followed emancipation. Unlike the Japanese legislation, the bill for blacks did not include reparations, still a major issue for millions of blacks.

During a White House ceremony in 1997, President Bill Clinton apologized for the government's role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. From 1932 to 1972, 399 black sharecroppers in Alabama were denied treatment for syphilis by physicians of the U.S. Public Health Service. With survivors of the study and their families present, Clinton addressed the racial animus and mistrust the experiment caused. "We can look you in the eye," he said, "and finally say on behalf of the American people, what the United States government did was shameful, and I am sorry."

And just last year, North Carolina apologized for sterilizing an estimated 7,600 young black victims, from 1929 to 1973, who had been deemed "unfit to procreate" by the state's eugenics board.

Have these apologies succeeded?

Lazare writes that "many offenses are experienced as assaults on the offended party's self-respect or dignity, and so a successful apology must somehow restore these vital aspects of the self in order to heal."

But restoring the self-respect or dignity of the offended party is only the first step. To be totally successful, apologies also must heal the damaged relationships between the aggrieved and the offender.

I do not know any Japanese and do not know how the internment apology affects them. I know that many American Indians dismiss the congressional apology as empty rhetoric. I know, too, that many African-Americans - despite the election of Obama - still feel debased and degraded by the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and by daily racial insults and slights they encounter.

I cannot help but conclude that public apologies, even the sincerest, have not restored the self-respect and dignity of most victims of our atrocities. And I am convinced that we overestimate the power of such apologies.

- bmaxwell@tampabay.com


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The Towerlight: Towson University


April 22, 2012 Sunday


Candidates turn to women for help


BYLINE: Jordan Russell, News Editor


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 415 words


The end of the Republican primaries is in sight, but some may think it's already over due to the amount of attention GOP primary candidate Mitt Romney has received over the past few weeks.

President Barack Obama and Romney have begun a war over women and the economy.

Romney said Obama's efforts have led to a huge reduction of jobs for women in the United States.

"Now the president says, 'Oh, I didn't cause this recession.' That's true," Romney said in a CNN article. "He just made it worse and made it last longer. And because it lasted longer, more and more women lost jobs, such that in his three-and-a-half years, 92.3 percent of the people who lost jobs have been women. His failures have hurt women."

In that same article, nonpartisan website PolitFact.com rated the 92.3 percent job loss statement "mostly false," saying it included figures from the beginning of the Obama administration before his policies could take effect.

While many could say this is the vocal version of an attack ad, there's something else that's noticeable if looked at with a critical eye. Both Obama and Romney realize just how important it is to have women on their side. In the 2008 presidential election, women had become a force to be acknowledged. According to a Huffington Post piece by Julie Menin, women have had more accumulation of votes than men since the 1980s. Women preferred Obama to McCain by a 13 percentage point difference, where men had only a single point difference, and we all saw how that turned out.

And the influence doesn't stop at voting. The phrase "every good man has a good woman behind him" has been taken to heart in politics as of late. Romney's wife, Ann Romney, has been called a political weapon by the Associated Press. Yes, there's been a good deal of controversy with her appeal as a working mother, but the fact that people are talking about her means more publicity for her husband. Then, looking on the other side of the spectrum, Michelle Obama had become a face of her own over the four years Barack Obama has been in office. I can't tell you how many times I've seen her as I flip by the Disney channel. That's just a poor microcosm of what she's been able to accomplish involving fitness.

If there's any more convincing to be had, just remember the impact Sarah Palin had on John McCain's campaign in 2008. The point is, women's role in the presidential election will be huge again this year and will ultimately play a large part in deciding this country's future.


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UPI


April 22, 2012 Sunday 5:00 AM EST


Politics 2012: Connecticut suits Romney


LENGTH: 673 words


Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney brought his message to women voters to a woman-owned business in the state capital of Connecticut, a state he is expected to win handily Tuesday.

Connecticut, with its 25 delegates, shares the primary spotlight Tuesday with Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

RealClearPolitics.com's delegate count showed Romney with 656, recently departed Rick Santorum with 272, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 140 and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 67.

Few states are better suited for Romney to win than Connecticut where the GOP electorate is well-off, well-educated, and relatively moderate on social issues, CBS News reported.

In addition, Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola said the other Republican candidates mounted nothing more than a "token effort" in the state.

"I think Governor Romney's in a commanding position in Connecticut," Labriola said. "I think he's poised to win our primary, and every effort is being made such that he receives over 50 percent of the vote, so that he would sweep the delegate count."

Concerning the national delegate battle, Labriola told TheDay.com, "I think it's a near mathematical certainty that Governor Romney will be our nominee."

But Romney still faces two hurdles: a gender gap with women voters and skepticism among backers of Santorum, who announced he was suspending his campaign April 10.

Connecticut Republicans say Romney's gender gap problem will be resolved well before November.

During a campaign stop at a Hartford company owned by a woman, Romney again pressed his pitch that Republicans aren't waging a war on women; rather, "The real war on women is being waged by [President Obama's] failed economic policies."

Among Republicans attending the event at Alphagraphics Inc. was Tom Foley, who received Romney's endorsement in 2010 in his unsuccessful run for governor. Foley said he also had trouble winning the backing of female voters over Democrat Dannel Malloy, the Bridgeport Connecticut Post reported recently.

"As the campaign unfolds, you'll see that support -- particularly the gender gap -- change as people get to know the candidates," Foley said. "I think all the issues are on Gov. Romney's side."

A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated Romney trailed Obama among women by 19 percentage points.

Karen Brinker, owner of Alphagraphics, said Romney is especially qualified to improve the country and reduce federal spending for future generations, including her grandchildren.

"I'm concerned about the next 10, 20, 30 years and the next four years so they don't have to worry about paying the national debt," Brinker said.

Retired elementary school principal Deborah Herbst of Trumbull told the Post she was pleased by what she called Romney's strong message to women voters.

"The economy is really causing a lot of hardships to families and single parents," Herbst said. "I saw it as a building principal."

Besides trying to make inroads in the female voting bloc, Romney also must appeal to conservatives and evangelicals who backed Santorum before he bowed out April 10.

Foley said he believes Santorum eventually will endorse Romney -- he hadn't as of Thursday -- in part because he still has political ambitions, the Post said. Even so, Foley said, actually making the endorsement can be tough.

"I've been there, so I understand the hard feelings," Foley said. "It's hard not to take some of this personally."

Chris O'Brien, one of Santorum's Connecticut campaign coordinators, said he expects some Santorum backers will switch to Romney, while others will cast protest votes for Santorum, who will remain on the ballot, or for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas or former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

"Convince me and the 1,000 volunteers around Connecticut when you talk a good conservative game now you actually hold to that," O'Brien said.

During the 2008 presidential primary season, Romney finished second in Connecticut's primary to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the eventual Republican nominee.


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UPI


April 22, 2012 Sunday 4:00 AM EST


Politics 2012: Pa. primary loses some zip


BYLINE: NICOLE DEBEVEC


LENGTH: 793 words


The decision by Rick Santorum to suspend his bid to be the Republican presidential nominee took some wind out of the sails of Pennsylvania, one of five states conducting a primary Tuesday.

Santorum had said he had to win his home state to have a chance in the race with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Since Santorum left, however, Romney is overwhelmingly favored to emerge from the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., as the party's challenger to President Obama. 

Pennsylvania, with its 72 delegates, joins Connecticut, New York, Delaware and Rhode Island in holding primaries Tuesday, the first primaries since Santorum announced April 10 he was suspending his campaign.

RealClearPolitics.com's delegate count showed Romney with 656, Santorum with 272, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 140 and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 67.

But as Romney effectively seizes the Republican nomination, his one-time rival's presence could linger in the tough months ahead, pundits said.

Observers note Santorum managed to expose Romney's weaknesses, such as an inability to excite voters and a moderate track record that could win over independents in November but left conservatives and evangelicals in the primaries cold, the Tampa Bay News reported.

Santorum emerged from a crowded field to take the Iowa caucuses and 10 other states, forcing Romney to cough up millions of dollars he had planned to spend to defend his positions and challenge Santorum. The campaign rhetoric between the two was sometimes vitriolic.

"The real question for Romney now is, can Republicans unite? Can he get enthusiasm out of the base?" Pennsylvania pollster Terry Madonna asked.

Pennsylvania is Santorum's home turf and he vowed to win it -- but Romney also promised to be competitive. Before he left, Santorum's once-double digit lead had dropped to the low single digits.

Now that Santorum has bowed out, the Romney campaign pulled television advertising from the Pennsylvania airwaves, CNN reported. Romney had purchased $2.2 million of time for two ads.

The Wall Street Journal reported, however, a super PAC supporting Romney will spend at least $290,000 in positive campaign spots in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Rhode Island, which all hold their primaries on Tuesday, along with Connecticut.

Pennsylvania voters will be asked for photo identification at polling places but won't be barred from casting ballots if they can't produce any, state election officials said.

The statewide balloting is a test-run for the new law that, beginning with the Nov. 6 general election, will require voters to show a photo ID that meets state guidelines every time they vote, The Wilmington (Del.) New Journal reported.

Tuesday's exercise is to help educate voters and identify problems that can be eliminated before Election Day and the larger turnout that's expected.

Redistricting has been blamed for the re-election woes of Blue Dog Democrat Tim Holden, now considered the underdog in the primary race, Roll Call reported recently. About 80 percent of the redrawn district is new for Holden, who's also losing the battle of the bucks in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Holden was hit with a double whammy last week when the League of Conservation Voters announced a $230,000 TV ad buy targeting Holden and MoveOn.org endorsed Holden's opponent, attorney Matt Cartwright.

Cartwright has injected about $400,000 of his own cash into his campaign. The incumbent-targeting Campaign for Primary Accountability also pledged to spend $200,000 against Holden.

In a crime novel twist, a Pennsylvania state lawmaker running unopposed in the primary will become constitutionally ineligible to serve Tuesday when he is sentenced on a conviction for corruption, WITF-FM, Harrisburg, reported.

Former state House Speaker Bill DeWeese, a Democrat, campaigned for another term even though he gave a farewell address on the Pennsylvania House floor. But he won't be a felon -- at least, not technically -- until Tuesday when he is sentenced.

In February, DeWeese was convicted of five corruption charges, with a jury determining he used about $100,000 worth of state resources for campaigning. When DeWeese left the courtroom, he didn't apologize, saying, "I certainly feel I did nothing wrong."

He also didn't think his conviction barred him from campaigning even though the state Constitution bars felons from holding office.

DeWeese, who represents Greene County in southwestern Pennsylvania, could be sentenced anywhere from probation to six years in prison and he'll officially be a felon. If he doesn't resign, the House of Representatives will expel him.

Barring a successful legal challenge, DeWeese's name will be on the fall ballot. If he wins an appeal before then, DeWeese says he'll be back.


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Advertising Age


April 23, 2012


Pharma biz at standstill now, but the war is far from over


BYLINE: RICH THOMASELLI


SECTION: Pg. 10 Vol. 83


LENGTH: 415 words


"All's quiet on the Western front, but we're still in the war."

That's how John Kamp, executive director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, summed up the pharmaceutical industry's regulatory issues.

Big Pharma's annual tussles with the Food and Drug Administration, not to mention Congress, seem to be at a standstill thanks to the coming presidential election. But both sides are gearing up for what could be an eventful winter.

"The big thing that we all worry about is whether the tax deduction for advertising goes away," Mr. Kamp said. "Advertising spending would go down, business would be lessened at ad agencies and you would see just a general decline in advertising." That could be an unwelcome prospect, given that measured-media spending in pharma has steadily declined from its $5.4 billion peak in 2006, according to Kantar Media.

Reform of the corporate tax code is high on the agenda of both President Barack Obama and likely challenger Mitt Romney. Congress tried to eliminate the deductibility of pharma advertising during health-care reform debates two years ago, when Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., proposed denying companies from taking tax deductions on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. That would save $37 billion over 10 years, he said at the time.

But heavy lobbying, including by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the American Advertising Federation, helped stop the initiative.

Clark Rector, exec VP-government relations for the AAF, and Dick O'Brien, exec VP-director of government relations for the 4A's, both say it is only a matter of time before Congress tries to enact such a provision again.

This likely won't be an issue until after the election. However, there is a lame-duck session of Congress between the Nov. 6 general election and the end of 2011, so "it's possible pharma ads will bear the brunt of the attack again," said Mr. O'Brien."But it's more likely the debate will involve all advertising."

Also on Big Pharma's regulatory radar is the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, scheduled to be renewed this year, as it is every five years. The act was passed by Congress in 1992 and allows the FDA to collect fees from drug manufacturers to financially support the drug-approval process. One of the proposed provisions in the 2007 renewal was a two-year moratorium on marketing DTC prescription drugs.

The industry is against such a long moratorium, "and we will be watching that very carefully," Mr. Kamp said.


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CNN Wire


April 23, 2012 Monday 2:38 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1571 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Sarah Aarthun and Mark Bixler -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Netherlands-Politics

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned Monday, clearing the way for early elections in the Netherlands, a government spokesman said.

US-New-York-Patz-Probe

The search of a New York City basement for possible clues in the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz more than three decades ago has ended, with no human remains found, a source briefed on the investigation told CNN Monday.

POL-Obama-Human-Rights (will update)

The White House announced Monday that President Barack Obama signed an executive order allowing new sanctions against companies that enable Syria and Iran to use technology such as cell phone monitoring to carry out human rights abuses.

Florida-Teen-Shooting (monitoring)

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murder in the February death of Trayvon Martin, has been released on bail from a Florida jail.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

Heavy shelling hit the Syrian city of Hama Monday, opposition activists said, just days after the U.N. Security Council voted to send as many as 300 observers to monitor a tenuous cease-fire.

POL-Campaign-Wrap (Will update)

With Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the chatter has increasingly turned to the man or woman the former Massachusetts governor will tap to run alongside him during the general election. Romney will campaign Monday in Pennsylvania with another senator and possible vice presidential pick, Marco Rubio of Florida.

Northeast-Weather (Will update)

A large snowstorm came barreling through the Northeast on Monday, threatening to drop 16 inches in some areas and frustrate commuters.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (Will update)

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' criminal trial begins Monday in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts related to the money dealings of his failed presidential campaign.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial (Will update)

Opening statements will begin at 11 a.m. ET Monday for William Balfour, the man accused of killing relatives of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

Iceland-Haarde-Verdict (will update)

The former prime minister of Iceland was found guilty Monday of a charge of negligence related to the collapse of the country's banking system in 2008, but cleared of three other charges, and will face no punishment, a court official told CNN.

Kenya-Warning (will update)

Terrorists may be planning to attack hotels and government buildings in Kenya, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi warned Monday.

Sudans-Conflict (will update)

Sudanese war planes crossed a disputed border region to conduct airstrikes in South Sudan on Monday, a witness said, escalating fighting that threatens to return the neighboring African countries to full-scale war.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murder in the February death of Trayvon Martin, has been released on bail from a Florida jail.

Syria-Unrest

Heavy shelling hit the Syrian city of Hama Monday, opposition activists said, just days after the U.N. Security Council voted to send as many as 300 observers to monitor a tenuous cease-fire.

INTERNATIONAL

Japan-Tsunami-Soccer-Ball

A soccer ball recently found washed up on a remote Alaskan beach apparently belongs to a teenager from a city devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan more than a year ago.

Colombia-Panetta-Trip

As the investigation into the prostitution scandal continues to embroil the military and Secret Service, another high-ranking American official is set to visit Colombia this week. But in his first trip to South America as defense secretary, Leon Panetta will be traveling to the capital of Bogota and trying to avoid having his trip overshadowed by the investigation in Cartagena.

Sudans-Conflict

Sudanese war planes crossed a disputed border region to conduct airstrikes in South Sudan on Monday, a witness said, escalating fighting that threatens to return the neighboring African countries to full-scale war.

Syria-Unrest

Intense explosions rocked the devastated city of Homs early Monday, opposition activists said, just days after the U.N. Security Council voted to send as many as 300 observers to monitor a tenuous cease-fire in Syria.

France-Election

French President Nicolas Sarkozy courted far-right voters Monday in advance of a May 6 runoff against Socialist Francois Hollande, who won the most support in the first round of France's presidential elections.

France-Hollande-Profile

Francois Hollande is now the favorite in the two-horse race for the French presidency, but if he wins on May 6, his rise will have as much to do with luck as his own political skill, experts say.

Afghanistan-Border-Clashes

U.S. troops have fired into Pakistani territory at least four times in the last 10 months in cross-border skirmishes that they say are in response to shelling from inside Pakistan, CNN has learned.

Afghanistan-Troops-Killed

Two service members with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed in a blast in eastern Afghanistan, the force said Monday.

North-Korea-Threats

North Korea said Monday that it would soon initiate "special actions" aimed at destroying the South Korean president and his government.

Bahrain-Unrest

A scheduled hearing Monday where a Bahraini dissident, on hunger strike, could have appealed his life sentence was adjourned until Aprll 30.

Myanmar-Politics

The Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party are delaying their parliamentary debut Monday as they seek to resolve a problem concerning the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take.

Egypt-Israel-Gas-Deal

Two state-run Egyptian energy companies have abruptly ended a gas export deal to Israel, raising questions about the move's legal validity and the political effect on relations between the two countries.

Bo-Heywood-China-Hotel

CNN's Stan Grant goes to Nanshan Lijing Holiday hotel in Chongqing

Whale-iPhone-App

A new iPhone app is making waves in the commercial shipping world by providing an early warning system that aims to reduce maritime collisions with endangered whales.

MONEY-China-Economy

On the world stage, China has become an economic powerhouse to be reckoned with. But look a little closer to home and there are plenty of reasons why the most populous nation is still trailing far behind the developed world.

Prince-Harry-US-Humanitarian-Award

Britain's Prince Harry is to travel to the United States to be presented with a prestigious award honoring his work with war veterans and serving members of the armed forces.

U.S.A.

Campaign-Wrap

With Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the chatter has increasingly turned to the man or woman the former Massachusetts governor will tap to run alongside him during the general election. Romney will campaign Monday in Pennsylvania with another senator and possible vice presidential pick, Marco Rubio of Florida.

US-Missing-Tucson-Girl

The house from which a 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona, girl went missing Saturday morning was being treated as a crime scene Monday as police said they were investigating more than 100 leads in the case.

MONEY-Walmart-Stock

Wal-Mart's stock price dropped Monday, after bribery allegations concerning the retailer's Mexican operations surfaced over the weekend.

SPORT-World-Peace-Fails

As the world knows, peace can sometimes be fleeting. One-time basketball bad boy Ron Artest, who changed his name to Metta World Peace and said it was meaningful and inspirational, was ejected Sunday from the Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game for hitting James Harden in the head with his elbow.

Northeast-Weather

A powerful spring storm threatened to disrupt Monday morning commutes across the northeastern United States with potentially historic snowfall and heavy rains.

Romney-Obama-Foreign-Policy

When North Korea launched a rocket earlier this month in a failed attempt to supposedly put a satellite into orbit, Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, offered a blistering statement. But it was not entirely directed at the new leader in Pyongyang. It was also directed at the U.S. commander in chief.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' criminal trial begins Monday in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts related to the money dealings of his failed presidential campaign.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Opening statements will begin at 11 a.m. ET Monday for William Balfour, the man accused of killing relatives of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murder in the February death of Trayvon Martin, has been released on bail from a Florida jail.

US-New-York-Patz-Probe

The search for Etan Patz, a 6-year-old New York boy who disappeared more than three decades ago, is expected to resume Monday after it was suspended for "operational reasons."

US-Hypersonic-Test

A test flight of an aircraft designed to whip around the world at Mach 20 failed when the high speeds peeled the skin off the unmanned plane, Pentagon researchers conclude in a long-awaited report.

MONEY-Cybersecurity-Bills

Cybercrime isn't just a threat to your bank account or personal computer -- it's an issue of national security.


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CNN Wire


April 23, 2012 Monday 12:07 PM EST


Romney offers politics, not a plan, on Afghanistan


BYLINE: By Blake Hounshell, Special to CNN


LENGTH: 677 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Blake Hounshell is the managing editor at Foreign Policy.

(CNN) -- Let's face it: Barack Obama has not exactly been the second coming of Alexander the Great. He swept into office vowing to step up the war effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he did, sending 30,000 fresh troops into the former and vastly expanding drone strikes in the latter.

Obama managed to get Osama bin Laden, an achievement will likely be hearing about ad nauseum on the campaign trail over the long months ahead. But he hasn't realized the much more difficult goal of bringing stability to Afghanistan, a land we have now been trying to stabilize for more than a decade. The recent spectacular attacks in Kabul, in which insurgents were able to once again paralyze the capital for 24 hours, may not have been Tet II, but they did underscore just how the fragile the planned 2014 handover to Afghan control really is.

Enter Mitt Romney, whose positions on Afghanistan have been all over the map. He's criticized the Obama administration for setting a timeline for withdrawal, but he has endorsed the timeline in practice. He's denounced the idea of negotiating with the Taliban but hasn't explained how he plans to defeat the insurgent movement on the battlefield. His main substantive complaint seems to be that Obama is withdrawing the surge troops by September instead of ... December.

Indeed, his campaign's few pronouncements on this subject are reminiscent of Richard Nixon's "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam, which turned out to be a plan to cut and run without ever admitting as much. The truth is that Romney holds more or less the same position on Afghanistan as the president -- steadily turning control over to the Afghans in the run-up to 2014, while cajoling the Pakistanis to be more cooperative -- but he just can't admit it.

Politically speaking, this is a smart strategy. Poll after poll has shown that Americans simply aren't interested in spending billions of their dwindling tax dollars to prop up Hamid Karzai, a deeply unimpressive leader who appears to them as ungrateful as he is incompetent and untrustworthy. That is, to the extent that Americans still think about this long-forgotten war at all.

One way or another, we're leaving Afghanistan, and I suspect we'll someday look back on the conflict and wonder just what we were doing there for so long -- why, for instance, we thought it made sense to spend more money there each year than the country's entire GDP (excluding opium production, that is), and why we thought an impoverished, land-locked strategic backwater was such an important chess piece in a new "Great Game."

As long as Pakistan sees its interests as diametrically opposed to ours, and shelters and colludes with our enemies, this war could grind on forever. As long as Afghanistan is led by venal and weak-kneed partners, counterinsurgency is a waste of time. And nothing in the past decade suggests any of that will change on any time scale the American people will accept.

None of this is to say that leaving Afghans -- especially women -- to their fates after all we've promised them is a comfortable moral decision to make. I don't envy the American officials having to explain that all the talk about saving Afghan women was just political rhetoric from a country that, at the end of the day, makes its national security decisions based on hard-nosed interests, not sentiment. But those conversations would happen under a Romney presidency just as they would under a second Obama term.

We've gotten our revenge for 9/11. Bin Laden is at the bottom of the Arabian Sea, and the core of his al Qaeda network is much diminished. Karzai's government has been given an ample chance to succeed or fail on its own. As for Alexander, let's not forget -- Afghanistan was where the greatest general in history met his match. History may not be repeating itself today, but it sure does rhyme.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Blake Hounshell.


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CNN Wire


April 23, 2012 Monday 6:59 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 949 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Saeed Ahmed -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

North-Korea-Threats (3:30 a.m.)

North Korea said Monday that it would soon initiate "special actions" aimed at destroying the South Korean president and his government.

Syria-Unrest (4 a.m.)

Strong explosions rocked the devastated city of Homs early on Monday, opposition activists said, just days after the U.N. Security Council voted to send as many as 300 observers to monitor a tenuous cease-fire in Syria.

France-Elections (4:30 a.m.)

And now, the jockeying begins. With neither Socialist candidate Francois Hollande or incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy close to a majority in the first round of France's presidential election, who assumes the presidency hinges on what support the two candidates can get from those who didn't back them Sunday.

Campaign-Wrap (4:45 a.m.)

With Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the chatter has increasingly turned to the man or woman the former Massachusetts governor will tap to run alongside him during the general election. Romney will campaign Monday in Pennsylvania with another senator and possible vice presidential pick, Marco Rubio of Florida.

Iceland-Haarde-Verdict (5 a.m.)

A verdict is expected at 9 a.m. ET Monday in the trial of Iceland's former Prime Minister Geir Haarde. If convicted, Haarde could face a 2-year jail term for negligence and mismanagement over the handling of the 2008 financial crisis. He is the first world leader to face criminal charges over the meltdown.

Sudans-Conflict (5:30 a.m.)

New images released by the Satellite Sentinel Project show that Sudan has "dramatically" increased the number of military strike aircraft at two airbases and that many are in range to fly deep into South Sudan.

Japan-Tsunami-Soccer-Ball (5:45 a.m.)

A soccer ball found washed up on a remote Alaskan beach apparently belongs to a Japanese teenager from a city devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan more than a year ago.

Colombia-Panetta-Trip (6 a.m.)

As the investigation into the prostitution scandal continues to embroil the military and Secret Service, another high-ranking American official is set to visit Colombia this week. But in his first trip to South America as defense secretary, Leon Panetta will be traveling to the capital of Bogota and trying to avoid having his trip overshadowed by the investigation in Cartagena.

Afghanistan-Pakistan-Shelling (6:30 a.m.)

NATO troops have shelled Pakistani troops at least four times in the last 10 months in response to what they say is shelling from the Pakistan side, CNN has learned.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

Bahrain-Unrest

A detained Bahraini dissident who has been on a hunger strike for more than two months can appeal his life sentence during a hearing Monday, the government said. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was arrested in April 2011 for his role in anti-government protests that began a month earlier with demands for political reform and greater freedoms for Shiites.

Myanmar-Politics

The Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party are delaying their parliamentary debut Monday as they seek to resolve a problem concerning the wording of the oath that lawmakers have to take.

Egypt-Israel-Gas-Deal

Two state-run Egyptian energy companies have abruptly ended a gas export deal to Israel, raising questions about the move's legal validity and the political effect on relations between the two countries.

Ahead-Of-The-Curve

A look at some of the stories CNN plans to cover this week.

Bo-Heywood-China-Hotel

CNN's Stan Grant goes to Nanshan Lijing Holiday hotel in Chongqing

Whale-iPhone-App

A new iPhone app is making waves in the commercial shipping world by providing an early warning system that aims to reduce maritime collisions with endangered whales.

U.S.A.

SPORT-World-Peace-Fails

As the world knows, peace can sometimes be fleeting. One-time basketball bad boy Ron Artest, who changed his name to Metta World Peace and said it was meaningful and inspirational, was ejected Sunday from the Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game for hitting James Harden in the head with his elbow.

Northeast-Weather

A powerful spring storm threatened to disrupt Monday morning commutes across the northeastern United States with potentially historic snowfall and heavy rains.

Romney-Obama-Foreign-Policy

When North Korea launched a rocket earlier this month in a failed attempt to supposedly put a satellite into orbit, Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, offered a blistering statement. But it was not entirely directed at the new leader in Pyongyang. It was also directed at the U.S. commander in chief.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' criminal trial begins Monday in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts related to the money dealings of his failed presidential campaign.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Opening statements will begin at 11 a.m. ET Monday for William Balfour, the man accused of killing relatives of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murder in the February death of Trayvon Martin, has been released on bail from a Florida jail.

US-New-York-Patz-Probe

The search for Etan Patz, a 6-year-old New York boy who disappeared more than three decades ago, is expected to resume Monday after it was suspended for "operational reasons."

US-Hypersonic-Test

A test flight of an aircraft designed to whip around the world at Mach 20 failed when the high speeds peeled the skin off the unmanned plane, Pentagon researchers conclude in a long-awaited report.


LOAD-DATE: April 24, 2012


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The Daily News of Los Angeles


April 23, 2012 Monday
VALLEY EDITION


PUBLIC FORUM


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 1080 words


Reasons to re-elect Obama?

President Obama must give reasons for his re-election. He is so busy campaigning and looking for new ways to extract additional taxes from us that he apparently does not have time to provide leadership and oversight to his Cabinet or administration (i.e., prostitutes for Secret Service and military personnel, trips for his defense secretary to commute from Washington to home each week, Solyndra debacle, taxpayer money give-away by General Services Administration and the list goes on). Please, Mr. President, stop the campaigning and give us concrete reasons to re- elect you.

- Harvey Siegel, Lomita

Stop blaming Obama for everything

Re "Three agents ousted in Colombia scandal" (April 19):

It escapes me how and why this is an election year embarrassment for President Obama. Is it that only Obama is in control of grown men behaving badly? Blame Obama for everything negative whether or not he controls it - that seems to be the norm.

- Carlie Harris Sr., Harbor City

How can anyone vote GOP?

For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone who has ever had a job (gainful employment in which someone pays you to do something) or a uterus can vote Republican.

- Sandra Greenough, Reseda

An asterisk in history books

Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry has once again proved he's not ready for national politics. The Texas governor recently told a Dallas Fort-Worth CBS News affiliate he would consider another run at the presidency in 2016. Really? I think someone in Rickaroo's camp forgot to connect the dots. For starters, what happens if Mitt Romney wins in November? Surely he'd want to run for re-election in 2016. Where does that leave Perry? He'll either be frozen out of the race or have to mount an insurgent campaign against his party's incumbent. History should teach Perry that neither option has a chance of succeeding. National campaigns are littered with candidates who looked good on paper but couldn't make the transition to the bare-knuckle world of presidential politics. You can add Rick Perry to the long list of White House contenders who have ended up as asterisks in the history books.

- Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach

Arranged equals segregated

Re "Social re-engineering isn't neighborly" (Comment, April 17):

Thomas Sowell's suggestion that government shouldn't interfere with the "natural" way people have of sorting themselves out in neighborhoods leads me to wonder if the Civil War was justified. Maybe the Southern gentlemen sorted it out for themselves just fine? I grew up in Texas with "colored drinking fountains" and "colored restrooms" and people of color weren't allowed to eat in restaurants with "whites" or buy into "whites only" neighborhoods, country clubs, etc. It was all arranged (segregated) very neatly and "certain people" were supposed to know "their place." I remember the 1960s freedom marches and integrating schools was a big deal, but government interfered and escorted Alabama children of color to school - against the wishes of many who wanted "whites only" neighborhoods and schools. Is that really what Mr. Sowell wants? Mr. Sowell seems to think that no matter what President Obama does, it is wrong or his fault. Something is wrong with this picture.

- Lynda Fenneman, Valley Glen

Corporate thuggin'

Re "CVS settles lawsuit with city, county" (April 19):

Corporate criminals always seem to be able to buy their way out of trouble. A few years ago, this same company stopped tracking the sale of a key crystal meth ingredient sold in Sudafed, among other drugs. No problem. Just promise to do better, right? In this case, tons of hazardous waste was dumped illegally ("illegally disposed" rather than "dumped" when it is a rich company). I said "corporate criminals" but are there even such things? Real people, organized, approved and physically performed these felonious acts. If we performed a fraction of these deeds we would have been jailed.

- Warren Larson, Sunland

The duck strikes again

So "Mallard Fillmore" (April 19) strikes again with another baseless right-wing jab at the president. This one defies logic; it makes little or no sense at all. I have never seen such hostility toward any incumbent president. President Obama has been called "thug," "stupid," "little black man-child," "pathological liar," "bully," etc., ad nauseam from the conservative extreme, the very ones who hope to gain power in the coming elections. With all the clever and entertaining comic strips struggling for publication, why waste space on this thinly disguised politically slanted blather?

- Carlos Carrier, Long Beach

Residents: 'Trust, but verify'

Re "RB council takes stand against new AES power plant" (Daily Breeze, April 19):

I don't understand Redondo Beach council members Steve Aspel and Pat Aust's statement Tuesday night that they will "only" support a resolution opposing AES's plan to repower if residents stop taking a parallel path via initiative. If this is their attempt at leadership, they're making us very nervous. In California, this is our right as citizens when government fails to represent constituents. I'm extremely uncomfortable with what he is asking of Building a Better Redondo. BBR is assisting NoPowerPlant, which is a resident group with thousands of local voices. This is a very manipulative and unethical stunt. As Ronald Reagan famously stated, "Trust but verify." Residents have a lot at stake, and AES is about to file for its permit. The solution is simple. There would be no justification for the residents to complete the initiative process if the City Council is acting on our behalf and demonstrating vision and leadership.

- Grant Patterson, Redondo Beach

Kudos to El Segundo voters

Thank you to the 90 percent of El Segundo voters who rejected Measure P. We saved El Segundo City Fire Department from selfish firefighters only interested in maximizing their salaries and job security. Measure P would have disbanded our Fire Department, contracted with Los Angeles County for significantly reduced emergency services and endangered lives. The firefighter union quit campaigning when their professional polls determined it would lose by a wide margin because of our early and sustained campaign against P. They did not give up as a favor to residents. We defeated the two candidates endorsed and funded by the self-serving police union: Progressive candidate Scott Houston who falsely campaigned as a conservative and Cindy Mortesen.

- Michael D. Robbins, El Segundo


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NOTES: Letters to the editor


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The Frontrunner


April 23, 2012 Monday


Headlines From Today's Front Pages


SECTION: THE BIG PICTURE


LENGTH: 513 words


Los Angeles Times: Romney Health Plan Has Its Risks Taking A Wife ? By Force The Past Still Grips US May Feel Heat Of Solar Tariff Offering Deals On Out-Of-State Tuition

Wall Street Journal: Sarkozy Fights For Survival China Grows Farms With A Global Cattle Drive Arizona Immigration Law Faces Court Test

New York Times: Shift On Executive Power Lets Obama Bypass Rivals With Pact, US Agrees To Help Afghans For Years To Come Hollande And Sarkozy Head To Runoff In French Race Justices To Rule On Role Of The States In Immigration Go West, Young Religion: Mormonism On Exhibit Amid Racial Shift In Harlem, Political Pulpit Is In Play

Washington Post: 'Green' Seafood Labels Are Under Fire Computers Solve Math-Class Problem Obama Targets Rights Abuses Senator Puts Super PACs In Campaign Crosshairs As Peace Eludes Syria, Fears Of Extremism Rise

Financial Times: Hollande Steals Poll March On Sarkozy Oil Traders Face Heat Over Better Disclosure US Regulators Look To Ease Swaps Rules

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: US Agrees To Help For Years Georgia Detention Center Under Financial Strain DC's A Lesson To Local Leaders Retail Vacancy Rates Falling

Houston Chronicle: Medicare Overpaid Doctors In Texas A&M Treats The Once Untreatable High Court's View Of Arizona Law May Guide '12 Vote Degrees Not Paying Off For Many Grads

Washington Times: Fishing For A Cleaner Anacostia River Pressure Mounts To Fire Agents In Hooker Scandal It's Time For Wacky To Reign Over Wonky Power Is Top Prize In Immigration Battle Bartlett Needs To Win More Voters In Montgomery Doubts Of Victory Pop Up In War On Poppies

Story Lineup From Last Night's Network News: ABC: Weather-April Nor'easter, Weather-Storm Forecast, Arizona-Missing Child CBS: Weather-April Nor'easter, Weather-Storm Forecast, Secret Service Scandal, Trayvon Martin Case, Politics-Romney, Iran-Drone, John Edwards Trial, Syria-UN Monitors, France-Election, Mexico-Wal-Mart Bribery, Economy-Nevada Gold Mines

Story Lineup From This Morning's Radio News Broadcasts: ABC: Trayvon Martin Case, Arizona-Missing Child, Weather-April Nor'easter, NASA-Nevada Meteor CBS: Trayvon Martin Case, Weather-April Nor'easter, John Edwards Trial, Roger Clemens Trial, France-Elections, US-Afghan Deal NPR: Trayvon Martin Case, Weather-April Nor'easter, Economy-Gas Prices, GOP Politics-Rubio VP Speculation, US-Afghan Agreement, Costa Concordia Salvage, France-Election, School Bus Investigation

Story Lineup From This Morning's Network News: ABC: Spring Nor'easter, Zimmerman Makes Bail, Gas Prices Dip, Secret Service Probe, North Korean Threats, US-Afghanistan Support, Vicious Dogs Attack, Crashed Drag Racer, Edwards Trial Starts, Missing Child Search, California Meteor Shower, Royal Marathon Runners, CBS: Zimmerman Pre-Trial Release, Large Nor'easter, Secret Service Investigation, Bob Woodward Interview NBC: Zimmerman's Jail Release, Spring Nor'easter, Secret Service Investigation, Peter King Interview, Wal-Mart Bribery Allegations, Afghanistan-NATO Deaths, Hudson Murders Trial, Clemens Perjury Trial, Drag Racer Crash, Prince Harry's Award


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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The Indianapolis Business Journal


April 23, 2012


Notions;
Our daily diet of misinformation leads to bad decisions


LENGTH: 822 words


Our daily diet of misinformation leads to bad decisions

Imagine this: You're watching TV. A commercial comes on with grainy, sepiatoned, slow-motion footage of a popular luxury sedan. The car is spinning out of control, about to hit a group of pedestrians on a crowded street corner. They look on helpless and in horror.

We'll call the car the Lexedes 2000. Millions of people own one. It's won car-ofthe-year time and again.

An ominous voiceover begins (think James Earl Jones or Clint Eastwood):

"The Lexedes 2000: It's a piece of crap that ought to be a piece of scrap. An aging mountain of metal whose time has come-and gone. A risk to you and yours. Dissed by discriminating drivers everywhere. Call Lexedes at 555.5555. Tell them you're sick of inhaling their has-been fumes."

In the closing shot, a competing sedan (call it the Audilac) races along a sleek black highway toward a luscious mountain landscape.

Imagine this: You're skimming a magazine when you come upon a full-page mattress ad.

The dominant image is an oversized color photograph of a hideous insect magnified umpteen-thousand times. It stares at you with covetous eyes.

The headline, in oversized type, says: "Sweet dreams from Sersoma."

The copy claims, in frightening terms, that Sersoma, a competing mattress company, has proven prone to bedbugs.

This charge is followed by an asterisk.

The fine-print following a sister asterisk in tiny type at the bottom of the page notes that this accusation is justified by a network TV news story dated Oct. 19, 1975.

Look up the story on the Internet and you discover that it's a 20-second report not from the network, but from a network-affiliate station in Dubuque, Iowa. The story involves a single mattress removed from a seedy motel that was cited for violations by county health officials.

The ad is signed with a logo for Sleep Tite mattress company, and the slogan "Don't let the you-know-whats bite."

Unless you're one of those proverbial "suckers born every minute," you're unlikely to buy your next car or mattress based on negative ads like these.

Unless you're downright gullible, naïve and uninformed, you're not going to fall for deception, distortion, bias and hyperbole.

Between now and November, however, candidates, campaigns and super PACs will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on messages much like these. And hundreds of thousands of otherwise-intelligent voters will fall for them.

To wit: A friend sent me an e-mail this week. The subject line said, "Now this is funny." There was a caption and a link to a video.

My friend's cover message said it actually wasn't funny. It was, in fact, sad.

My friend said it was sad because it showed that "Russian leadership has such little respect for our current President that they will not even shake his hand."

My friend said it was sad because "this clip ... has never been reported to the American public by our major media networks."

Ever the investigative journalist, I watched the clip. According to the caption and my friend's message, it showed Russian diplomats declining to shake President Obama's hand as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev looked on.

Ever the investigative journalist, I factchecked the clip. Despite folks such as my friend forwarding it here and there in 2012, it was debunked in 2009. In reality, it shows Obama introducing American diplomats to Medvedev. Obama makes the introductions, and the Russian president shakes each of their hands.

The "disrespect" wasn't reported by the major networks because it never happened.

When I pointed out the deception to my friend, he apologized to me. He didn't say whether he sent a correction to all who received his original message.

In "The Boxer," singer-songwriter Paul Simon says: "All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."

It's the lies, jest and hear-what-you-wantto-hear tendencies-as well as apathy and ignorance-that make millions of dollars for political advertising consultants and a mockery of our electoral process. All too frequently, journalists let the politicos get away with it. Indeed, abbreviated news accounts too often report charges and countercharges without checking facts, considering context or highlighting hypocrisy and hyperbole. Dick Cheney makes headlines by saying President Obama "has been an unmitigated disaster to the country." Hyperbole. Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen makes headlines by saying prospective first lady Ann Romney has "actually never worked a day in her life." Hyperbole. U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock airs an ad saying his opponent, Sen. Richard Lugar, "left behind his conservative Hoosier values." Hyperbole. A Lugar aide calls Mourdock a "tax cheat" over a homestead property-taxexemption error that's been corrected and repaid. Hyperbole. Negative campaigns say whom we should shun, not what we would gain. You wouldn't choose a car or mattress that way, why the leaders of the free world?

*


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Investor's Business Daily


April 23, 2012 Monday
NATIONAL EDITION


WEEKLY TOP 10


SECTION: THE IBD 50; Pg. B02


LENGTH: 651 words


Blue Chips Lead Mixed Week

1 The major indexes battled to a mixed finish as mergers and earnings news overshadowed the return of worries over euro zone frailty. The Dow hauled in a 1.4% gain, ending a 2-week slip and retaking support at its 50-day moving average. The S&P 500 edged up 0.7%. The Nasdaq shed 0.4%, a third straight weekly loss, as Apple fell 5%. Bonds and commodities had a relatively quiet week, with oil and gold sticking well within recent ranges. Corn prices slipped 3% and natural gas unraveled to a new low.

Spanish Debt Worries Deepen

2 Fears over Spain's ability to control its debt sent the yield on 10-year bonds above 6% for the 1 st time since Dec. Spain sold short- and long-term debt in auctions that were deemed successful, but by Fri. yields briefly topped 6% once again. Madrid threatened to seize control of regional gov't finances to rein in their spending. Italy pushed back by a year its budget deficit targets and now sees shrinking it to 0.1% of GDP by 2014 vs. 2013. Italian yields also rose.

Banks Rebound On Markets

3 A resurgent stock market in Q1 and improved economic conditions lifted banks' earnings, as they generated more trading revenue and lent more money. Goldman Sachs also raised its quarterly dividend 31%, and Citigroup may seek a payout hike next year. Morgan Stanley outdid peers in bond trading, and a smaller Bank of America had better real estate results. Regionals like U.S. Bancorp generally had strong profits.

Weather Warms Up Food Sales

4 A mild winter fueled U.S. Q1 sales at McDonald's, Yum Brands and Chipotle. McDonald's met EPS views. Yum, parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, beat. Both noted slowing Chinese growth. Chipotle guided slower 2012 same-store sales growth. For the week, Chipotle shares fell 5%, McDonald's lost 1%; Yum rose 1.5% to a new high.

Energy Policy Politics, Inaction

5 Pres. Obama urged Congress to crack down on oil market "manipulation," with higher penalties and more fin'l "cops." Studies show that supply and demand drive crude prices. Mitt Romney and other Republicans criticized Obama. The House again OK'd the Canada-to-Gulf Keystone XL pipeline, but the White House renewed a veto threat. The EPA approved air quality rules for oil and gas fracking, but delayed implementation.

Cloud Earnings: Rain Or Shine

6 Virtualization software king VMware and data center gear maker F5 Networks reported quarterly results that beat views, boosted by the cloud computing trend. But Riverbed Technology, which make wide area network gear, plunged 29% to a 7-mo. low after it reported Thu. that Q1 sales missed targets as it rolled out a series of new products.

Splunk, Tumi, Other IPOs Soar

7 Tumi, maker of luggage and backpacks, rose 47% in Thu.'s debut after pricing at $18. Data analysis startup Splunk spiked 109% from its $17 price. Infoblox, seller of network control appliances, rose 33% Fri. from its $16 price. Cloud-based security software firm Proofpoint rose 8% Fri.

Intel Tops, Sees Lower Margin

8 The world's biggest chip company Tue. said Q1 profit fell 5% to 53 cents a share, the 1 st drop in 10 quarters, but beating views of 50 cents. Sales edged up to $12.9 bil, just over estimates. But it sees weaker profit margins. Microsoft beat profit and revenue forecasts late Thu. Its shares climbed 5% for the week while Intel fell 2%.

Argentina Aims To Seize Oil Co.

9 Argentina moved to nationalize its largest oil and gas producer, YPF, eliminating the controlling stake of Spanish energy firm Repsol, and sparking threats of a trade war from Madrid. Minority shareholders exited when U.S. trading resumed after a day and a half suspension. Shares fell 33.5%.

Syria Approves U.N. Monitors

10 Syria OK'd hundreds of monitors to aid the 6-man advance team in ending the violence that has rocked the country for over a year. On Fri., 23 people were killed as the death toll grows despite a fragile cease-fire agreement.


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


April 23, 2012 Monday
SOONER EDITION


MITT ROMNEY, DOGGED BY A 'MEAN GIRL'


BYLINE: Ruth Ann Dailey


SECTION: LIFESTYLE; Pg. A-2


LENGTH: 772 words


Really, people? You'd set out on vacation -- two parents and five little boys in a station wagon for 12 hours -- and you'd insist the dog with diarrhea go inside the car?

That sounds like child abuse to me, so this beagle-owner wouldn't want you anywhere near the steering wheel of government. Unfortunately, some of you are at the helm of major, if sputtering, media outlets (which might help explain why they're "sputtering").

Despite distortion from supposedly respectable media outlets, complete with "Mean Girls: Part II," Mitt Romney's dog-with-the-runs story does illustrate one of the GOP candidate's lingering problems: The old "enthusiasm gap."

As all tuned-in voters know by now, the Romney family left Boston for a Canada vacation in 1983 with their Irish setter Seamus in a dog carrier (with windscreen) on the station wagon's roof. Although Seamus got sick sometime during the trip, Mr. Romney stuck to a strict schedule, simply hosing off evidence of the dog's distressed bowels when the family paused en route.

A Romney son affectionately shared the story in 2007 -- wouldn't you be grateful your dad did not make you share a backseat with an incontinent canine? -- and the Boston Globe used it to illustrate Mr. Romney's "emotion-free crisis management."

Actually, you may not know these details -- even if you are tuned in -- because the misleading way the story is usually couched is "with their dog strapped to the roof" -- as if Seamus had been trussed like a dead deer on a pickup.

In fact, this dog story probably wouldn't have any legs at all if not for New York Times columnist Gail Collins, who's gone after it like, well, a dog with a bone. It was astonishing to see, thanks to a Chicago Tribune editorial last week, how much Ms. Collins has done to promote this puerile narrative.

When Ms. Collins wrote about it for the 16th time, Dartmouth University professor and Columbia Journalism Review blogger Brendan Nyhan tweeted, "This is getting pathological" -- and that was May 7, 2011, almost a year ago. By December 2011, her count had risen to "almost three dozen" mentions. Last month it was more than 50.

Pathological? Maybe. Certainly the commentator is no longer commenting but instead seeking to set an entire election narrative.

Ms. Collins is Gretchen in "Mean Girls," the wanna-be who tries to turn "fetch" (short for "fetching") into a catchphrase. When she says, "That's so fetch!" for the umpteenth time, Regina, the Queen Meanie, says, "Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen! It's not going to happen!"

Except it did happen. The same month that Ms. Collins neared 36 citations, Newt Gingrich used the dog story in an attack ad. Yes -- she kept throwing it out there and Newt finally retrieved it. Now that's fetch.

The game continues: There's a Facebook page, a Super PAC and "I Ride Inside" merchandise for anti-Romney dog-lovers. Obama strategist David Axelrod even recently tweeted a photo of the First Dog riding inside the presidential limousine. How fetch!

(Given the Obama family's penchant for traveling in separate jets mere hours apart, at enormous expense, taxpayers will be relieved to know that this time President Obama was actually in the limousine at the same time as Bo.)

Despite the White House having jumped on Ms. Collins's ca-ca caravan in January, last week ABC's political blog, The Note, blamed the Gingrich ad for reviving a controversy that had "temporarily faded away"! (ABC employees must not read The New York Times.)

Luckily for Mr. Romney, Public Policy Polling reports that while a majority of voters disapprove of dogs atop vehicles in kennels, those who say it makes them less likely to vote for him were already unlikely to anyway.

Unluckily for Mr. Romney, the distorted incident does capture something that shows up in more serious surveys -- the so-called enthusiasm gap: Voters who need to feel emotionally connected to a candidate but just don't "heart" Mitt.

He's the guy who comes to a GOP town hall meeting in Pittsburgh and awkwardly insults the host's cookie platter. He's the guy who straps the dog kennel to the roof of the car and hoses off the offal.

President Obama has an enthusiasm gap, too, but it's performance-related: It tracks the ever-lengthening economic stall. For some voters, enthusiasm for "anyone but Obama" will be enough to bridge any emotional disconnect they feel with Mr. Romney.

For others, a spark from an engaging running mate could close the gap. GOP insiders are reportedly vetting Sen. Rob Portman from Ohio and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Given the seriousness of our national media, I'd suggest they take a close look at the family pets.


LOAD-DATE: April 23, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Ruth Ann Dailey: ruthanndailey@hotmail.com/


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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Tampa Bay Times


April 23, 2012 Monday
0 South Pinellas Edition


ENERGY GROUP'S AD ON OBAMA IS INACCURATE


BYLINE: ANGIE DROBNIC HOLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER


SECTION: LOCAL; POLITIFACT: FLORIDA; Pg. 1B


LENGTH: 855 words



HIGHLIGHT: Claims that his policies led gas price higher are dubious at best.


Gas prices are fueling a drag race of political ads on Florida television. In one lane, it's spiking gas prices under President Barack Obama. In the other, it's "Big Oil's" support for Mitt Romney.

"Since Obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled," says one of the ads, from a group with ties to the oil industry called the American Energy Alliance.

"Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska," the ad continues. "He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump."

The ad is right that gas prices have doubled (more than doubled, in fact) since Obama took office in 2009, but we decided to look at the ad's larger point - that Obama's policies on Alaska, Solyndra and Keystone are contributing to those higher gas prices.

We'll take the policies one at a time.

Energy exploration in Alaska. The ad's first claim is that Obama "opposed exploring for energy in Alaska." That's only partly true.

The president has opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a large nature preserve managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the Obama administration recently approved a plan for Shell Oil to drill in the Chukchi Sea, off the northwest coast of Alaska.

If Obama had green-lighted drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, would gas prices be lower today? Not according to the evidence we reviewed.

A 2008 study done by the independent Energy Information Administration for the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, found that it would take 10 years to actually produce oil from the area. That's only if there were no protracted legal battles, environmental challenge or delays in getting government permits.

Solyndra. The ad then references Solyndra - a solar panel manufacturer that won government loan guarantees, but then went belly up.

The inclusion of the company is perplexing. Solyndra was an energy company focused on generating electricity for buildings - not gasoline for cars. There's no evidence the company, or the federal money it received had any effect the price of gas prices.

The Keystone XL pipeline. The ad goes on to say that Obama blocked the Keystone pipeline. Obama did block the Keystone XL, an addition to an existing pipeline, so that oil sands (also known as tar sands or bituminous sands) could be moved from Canada to refineries near Houston, Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico.

But again, the context of Obama's action resulting in today's high gas prices is misleading. Since the pipeline was only proposed in 2008 with a then-projected opening of 2013, it's hard to see how gas prices in 2012 would be lower.

And whether Keystone will even reduce gas prices in the future is a contested point. An analyst for the company behind the pipeline, TransCanada, says it would bring down gas prices by 3.5 to 4 cents per gallon. But environmentalists have seized on arguments that the pipeline could drive gas prices up, by giving Canadian oil an outlet to world markets through the Gulf of Mexico and bypassing U.S. customers.

We contacted the American Energy Alliance to ask them about the connection between these issues and today's gas prices. Spokesman Benjamin Cole said that Obama's overall policies are hostile to the domestic oil and gas industry, and that markets have reacted with increased prices.

Not everyone sees it that way, though. Obama's energy policies have been "surprisingly constructive," said Michael Levi, an expert on energy with the Council for Foreign Relations, in a March op-ed for ForeignPolicy.com. In an article titled "The Driller in Chief," Levi argued that Obama's regulations are aimed at "dumb and preventable accidents" that would "do far more to set back U.S. oil and gas development than some smart minimum standards set out at the federal level."

Other experts we spoke with were dubious about the impact of any of the above issues - drilling in Alaska, Solyndra, the Keystone pipeline - on today's gas prices.

Gas prices reflect the cost of oil on world markets and tend to reflect long-term trends, expectations for economic growth and geopolitical concerns. One example: Rising tensions with Iran, a major oil exporter.

"Looking at this year, what's affected prices are the issues with Iran," said Jessica Brady, a spokeswoman for the travel organization AAA, which monitors gas prices.

What about drilling in Alaska, Solyndra and Keystone? "Really, none of those three issues have had an impact on the gas prices we've been paying," she said.

We agree. This claim is False.

This item has been edited for print. To read the full fact-check, visit PolitiFact.com/Florida.

* * *

The statement

Gas prices have doubled because "Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline. So we will all pay more at the pump."

The American Energy Alliance, March 27, in a television ad

The ruling: FALSE

Gas prices are higher now, but there's no evidence that Obama's policies on Alaska, Solyndra or the Keystone XL caused the higher prices. We rate the statement False.


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 23, 2012 Monday 1:53 AM GMT


Bitter Pa. Senate GOP primary heads into last days


BYLINE: By MARC LEVY, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 747 words


DATELINE: GREENCASTLE Pa.


The final days of a five-way race between Republican candidates seeking the nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is becoming increasingly bitter, with dueling attack ads running up the tab on a low-key election that is poised to exceed $5 million before Tuesday's primary.

Steve Welch, Marc Scaringi and Tom Smith spoke Sunday night after GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney at a Franklin County Republican Party dinner as they scramble to connect with party faithful, many of whom have little idea who is running for U.S. Senate.

"Most of the time, it's Election Day before I make up my mind," said Richard Beard, a dinner attendee from nearby Chambersburg who couldn't name the Republican candidates.

Welch, a Chester County entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is backed by Gov. Tom Corbett and endorsed by the state GOP, is in danger of losing.

The campaign of Smith, a wealthy former coal company owner from Armstrong County, has released internal polling results that show him leading comfortably. And he is financing a barrage of TV ads that has him on track to spend more than three times as much as his four rivals combined.

Smith delivered a standard, five-minute stump speech to about 500 attendees, never mentioning Welch while leaning heavily on his farm-family roots to anchor his points of view. But Welch appealed for sympathy "I'm being attacked in this race," he said, not mentioning Smith sitting to his right and tried once again to explain his vote for Barack Obama in Obama's 2008 presidential primary race against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"Let me make one thing crystal clear tonight," Welch said. "For president of the United States, I voted for John McCain, OK? Crystal clear."

And then he attacked Smith, but not by name: "I'm being attacked by an individual that literally has never voted in a Republican primary."

Scaringi, a suburban Harrisburg lawyer, has generated little support and raised little cash.

Complicating the race is a fourth candidate, former state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County, who remains popular with conservatives who liked his advocacy as a lawmaker to eliminate property taxes and supported him in an unsuccessful primary run against Corbett two years ago.

With weather forecasters expecting rain and snow on Monday and Tuesday for much of the western half of Pennsylvania, turnout in an primary election already lacking excitement could be extremely low and make the result that much more unpredictable.

Casey's perceived strength he whipped incumbent Republican Rick Santorum in 2006 also helped put the race on the GOP's backburner.

Another dinner attendee, Duane Schroyer of Greencastle, said he planned to vote for Smith, but only after he asked to be reminded of who exactly was running.

Last week, an independent group named Freedom Fund for America's Future began running a TV ad attacking Smith, although it hasn't revealed the source of the $175,000 that it reported spending so far.

The ad attacks Smith for being a registered Democrat for more than four decades, donating money to Democrats he gave $2,400 to U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire's campaign in 2009 and raising taxes as a township official more than 30 years ago. It closes with the statement, "conservative Republicans can't trust Tom Smith."

Smith's campaign responded with an ad that attacked Welch and showed a photo of Welch's face next to a photo of Obama's.

"I've been a strong conservative all my life," Smith says to the camera in the ad. "I would never vote for Barack Obama, but Steve Welch voted for him. That's the key difference in this race."

Welch insists that he voted for McCain and returned to the Republican Party after switching to the Democratic Party for several years out of frustration with Republican-controlled Washington.

Smith's generous campaign giving over the years has heavily favored Republicans, but he claims not to remember whom he voted for in numerous Democratic primary elections as recently as 2010. Smith did not vote in the 2008 Democratic primary, according to county records.

Rohrer, meanwhile, has taken heat for "yes" votes he cast on bills to raise lawmakers' pay and pensions.

The conservative editorial page of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper opined earlier this month that the race is a "mess" and endorsed a fifth candidate, David Christian, a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran from Bucks County who helped found the Vietnam Veterans of America and served as a U.S. Senate fellow from 1998 to 2002.


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 23, 2012 Monday 8:18 PM GMT


Dem Sen. hopeful Warren: Stop student rate hike


BYLINE: By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 630 words


DATELINE: BOSTON


Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is calling on Congress to act ahead of a July 1 deadline to block a planned doubling of student loan interest rates part of a wider effort by Democrats to press Republicans on an issue they hope will resonate with financially-strapped families.

Warren, who is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, said allowing the interest rates to climb will add another burden to students seeking higher education.

"Congress must act now to stop the increase in these student loan interest rates," Warren said in a news release Monday. "Too many students are already struggling to pay the bills."

Rates on the popular federal Stafford loans for low- and middle-income undergraduates are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

Brown said he also supports holding the line on interest rates for students, but said the financial problems facing students go far beyond just interest rates.

Chief among them, he said, is finding a job.

"What's the real problem is the fact that you have many people who are getting out of school with a tremendous amount of debt who are then unemployed or underemployed," Brown told reporters Monday. "It's upwards of half, that's really the real issue."

Congress, then led by Democrats, voted in 2007 to cut the interest rate in half over four years, allowing it to become an election-year issue in 2012.

The cost of keeping the interest rates frozen could come to $6 billion a year. It's unclear how that cost would be paid.

Democratic President Barack Obama has also been pushing Congress for the extension. He's planned a three-state swing this week to warn students of the potential financial troubles they will face if the interest rates double.

The White House is asking for a one-year extension of the lower rate instead of a permanent fix.

On Monday, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also said he supports a temporary extension of lower student loan interest rates.

Warren tried to tie the student loan issue to the release of a new 30-second television ad the campaign released on Monday in which Warren blames Washington for not doing enough to help students while stressing her own modest roots in "a family hanging on by our fingertips to a place in the middle class."

"Today, Washington lets big corporations like GE pay nothing zero in taxes, while kids are left drowning in debt to get an education," Warren said in the ad.

The message is an attempt to push back against Brown's efforts to portray Warren as an out-of-touch elitist. Warren is a Harvard Law School professor and a consumer advocate.

Brown's campaign renewed that theme on Monday, saying Warren should look to what the campaign called "exorbitant salaries and compensation packages" for teachers and administrators if she wants to lower tuitions.

"Elizabeth Warren's hypocritical attitude continues this week as she lectures Massachusetts voters about affordable college tuition rates while collecting a salary from Harvard sufficient to finance more than nine students' annual tuitions," said Brown campaign manager Jim Barnett said in a news release.

Warren was paid $429,981 as a Harvard law professor from 2010 to 2011 and got nearly $134,000 in consulting fees on legal cases in 2010.

Brown earns about $174,000 as a U.S. senator.

"It's nice obviously to tackle the interest rate on student loans, but we've got to get costs under control," Brown said. "There's a much larger picture that we need to address."

Brown and Warren are locked in a tight race that is already well on its way to becoming one of the most expensive Senate contests in the nation this year.

As of the end of March, Brown's campaign had about $15 million in his re-election account, compared with the $11 million in Warren's election fund.


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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


April 24, 2012 Tuesday
Main Edition


Georgia donors keep cash flowing


BYLINE: Daniel Malloy; Staff


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 729 words



HIGHLIGHT: Presidential visit pays off as Obama outraises Romney nearly 6-to-1.


WASHINGTON --- A lucrative Atlanta trip headlined by a Tyler Perry-hosted fundraiser helped President Barack Obama outraise Republican rival Mitt Romney in Georgia last month by a nearly 6-to-1 margin.

Obama raised more than $734,000 from Georgians in March, while Romney brought in $125,000, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of campaign finance disclosures. Nearly two-thirds of Obama's Georgia haul came from the Obama Victory Fund, a joint campaign account with the Democratic National Committee that put on three March 16 fundraisers in the Atlanta area.

In previous months, Obama has outraised Romney in Georgia, but not by so large a margin.

Obama's held numerous fundraising advantages in March that are now waning as the general election race gets under way. Romney, locked in a bitter primary that saw former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich win Georgia on March 6, was not raising money for the general election campaign. This month he has begun doing so, in conjunction with the Republican National Committee, as he has all but clinched the nomination --- though Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain in the race.

In all, Obama had $104 million on hand at the end of March, while Romney had $10.1 million.

Georgia voted for Republican John McCain for president in 2008, and the GOP has consolidated its statewide dominance since then. Though the state is highly unlikely to move to the Democratic column, it remains attractive to Democrats for its donor base --- particularly in Atlanta.

During his visit Obama spoke at a $250-a-ticket event at Tyler Perry Studios in Southwest Atlanta, then at two private homes, one of them entertainment mogul Perry's mansion near Vinings. Admission was $10,000 and $35,800 --- the maximum legal contribution for the joint committee.

Among those who "maxed out" were the Rev. Jasper Williams and his son Joseph Williams, both pastors at the Salem Bible Church. Also giving the $35,800 maximum to the joint fund were Herman J. Russell, chairman of contracting company H.J. Russell and Co., and his wife, Sylvia Russell, an executive with AT&T.

Entertainer Chris "Ludacris" Bridges donated $10,000 to the joint fund, as did musician Cee Lo Green, whose profanity-laced performance at Perry's studio fundraiser later drew controversy. The Obama Victory Fund paid $12,000 for the use of Perry's studio.

In all, the Obama Victory Fund brought in about $950,000 from Georgia in March, of which $454,000 was transferred to the Obama campaign.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, had 22 Georgians donate the maximum $2,500 to his primary campaign in March including Stephen Beagle of Roswell, the president of Southland Homes Corp.; and Jesse Thomas of Norcross, the south division president of Wellcare Health Plans.

Restore Our Future, a Romney-supporting super PAC that can raise and spend unlimited amounts, last month brought in $100,000 each from Atlanta's Kelly Loeffler of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. and Alpharetta's Rod Aycox of Select Management Resources LLC. Restore Our Future raised $8.68 million nationwide and finished March with $6.45 million on hand.

The pro-Obama Priorities USA super PAC raised $2.5 million in March, none coming from Georgia, and had $5.03 million in the bank.

Gingrich raised $121,000 from Georgia in March, a month that saw his campaign spiral into even more severe debt as his Georgia primary victory was overshadowed by a string of disappointing performances elsewhere in the South.

Gingrich raised $1.69 million and reported $1.22 million cash on hand but $4.3 million in debt to staff, a security firm, a private jet company and other vendors.

Winning Our Future, a Super PAC run by former Gingrich aides supporting his candidacy, was in better shape. A $5 million donation by the wife of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, nearly the entire amount the group raised, brought the Adelson family's total contribution to the Gingrich shadow media campaign to more than $20 million. The debt-free super PAC had $5.7 million on hand at the end of March and had not yet reported any April spending as of Monday.

March fundraising totals from Georgia

Barack Obama $734,339.07

Mitt Romney $125,545.00

Newt Gingrich $121,110.00

Rick Santorum $55,732.00

Ron Paul $36,344.09

Note: Obama's total includes money raised for the general election. Republicans only raised for the primaries.


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April 24, 2012 Tuesday 10:50 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4240 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ashley Hayes -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Secret-Service (Will update)

Two more Secret Service members have resigned over a Colombia prostitution scandal, congressional sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday, while another member is being forced out and two more were cleared of serious misconduct.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (Will update)

A former aide to John Edwards testified Tuesday that the then-presidential candidate made a disparaging comment about his mistress after she called to say she was pregnant.

FEA-Mad-Cow-Disease-Confirmed (Will update)

The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed today that the nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease" was found in a dairy cow in California.

Texas-Cartel-Leaders-Indicted (Will update)

A U.S. federal grand jury in Texas has indicted the suspected top leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia face conspiracy charges connected with drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

The Syrian military is halting violence in areas entered by U.N. observers but resumes shooting once the monitors leave, a spokesman for the U.N. special envoy to Syria said Tuesday, citing "credible reports."

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial (Will update)

More than two dozen people filled a Chicago courtroom Tuesday, listening to testimony in the case of the murdered relatives of Grammy-winning singer Jennifer Hudson.

POL-April-24-Primaries (Will update)

It's the biggest day of Republican primary voting since Super Tuesday back on March 6. But when five states hold contests on Tuesday, the only drama left appears to be the size of the margins of victory for all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

UK-Phone-Hacking

James Murdoch insisted Tuesday that he knew little about the scale of phone hacking by people working for the News of the World, as he continued his fight to limit the damage the scandal does to him and his family's media empire.

CNN SHOWCASE

Europe-Far-Right-Austerity - By Laura Smith-Spark

The success of France's anti-euro National Front party in the first round of the country's presidential elections thrust the far right into the headlines. A day later in the Netherlands, the refusal of the far-right Freedom Party to back austerity measures led the Dutch government to collapse. Two very different scenarios, but with a common thread: the efforts of extremist parties to win support by plugging into popular discontent over the financial crisis, against the backdrop of a wider social unease and anti-immigrant sentiment.

New-York-Patz-Probe - By Michael Pearson

It seemed a promising lead, one worthy of a carefully orchestrated demolition project and a squad of law officers hoping to answer a three-decade-old question: What happened to Etan Patz? The discovery over the weekend of a possible blood stain only amped things up, as scores of reporters camped out near the site as others had 33 years ago, ready to finally tell an eager public what happened to the beaming 6-year-old boy whose disappearance in 1979 helped launch the missing children movement. It even read as a big development to cold case expert Mike Huff, a retired Tulsa, Oklahoma, police detective. "I thought, 'Man, this is going to be a slam dunk, they already know the answer to this story," he said. But Tuesday's announcement that the "blood" wasn't blood after all, that in fact investigators hadn't found any human remains, seemed to put the case back on the shelf, just another unfulfilled hope in a case full of them.

INTERNATIONAL

Yemen-al-Qaeda-Death

The fourth-most wanted al Qaeda leader in Yemen was killed on Tuesday in an airstrike in the northeastern province of Mareb, the Yemeni government announced.

Pakistan-Blast

A blast at a railway station in Lahore, Pakistan, killed two people Tuesday and wounded 27, officials said.

Ukraine-Former-Prime-Minister

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, serving a seven-year sentence after last year's conviction on a charge of abuse of authority, has been on a hunger strike for four days because she was beaten unconscious in prison last week, she said Tuesday. But the prosecutor said Tuesday that his office immediately investigated Tymoshenko's claim and didn't find proof to substantiate her allegations.

Israel-Settlements

The Israeli government said Tuesday that it has decided to legalize the status of three settlement posts that were built in the West Bank during the 1990's.

UK-Phone-Hacking

James Murdoch, a top executive in his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire, Tuesday stood by his insistence that he knew little about the scale of phone hacking by people working for News Corp.'s British tabloids. The testimony will go on until 11:30 a.m. ET.

UK-Hacking-Government

The Cabinet minister who oversees British broadcasting came under fire Tuesday after the inquiry into the News Corp. hacking scandal revealed extensive contacts with the company while he weighed a controversial merger.

James-Murdoch-Profile

One year ago James Murdoch was widely regarded as heir-apparent to his father Rupert's global News Corp. media empire -- a remarkable turnaround for a college dropout once viewed as the family's black sheep. Now that aspiration lies in apparent disarray. A profile.

Europe-Islam-Discrimination

Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and religious freedom, an Amnesty International report said.

Yemen-Militant-Killed

A top commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed last weekend in Yemen, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington announced Tuesday.

Canada-Sawmill-Fire

At least 25 people were injured late Monday after an explosion at a sawmill in Prince George, British Columbia, officials said.

Brazil-Actor-Hanging

A Brazilian actor died after accidentally hanging himself during the play "The Passion of the Christ," a local hospital said.

China-Wukan-Officials-Punishment

China's ruling Communist Party has expelled two former officials from a southern Chinese village where local residents rose up last year to protest corruption and abuses of land rights.

Syria-Unrest

The Syrian military is halting violence in areas entered by U.N. observers but resumes shooting once the monitors leave, a spokesman for the U.N. special envoy to Syria said Tuesday, citing "credible reports."

Afghanistan-Post-2014

While a new deal with Afghanistan starts to spell out the U.S. presence after the bulk of troops leave in 2014, a top U.S. general said he has a good idea of what skills will be needed to ensure the country remains stable.

Bo-Xilai-China-Reaction

Interest in the Bo Xilai scandal is bigger abroad than in China.

China-Bo-Xilai-Insider-Grant

Wang Kang looks every bit what he is: a Chinese scholar. With his Confucian beard, graying hair and a deep, resonant voice enunciating Putonghua tones, he epitomizes gravitas. But it's not his appearance so much as the power of his story. For Wang is one of the few insiders who dare to speak publicly about something most people in China only whisper about: the fall of the man once touted as a potential Chinese president.

South-Africa-Politics-Malema

South Africa's ruling African National Congress denied Tuesday the appeal of its youth leader, Julius Malema, expelling him.

Cutty-Sark-Reopen

One of Britain's most cherished maritime treasures will complete a miraculous rise from the ashes when it reopens to the public later this week.

SPORT-Football-Blatter-Corruption-Report

Sepp Blatter has been criticized in a damning Council of Europe report into FIFA's handling of bribery allegations which only came to light after a sports marketing company that the world football governing body worked with went bust.

SPORT-Champions-League-Barcelona-Chelsea

Ten-man Chelsea produced an astonishing comeback to recover from 2-1 down and beat defending champions Barcelona 3-2 in a scarcely believable Champions League semifinal at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

MONEY-Mf-Global

Investigators probing the collapse of bankrupt brokerage MF Global said Tuesday that they have located $1.6 billion in missing customer money.

U.S.A.

SPORT-Saints-Investigation

The Louisiana State Police said Tuesday that they have joined the FBI in investigating allegations that New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis had the ability to eavesdrop on opposing coaches for nearly three seasons.

Florida-Canaveral-Death

Florida authorities are investigating the death of a custodian whose body was found at a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday afternoon, NASA reported.

US-Gulf-Oil-Spill

A former BP engineer has been charged with destroying 200-plus text messages about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including one concluding that the undersea gusher was far worse than reported at the time.

FEA-Mad-Cow-Disease-Confirmed

The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed today that the nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease" was found in a dairy cow in California.

California-School-Shooting-Suspect

One Goh, the 43-year-old California man charged with fatally shooting seven people this month at the Oikos University in Oakland, has not eaten while being held in jail without bail, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Texas-Cartel-Leaders-Indicted

A U.S. federal grand jury in Texas has indicted the suspected top leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

The rejection of the resignation plan for the embattled police chief in the Trayvon Martin case leaves the city in "limbo," the city manager said Tuesday.

POL-Secret-Service

Two more Secret Service members have resigned over a Colombia prostitution scandal, congressional sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday, while another member is being forced out and two more were cleared of serious misconduct.

POL-Obama-Secret-Service

President Barack Obama on Tuesday labeled the Secret Service officers involved in the recent prostitution scandal "knuckleheads" but also said the agency does a great job 99.9% of the time.

US-Mexico-Immigration

Mexican migration to the United States may have stalled, but the political and social debates over immigrants living in the United States aren't going anywhere, experts say.

US-Manning-Military-Hearing

Blaming "widespread discovery violations" by military prosecutors, Pfc. Bradley Manning's lead lawyer, David Coombs, on Tuesday asked a military judge to dismiss all the charges against him with prejudice, which means he could not be recharged in the future.

US-Space-Mining

Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis pioneered the business of sending millionaire tourists to space. Now they want to mine asteroids for what they say will be tens of billions of dollars worth of resources annually for use on Earth and beyond.

US-Military-Spy-Changes

The U.S. military is revamping its spying program to better focus on threats off the battlefield, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

Pennsylvania-Armored-Truck-Heist

A fugitive accused of stealing $2 million from an armored truck he was driving and killing his partner was caught early Tuesday in Florida, according to the FBI.

MONEY-Postal-Service-Senate

The Senate was expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a plan to save the struggling U.S. Postal Service, an effort that could save thousands of jobs and 100 mail processing plants now slated to be closed or consolidated next month.

TECH-Google-Drive

Google expanded the digital world of cloud computing on Tuesday, announcing the rollout of "Google Drive."

MED-Botox-Benefits-Migraine

Just a few days after new migraine treatment guidelines were released at the American Academy of Neurology's annual convention, new research published in this week's edition of JAMA, finds Botox may not work as well on migraines as originally thought.

MED-Dick-Clark-Prostate-Surgery

Hollywood producer and television legend Dick Clark died of a heart attack a day after having prostate surgery, according to a death certificate obtained by CNN.

US-Education-Obama-Honors-Teacher-of-the-Year-Finalists

President Obama praised more than 50 teachers at a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday. The educators were previously honored by their states and territories as Teachers of the Year. President Obama told the group "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for teachers like these."

US-Space-Mining

Could this century's equivalent of the 19th-century gold rush come in space? At least two start-up companies are putting money and impressive names in science, business and even entertainment behind the theory that platinum and other precious metals can be mined out of this world and brought back to Earth to become parts of our cell phones and other important electronic devices.

SPORT-Deion-Sanders-Wife

The estranged wife of former football star Deion Sanders was released from custody Tuesday and said she hasn't been given a "fair shake" over allegations that she attacked him.

US-Teen-Social-Media-Drunk-Driving

Hoping to keep the man accused of killing her sister behind bars, a teenager posted a YouTube video asking people to show up at a court hearing today to keep the bond at $1 million.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former aide to John Edwards testified Tuesday that the then-presidential candidate made a disparaging comment about his mistress after she called to say she was pregnant.

US-Teen-Driving-Study

A new study suggests that teen girls are far more likely than boys to engage in distracted driving behavior.

MED-Texas-Sextuplets

A Houston woman is the new mom of three girls and three boys on Monday, according to Texas Children's Hospital.

Maryland-Beating

Police in Baltimore have made a second arrest in a violent robbery that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes last month while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

More than two dozen people filled a Chicago courtroom Tuesday, listening to testimony in the case of the murdered relatives of Grammy-winning singer Jennifer Hudson.

MONEY-ATT-Verizon-Iphone

If AT&T and Verizon are any indication, it could be a rough quarter for Apple. IPhone sales at the two biggest U.S. wireless carriers came in well below expectations. AT&T said Tuesday morning that it sold 4.3 million of the devices and Verizon reported last week that it sold just 3.2 million in the first three months of 2012. That's down 43% and 24% respectively from the previous quarter. Wall Street analysts had expected around a million more iPhone sales between the two carriers.

MONEY-Home-Prices

Home prices hit new post-bubble lows in February, according to a report out Tuesday.

MONEY-Student-Loans

On July 1, the interest rates on student loans subsidized by Uncle Sam will double to 6.8%.

MONEY-Apple-Earnings

Much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales helped Apple nearly double its profit last quarter.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks finished mixed Tuesday, with the Dow holding onto solid gains, while Netflix's disappointing outlook weighed down tech stocks.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Santorum-Romney-Meeting

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are likely to meet in early May to discuss a Santorum endorsement, his role as a Romney surrogate and conservative policy issues, CNN has learned.

POL-Democrats-Romney-Student-Loans

Two Democratic lawmakers Tuesday called on Mitt Romney to back up his words with action regarding his position on extending the lowered student loan interest rates.

POL-April-24-Primaries

On the biggest day of Republican primary voting since last month's Super Tuesday, the certain GOP presidential nominee and the incumbent president he hopes to unseat both appeared to be in full general election mode.

POL-Gingrich-Reassess-Campaign

Newt Gingrich is preparing Tuesday night to reassess his presidential prospects and that includes considering suspending his campaign, CNN has learned.

POL-Romney-NH-Speech

Mitt Romney will move to seize the mantle of presumptive Republican nominee in a New Hampshire speech Tuesday night, as his campaign moves aggressively behind the scenes to build up a general election operation, a campaign adviser said.

POL-Ad-Government-Spending

A non-profit Republican organization is poised to run $2 million worth of ads in battleground states attacking President Barack Obama for controversies involving tax payer dollars, according to the group.

POL-Ann-Romney-On-Mothers

Ann Romney, Monday night, defended her role as a stay-at-home mother and described herself and her presidential candidate husband as a couple in touch with women concerned about the economy.

POL-RNC-African-American-Voters

One thing is certain this election year: President Barack Obama will win African American voters by a colossal margin. Obama had a stunning 94-3 lead over Mitt Romney among blacks in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week. But Republicans are trying to loosen the grip.

COMMENTARY-Lawless-Dolan-Woman-Veep

Now that Mitt Romney has all but wrapped up the Republican nomination for president, the discussion has veered toward potential running mates. Who embodies the conservative credentials Romney is seen as lacking? Who can deliver a battleground state that will put Romney over the top? Who can generate the enthusiasm that will bring not only Republicans, but also independents, to the polls on Election Day?

TECH-MTV-Game-Youth-Vote

MTV is hoping to give its get-out-the-vote campaign a viral boost with an online game, inspired by fantasy sports, that rewards players for participating in the 2012 elections.

POL-Romney-Young-Voters

Steps by both political parties to court younger voters on Tuesday proved it's the youth voting bloc's turn to come under the national spotlight, attention that will continue through the November general election.

MONEY-Campaign-Finance

With primary season over, the race for president -- and the race for cash -- is about to heat up.

POL-Dems-House-Campaigns

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Tuesday announced 14 more races that have qualified for their "Red to Blue" program, as part of the committee's "Drive for 25" campaign to win back control of the House of Representatives.

POL-Poll-Haley-South-Carolina

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley's approval in South Carolina stands under 40%, essentially unchanged from previous polling among registered voters, according to a new survey.

POL-Massachusetts-Senate-Taxes

Battling to keep his seat, Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts called on his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren to release six years of tax returns on Tuesday.

POL-Romney-Fundraising-New-York

Beginning Wednesday, Mitt Romney will hit the New York fundraising circuit as his campaign hopes to make a dent in the large cash advantage enjoyed by the Barack Obama re-election team.

POL-Crossroads-Senate-Ads

The conservative group Crossroads GPS said Tuesday it was spending $1.2 million to air television ads in five states with competitive races for the U.S. Senate.

POL-Battlegrounds-Ad-Spending

As the general election battle between President Barack Obama and presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney heats up, so are the television ad wars.

POL-Romney-Fundraiser-Wife

She is her husband's not-so-secret weapon on the campaign trail, and now Mitt Romney's presidential bid is looking to raise some campaign cash by offering a meal with his wife, Ann.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

US-AC360-Stand-Your-Ground-Law

Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three, pleaded for her freedom as an inmate in the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Florida. "This is my life I'm fighting for," she said while wiping away tears. She added, "If you do everything to get on the right side of the law, and it is a law that does not apply to you, where do you go from there?" Alexander is referring to Florida's so-called stand your ground law, a law that has come under scrutiny since the killing of Trayvon Martin. Unlike the Martin case, which involved one stranger killing another, Alexander's case involved her gun and her abusive husband.

TRAVEl-Howard-Johnson-Don-Draper

No one wants to disappoint Don Draper. The Howard Johnson hotel chain is trying to make amends for fictionally failing the inscrutable ad man in this week's episode of "Mad Men."

US-'Awkward-Black-Girl'-creator-Issa-Rae-responds-to-racism

After "The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl," won the Shorty Award for best webshow last month, creator Issa Rae saw racist comments and the N-word lobbed at her via social media.

US-Texting-Teens-Learn-to-talk-face-to-face

It's an often-observed teenage obsession: texting. Kids today spend an awful lot of time bent over cell phones sending text messages to each other. In fact, you can observe them sitting within normal talking distance from each other yet instead of talking, they'll be texting a conversation.

US-Lionfish

Four years ago, lobster fisherman Gary Nichols had never laid eyes on a lionfish, but today his traps are full of them. "You'll get two or three decent traps with lobster, but if you get four or five lionfish, the lobster don't like it," Nichols said. He says he catches so many lionfish now (up to 200 pounds every day) that he's started to sell them. But where his lobsters sell for $16 per kilogram, lionfish only make him $12. Lionfish are causing a huge strain on his business and the wider commercial fishing industry in Florida, devouring other fish populations -- in some cases reducing them by up to 90%.

MED-Tommy-John-Surgery

Tommy John pitched 26 seasons in the major leagues, with his 700 career starts ranking him 8th all-time among major league baseball pitchers.

COMMENTARY-Tokyo-Postcard

Can Tokyo learn from the American political 'matsuri'? The third in a series of dispatches exploring how the upcoming U.S. election is being seen in cities around the world.

TRAVEL-Memorial-Tourism

The crowds continue to visit the dead. They walk through the gates at Auschwitz. They take the boats to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. They hike through battlefields and slave auction sites. And now they walk onto the plaza of the National September 11 Memorial, where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Already one of New York City's most popular attractions, the new memorial has drawn more than 2 million visitors since it opened on September 11, 2011. In a culture where death is sanitized and often left to hospitals and hospice centers away from people's daily lives, death made public by tragedy fascinates people enough to make memorial sites a popular stopping point on otherwise fun-filled vacations.

MED-Measles-Deaths-Drop

In 2007 the World Health Organization set a goal to reduce measles deaths by 90% worldwide between 2000 and 2010. Death rates did fall 74% during that time, according to a new report in the British medical journal The Lancet. But the highly infectious disease is still a major public health concern across the globe, with almost 200,000 new cases reported each year.

ENT-K'naan-Somalia-Hip-Hop

His name means "traveler" and Somali-born poet, rapper and musician K'naan has certainly come a long way. The hip-hop sensation, who's been compared by critics to both reggae hero Bob Marley and rap star Eminem, fled war-torn Somalia as a teenager to eventually settle down with his family in Canada.

SPORT-Olympics-Norman-Black-Power

It is perhaps the most iconic sports photograph ever taken. Captured at the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meters at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, U.S. sprinter Tommie Smith stands defiantly, head bowed, his black-gloved fist thrust into the thin air. Behind him fellow American John Carlos joins with his own Black Power salute, an act of defiance aimed at highlighting the segregation and racism burning back in their homeland. Yet few know that the man standing in front of both of them, the Australian sprinter Peter Norman who shocked everyone by powering past Carlos and winning the silver medal, played his own, crucial role in sporting history.

Cuban-Artists-Crowd-Funding

Rafael Villares is a talented Cuban artist who appears to work effortlessly in mediums such as painting and sculpture. But for years, he has had an even more ambitious project in mind, one that seems like a fantasy from a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. "The idea would be to follow in the footsteps of the first explorers to Cuba and photograph the northern and southern coasts to create one panoramic image," he said. "It would be one horizon, so you can't tell if it's an island or a continent. It's a search to capture Cuba's geography in 2012."

COMMENTARY-Nejame-Trayvon-Martin-Case

If George Zimmerman were a 28-year-old black man who shot and killed a 17-year-old white teenager under the same circumstances as alleged in Trayvon Martin's death, would he have been immediately arrested? After 30 years as a trial attorney, I can unhesitatingly say, "Of course." Herein lies the cultural and racial inequity which has largely led to the polarization and division over culpability in Trayvon's death.

COMMENTARY-Granderson-Gay-Den-Leader

Jennifer Tyrrell dislikes public speaking so much that when she was in high school, she almost failed marketing because she didn't want to speak in front of the class. But when the Boy Scouts of America made a decision that hurt her little boy Cruz, she did what any mother would do -- set aside her own fear, spoke up and, with the help of family and friends, is fighting back.


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April 24, 2012 Tuesday 8:12 PM EST


Battleground states see jump in ad spending


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 504 words


DATELINE: Washington (CNN)


Washington (CNN) -- As the general election battle between President Barack Obama and presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney heats up, so are the television ad wars.

And which groups are putting up television commercials, and where the spots are running, may serve as a preview of the bigger battle to come.

The biggest spender, American Crossroads, the independent super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove that backs GOP causes and candidates. According to figures by Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), which tracks and estimates the costs of campaign ads running on the air, Crossroads nonprofit affiliate Crossroads GPS spent more than $1.5 million to run campaign ads since April 10. That's when former Sen. Rick Santorum, Romney's main rival for the Republican nomination, suspended his White House bid, making Romney the all-but-certain nominee.

"No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much. Tell Obama to stop blaming others and work to pass better energy policies," says the announcer in the ad Crossroads is airing.

Also attacking the president over high fuel prices, the American Energy Alliance, which supports oil industry causes. Their spot went up well before April 10, but the group spent an additional $600,000 to air the ad since Santorum suspended his bid.

Firing back, Obama's re-election team spent nearly $800,000 over the past two weeks to run its own spots, defending the president.

"Under President Obama, domestic oil production is at an eight year high. So why is big oil attacking him? Because he's fighting to end their tax breaks," says the narrator in the Obama campaign ad.

And Priorities USA, the independent super PAC supporting Obama's re-election campaign, has shelled out just over $400,000 to put up commercials.

Just as important as which groups are putting up spots is where the ads are airing.

"It's fair to assume that the collective advertising footprint today is what both sides view as the early battleground of the air war for the presidency. We're talking about 20 or so markets covering parts of Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia," says CMAG Vice President Elizabeth Wilner.

All of the states are considered battleground states, which will be heavily contested by both Democrats and Republicans in November's presidential election.

"Markets may be added later on, especially more expensive ones that advertisers want to avoid this early. But if any of these "core" markets drop off, that's a tell" adds Wilner. "Tracking states is shorthand for counting electoral votes; tracking media markets is shorthand for tracking voters."

Another state where big bucks have been spent the past two weeks is Pennsylvania, which holds a GOP presidential primary Tuesday. The Romney campaign has shelled out $366,000 to put up spots in the Keystone State, which Republicans think is winnable come November. And Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, has spent more than $1.4 million in Pennsylvania and New York, which also holds a primary Tuesday.


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CNN Wire


April 24, 2012 Tuesday 2:40 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2157 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler and Sarah Aarthun -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

New-York-Patz-Probe

It seemed a promising lead, one worthy of a carefully orchestrated demolition project and a squad of law officers hoping to answer a three-decade-old question: What happened to Etan Patz? The discovery over the weekend of a possible blood stain only amped things up, as scores of reporters camped out near the site as others had 33 years ago, ready to finally tell an eager public what happened to the beaming 6-year-old boy whose disappearance in 1979 helped launch the missing children movement. It even read as a big development to cold case expert Mike Huff, a retired Tulsa, Oklahoma, police detective. "I thought, 'Man, this is going to be a slam dunk, they already know the answer to this story," he said. But Tuesday's announcement that the "blood" wasn't blood after all, that in fact investigators hadn't found any human remains, seemed to put the case back on the shelf, just another unfulfilled hope in a case full of them.

Europe-Far-Right-Austerity

Is Europe's austerity crisis creating fertile soil for the ideas of far-right political groups to take root?

Florida-Heist-Arrest

A man wanted in a deadly armored car heist in Pennsylvania has been arrested in Florida, officials said Tuesday.

UK-Phone-Hacking (Will update)

James Murdoch insisted Tuesday that he knew little about the scale of phone hacking by people working for the News of the World, as he continued his fight to limit the damage the scandal does to him and his family's media empire.

US-Manning-Military-Hearing (will update)

Pfc. Bradley Manning returns to court Tuesday to push for all charges against him to be dropped.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

Reports of carnage and widespread violence in Syria continue to grow despite the U.N. Security Council's agreement to boost the number of monitors in the country.

South-Africa-Politics-Malema (Will update)

Julius Malema will learn Tuesday whether his suspension from South Africa's ruling African National Congress party will be overturned.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (Will update)

Former aide Andrew Young, the government's star witness in the trial of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards, is expected to be back on the stand Tuesday

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial (Will update)

Proceedings are set to resume at 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the mother, brother and nephew of the actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

POL-April-24-Primaries (Will update)

It's the biggest day of Republican primary voting since Super Tuesday back on March 6. But when five states hold contests on Tuesday, the only drama left appears to be the size of the margins of victory for all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

MED-Tommy-John-Surgery

Tommy John pitched 26 seasons in the major leagues, with his 700 career starts ranking him 8th all-time among major league baseball pitchers.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

UK-Phone-Hacking

James Murdoch insisted Tuesday that he knew little about the scale of phone hacking by people working for the News of the World, as he continued his fight to limit the damage the scandal does to him and his family's media empire.

INTERNATIONAL

Israel-Settlements

The Israeli government said Tuesday that it has decided to legalize the status of three settlement posts that were built in the West Bank during the 1990's.

UK-Phone-Hacking

James Murdoch, a top executive in his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire, Tuesday stood by his insistence that he knew little about the scale of phone hacking by people working for News Corp.'s British tabloids. The testimony will go on until 11:30 a.m. ET.

James-Murdoch-Profile

One year ago James Murdoch was widely regarded as heir-apparent to his father Rupert's global News Corp. media empire -- a remarkable turnaround for a college dropout once viewed as the family's black sheep. Now that aspiration lies in apparent disarray. A profile.

Europe-Islam-Discrimination

Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and religious freedom, an Amnesty International report said.

Yemen-Militant-Killed

A top commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed last weekend in Yemen, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington announced Tuesday.

Canada-Sawmill-Fire

At least 25 people were injured late Monday after an explosion at a sawmill in Prince George, British Columbia, officials said.

Brazil-Actor-Hanging

A Brazilian actor died after accidentally hanging himself during the play "The Passion of the Christ," a local hospital said.

China-Wukan-Officials-Punishment

China's ruling Communist Party has expelled two former officials from a southern Chinese village where local residents rose up last year to protest corruption and abuses of land rights.

Syria-Unrest

Reports of carnage and widespread violence in Syria continue to grow despite the U.N. Security Council's agreement to boost the number of monitors in the country.

Afghanistan-Post-2014

While a new deal with Afghanistan starts to spell out the U.S. presence after the bulk of troops leave in 2014, a top U.S. general said he has a good idea of what skills will be needed to ensure the country remains stable.

Bo-Xilai-China-Reaction

Interest in the Bo Xilai scandal is bigger abroad than in China.

China-Bo-Xilai-Insider-Grant

Wang Kang looks every bit what he is: a Chinese scholar. With his Confucian beard, graying hair and a deep, resonant voice enunciating Putonghua tones, he epitomizes gravitas. But it's not his appearance so much as the power of his story. For Wang is one of the few insiders who dare to speak publicly about something most people in China only whisper about: the fall of the man once touted as a potential Chinese president.

South-Africa-Politics-Malema

Julius Malema will learn Tuesday whether his suspension from South Africa's ruling African National Congress party will be overturned.

Cutty-Sark-Reopen

One of Britain's most cherished maritime treasures will complete a miraculous rise from the ashes when it reopens to the public later this week.

MONEY-Beijing-Auto-Show

After focusing on "green cars" in recent years, carmakers are wowing visitors at the Auto China 2012 car show with vehicles that are big, bad and gas-guzzling.

MONEY-China-Luxury-Brands

China's broader economy may be losing momentum, but its big spenders aren't letting anything get in the way of their love affair with Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci.

MONEY-China-Real-Estate

The real estate market was on fire. But then the music ended. Sound like the United States in 2007? Nope. It's China in 2012.

MONEY-South-China-Sea

Tensions between China and other nations bordering the South China Sea are escalating, with the oil and gas resources that lie beneath those waters playing a central role.

MONEY-China-Us-Manufacturing

Chinese conglomerates, on a mission to expand their global footprint and avoid "anti-dumping" tariffs, are shifting more of their production to America.

U.S.A.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

The rejection of the resignation plan for the embattled police chief in the Trayvon Martin case leaves the city in "limbo," the city manager said Tuesday.

SPORT-Deion-Sanders-Wife

The estranged wife of former football star Deion Sanders was arrested on domestic violence-related charges Monday night, hours after Sanders sent a series of bizarre tweets saying she assaulted him.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

Former aide Andrew Young, the government's star witness in the trial of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards, is expected to be back on the stand Tuesday

Maryland-Beating

Police in Baltimore have made a second arrest in a violent robbery that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes last month while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Proceedings are set to resume at 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the mother, brother and nephew of the actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.

US-Missing-Tucson-Girl

FBI K-9 dogs hit on items around the southern Arizona home of a missing 6-year-old girl on Monday, prompting authorities to take over the house, a police chief said.

ELECTION 2012

POL-April-24-Primaries

It's the biggest day of Republican primary voting since Super Tuesday back on March 6. But when five states hold contests on Tuesday, the only drama left appears to be the size of the margins of victory for all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

POL-Gingrich-Reassess-Campaign

Newt Gingrich may reconsider his White House bid if Tuesday night ends with a disappointing finish in Delaware's primary, the former House Speaker said Monday.

POL-Ad-Government-Spending

A non-profit Republican organization is poised to run $2 million worth of ads in battleground states attacking President Barack Obama for controversies involving tax payer dollars, according to the group.

POL-Ann-Romney-On-Mothers

Ann Romney, Monday night, defended her role as a stay-at-home mother and described herself and her presidential candidate husband as a couple in touch with women concerned about the economy.

POL-RNC-African-American-Voters

One thing is certain this election year: President Barack Obama will win African American voters by a colossal margin. Obama had a stunning 94-3 lead over Mitt Romney among blacks in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week. But Republicans are trying to loosen the grip.

COMMENTARY-Lawless-Dolan-Woman-Veep

Now that Mitt Romney has all but wrapped up the Republican nomination for president, the discussion has veered toward potential running mates. Who embodies the conservative credentials Romney is seen as lacking? Who can deliver a battleground state that will put Romney over the top? Who can generate the enthusiasm that will bring not only Republicans, but also independents, to the polls on Election Day?

TECH-MTV-Game-Youth-Vote

MTV is hoping to give its get-out-the-vote campaign a viral boost with an online game, inspired by fantasy sports, that rewards players for participating in the 2012 elections.

MONEY-Campaign-Finance

With primary season over, the race for president -- and the race for cash -- is about to heat up.

POL-Dems-House-Campaigns

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Tuesday announced 14 more races that have qualified for their "Red to Blue" program, as part of the committee's "Drive for 25" campaign to win back control of the House of Representatives.

POL-Poll-Haley-South-Carolina

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley's approval in South Carolina stands under 40%, essentially unchanged from previous polling among registered voters, according to a new survey.

FEATURES

COMMENTARY-Tokyo-Postcard

Can Tokyo learn from the American political 'matsuri'? The third in a series of dispatches exploring how the upcoming U.S. election is being seen in cities around the world.

TRAVEL-Memorial-Tourism

The crowds continue to visit the dead. They walk through the gates at Auschwitz. They take the boats to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. They hike through battlefields and slave auction sites. And now they walk onto the plaza of the National September 11 Memorial, where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Already one of New York City's most popular attractions, the new memorial has drawn more than 2 million visitors since it opened on September 11, 2011. In a culture where death is sanitized and often left to hospitals and hospice centers away from people's daily lives, death made public by tragedy fascinates people enough to make memorial sites a popular stopping point on otherwise fun-filled vacations.

MED-Measles-Deaths-Drop

In 2007 the World Health Organization set a goal to reduce measles deaths by 90% worldwide between 2000 and 2010. Death rates did fall 74% during that time, according to a new report in the British medical journal The Lancet. But the highly infectious disease is still a major public health concern across the globe, with almost 200,000 new cases reported each year.

ENT-K'naan-Somalia-Hip-Hop

His name means "traveler" and Somali-born poet, rapper and musician K'naan has certainly come a long way. The hip-hop sensation, who's been compared by critics to both reggae hero Bob Marley and rap star Eminem, fled war-torn Somalia as a teenager to eventually settle down with his family in Canada.

SPORT-Olympics-Norman-Black-Power

It is perhaps the most iconic sports photograph ever taken. Captured at the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meters at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, U.S. sprinter Tommie Smith stands defiantly, head bowed, his black-gloved fist thrust into the thin air. Behind him fellow American John Carlos joins with his own Black Power salute, an act of defiance aimed at highlighting the segregation and racism burning back in their homeland. Yet few know that the man standing in front of both of them, the Australian sprinter Peter Norman who shocked everyone by powering past Carlos and winning the silver medal, played his own, crucial role in sporting history.


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CNN Wire


April 24, 2012 Tuesday 12:47 PM EST


Ad uses Solyndra and GSA to bring it to Obama


BYLINE: By Gabriella Schwarz, CNN Producer


LENGTH: 317 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- A non-profit Republican organization is poised to run $2 million worth of ads in battleground states attacking President Barack Obama for controversies involving tax payer dollars, according to the group.

The minute-long spot from American Future Fund will begin airing in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia on Wednesday and ties the president to the now bankrupt energy company Solyndra and spending by the General Services Administration.

"On Tax Day, did you ask yourself, how exactly does President Obama spend your tax dollars? Billions in hand outs to green energy companies like Solyndra, which went bankrupt, sending jobs overseas or were risky from the start," the narrator in the spot says. "Now, we learn that a federal agency spent nearly a million dollars on their lavish Vegas conference complete with clowns and mind readers."

"Shouldn't someone be in charge?" the narrator concludes.

Florida will be most heavily targeted with $600,000 worth of ads expected in the state's expensive media markets. At least $200,000 will be funneled into Ohio and $157,000 into Mitt Romney's native Michigan.

AFF Founder Nick Ryan said government should make the tough decisions currently facing families across the country.

"Tales of Vegas parties, mind readers and Hawaiian junkets are a huge slap in the face to American taxpayers," Ryan said in a statement. "Many Americans are making tough decisions by paying their taxes or paying bills, buying groceries and medicine."

The second round of ads from the conservative group that does not disclose its donors marks the first national ad campaign to highlight the GSA spending scandal and one in a series of spots to use the failed clean-energy company Solyndra as an example of wasting taxpayer money.

News of the ads was first reported by POLITICO.

CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.


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CNN Wire


April 24, 2012 Tuesday 11:52 AM EST


The danger of Twitter, Facebook politics


BYLINE: By Wesley Donehue, Special to CNN


LENGTH: 871 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Wesley Donehue is a Republican Internet consultant who teaches federal and state candidates how best to use new technologies in their campaigns. Wesley was named a GOP Innovator of the Year last year by Campaigns and Elections magazine. He is the CEO of political Internet development and strategy firm Donehue Direct.

(CNN) -- I make a living encouraging politicians and candidates to use social media.

And now I'm going to tell them why it's a bad idea.

Not always, mind you -- social media will, and should, continue to play an important role in our political discourse. But the trend has grown so quickly; I don't know that anyone has really stopped to consider the implications of moment-by-moment, real-time transparency.

I would argue that what we've gotten is a trade-off, and the jury is still out on whether what we've lost is worth more than what we've gained in the process.

So before I go about the process of destroying my company's business model, let's talk about what we've gained with social media.

The Web and social media have created a level of transparency that never before existed in our country.

People sitting at home can research complicated issues with a few clicks of a mouse. Online campaign disclosure databases make pay-for-play politics far more difficult to obfuscate. Instantaneous tweeting of shady government practices -- and the resulting uproar -- means that public bodies are more responsive than ever.

But there's an unintended consequence, too, of over-democratization.

Wait, you ask, how can we have too much democracy?

Well for starters, we don't live in a democracy. We never have, nor should we. We live in a republic, where we elect people to take the tough votes and make the tough decisions for us. And quite honestly, politicians should have some level of flexibility to cast votes that -- gasp -- we might not like, without their every action becoming a referendum via Twitter and Facebook.

A quote sometimes attributed incorrectly to Alexis de Toqueville goes, "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." Today the same sentiment could be said about the danger of shutting naysayers up on Twitter and Facebook.

Too many politicians aren't voting their conscience, they're voting to placate blog commenters, and that's no way to run government.

Secondly, it's one thing to see the sausage get made. It's another thing entirely to watch the pig get slaughtered.

There's a domino effect when it comes to transparency. In policy making, lots of ideas are thrown out in order to set the good apart from the bad, and in order to stake out a position for compromise.

Cynics would refer to it as "backroom deal-making in a smoke-filled room." But here's the harsh reality -- that's how bills get passed. And it's how every important collaborative effort since the dawn of the written word has been achieved.

After all, do you think the Constitution would have ever been written if Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had Twitter accounts?

Third, government by social media leads to an environment where in every setting a politician has to be "on."

When politicians are hashing out ideas, those ideas can range somewhere between politically untenable and electorally suicidal.

Once they're tweeted -- be it by a journalist or a rival politician -- they become TV ad, direct mail, and attack e-mail fodder.

During the discussion, an idea is thrown out about "What would be the implication of zeroing out funding for popular program X?"

Suddenly, that politician is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in negative ads back home, telling his constituents that he "considered" or "proposed" eliminating X.

Two weeks ago, Mitt Romney made a passing reference to eliminating HUD. It won't be long before President Obama's team is cutting ads about Romney "proposing" that we leave millions of Americans homeless.

Factually accurate? Sure, but misleading as hell.

The result is a political discourse that is becoming devoid of real ideas, and instead pared down to the safest of talking points.

And because most politicians draw their own districts to shield against a viable challenge from the opposite party, they are far more susceptible to electoral defeat in the summer than they are in the fall.

Their audience in everything they do is the primary voter, not the swing voter. So the rhetoric throughout the year from both parties is increasingly divisive, increasingly partisan, and increasingly destructive to any kind of progress.

Is any of this a product of social media? No, absolutely not. American politics have been trending this way for decades. But technology has expedited our descent toward a political system devoid of real ideas and bold, controversial thought.

As the use of social media accelerates, it's incumbent upon everyone involved in the political process to make sure its power is used to harness everything good about the American political system, rather than to hasten political trends that are hurting our republic.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Wesley Donehue.


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The New York Times


April 24, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


American Car Parts Makers Gain In Russia


BYLINE: By ANDREW E. KRAMER


SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 4


LENGTH: 700 words


MOSCOW -- Critics of the Obama administration's thawed diplomatic policy toward Russia, known as the ''reset,'' say it has brought few concrete results. But this week, a visiting American trade delegation is promoting an economic benefit -- a doubling of exports of American car parts to Russia over the past year.

The increase in sales is striking even compared with an overall rise in American exports to Russia, which the Commerce Department says were up about 40 percent last year, partly owing to trade rebounding after the recession.

Aerospace and software companies are also doing well. Proponents of the reset point to the recent multibillion-dollar joint venture between Exxon Mobil, America's largest oil company, and Russia's state oil company, Rosneft, as another economic payoff of the policy.

Most American auto parts exported to Russia are put in new cars at assembly plants set up earlier by Ford, General Motors or European or Japanese competitors. But aftermarket sales are also rising. Reflecting the significant accomplishment of makers of gaskets, fenders and headlights, a deputy under secretary of commerce for international trade, Michelle O'Neill, led the delegation of 13 car parts companies to the Russian capital and two manufacturing regions.

''Russians love American cars,'' Ms. O'Neill said. ''We think there is extraordinary opportunity for growth.''

Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, expected this summer with American support, will require that Russia phase out local content rules for automotive assembly plants, further expanding the potential market.

However, Congress must first grant Russia permanent normal trade relation status by repealing a cold war-era statute intended to liberalize emigration of religious minorities, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, before American companies can take full advantage of the new rules.

Economists have noted for years that Russia and the United States have relatively little direct trade compared with the size of their economies -- a legacy of the superpower standoff and politics today.

To improve economic ties as part of the reset that President Obama introduced in 2009, the Commerce Department established a committee on trade with Russia. Members identified car parts as a prospective market and worked to eliminate barriers to United States exports.

''It has been a focused effort by the Obama administration to deepen commercial and economic relations,'' Ms. O'Neill said in an interview in Moscow on Monday. ''This is one of the fruits of that labor.''

The Commerce Department said auto parts sales rose to $125.3 million in 2011 from $63.3 million in 2010.

Matthew Edwards, the department's director of the office for trade with Russia and other former Soviet states, said mundane trade in items like car parts often goes unnoticed. ''Everybody likes to roll out an airliner,'' he said. ''But a lot of trade takes place on a less sexy level.''

The Hoosier Gasket Corporation, of Indianapolis, is one company poised to sell more parts to Russia. As major manufacturers outsource more components while also assembling vehicles overseas, exports rise for parts makers.

''It's a domino effect,'' Oleg Gostomelsky, a vice president at Hoosier, who was on the delegation, said. ''Now, when Ford decides to come to Russia, as it has, it pulls a lot of companies with it.''

Critics of the reset policy, though, say it has deflected attention from more fundamental American interests by playing down human rights abuse and backsliding on democracy in Russia under Vladimir V. Putin, who is set to begin a third presidential term in May.

Last month, after Mr. Obama inadvertently spoke into an open microphone while discussing missile defense policy with Russia's president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney characterized Russia as ''without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.''

As it happens, car parts manufacturers are heavily represented in swing states like Ohio and Indiana, one explanation, perhaps, for careful attention to their industry.

The delegation included representatives of Dana Holding of Maumee, Ohio; Bushwacker of Portland, Ore.; and Cyclo Industries of Jupiter, Fla.


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


April 24, 2012 Tuesday


John DiStaso's Granite Status: Obama camp greets Romney with 'Since Mitt's Been Gone,' GOP hits back on college costs


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 6455 words


April 24--TUESDAY, APRIL 24, UPDATE: Hours before Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak to supporters in Manchester and claim the mantle of "presumptive" GOP presidential nominee, the general election battle is well under way in swing state New Hampshire.

Romney will speak at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire tonight after he locks up victories in five primary states. His campaign says he will have enough delegates to declare the nomination campaign is finished and the general election campaign has begun.

"SinceMittsBeenGone" is a new Twitter hashtag unveiled by the New Hampshire Barack Obama campaign today where supporters are listing what they consider President Barack Obama's accomplishments and Romney's failures since Romney was last in New Hampshire the night of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

"Since Mitt Romney abandoned New Hampshire after January 10th, he's made numerous out of touch promises as he's collected Tea Party delegates across the country," says a statement from the Obama campaign.

It charges that since then, Romney promised to "get rid of" funding for Planned Parenthood, would not say whether he would have signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, told donors he plans to make the Department of Education "a heck of a lot smaller," suggested he would "get rid of" the Department of Housing and Urban Development and backed the Paul Ryan budget, which Democrats say would "end Medicare as we know it."

The Obama campaign hashtag also lists its own campaign activities "to build an unprecedented grassroots campaign" in New Hampshire.

On a conference call this afternoon, Manchester Alderman Garth Corriveau said Romney supports Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget, which Corriveau said, "doubles the interest rate on student loans."

"Mitt Romney has said students should shop around for lower tuition prices and meanwhile he's been racking up this long list of promises, from tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans to balancing the budget without ever saying how he's going to pay for them," Corriveau said.

Corriveau noted Romney has said that "to pay for huge tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, he would gut the Department of Education and make it 'a heck of a lot smaller.'" He said cutting the department could "put at risk" $185 million in federal education funding for New Hampshire including $26 million for Manchester and nearly $3 million for Berlin.

Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen said Romney "has opposed increasing aid for college education" and has argued against smaller classroom sizes.

Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan said Romney has said "he's not concerned about the very poor."

"After campaigning here for many years, Mitt Romney's record is etched in granite and there is no Etch-a-Sketch that will work with New Hampshire voters who know his failed record," said Sullivan.

Romney and the Republicans, meanwhile, are hounding Obama on college affordability and jobs for young adults today as the President appeared at the University of North Carolina and University of Colorado to talk about the cost of student loans and to try to energize young voters to his campaign, as he did effectively in 2008.

The Romney campaign says "the Obama economy is failing young adults," who, it says, faces one of the worst job markets in decades. It said the cost of college loans has increased by 25 percent since Obama has been in office.

Sullivan said Obama has reformed student loans by "removing big banks as the middlemen," has "doubled our investment in Pell Grants" and created "the American Opportunity Tax Credit which can provide up to $10,000 over four years of college, helping middle class families." She said he capped student loan payments at 10 percent of monthly income.

Sullivan said Romney has "flip-flopped" and moved to the right as a candidate for the nomination and she now expects that he "may try to flip-flop again" with the general election campaign under way.

"You know Mitt Romney," said Sullivan. He will try to move to the right and move to the left and try to do it all within the space of 24 hours."

The Republican National Committee today also pointed out a news report that Obama, as a U.S. senator, missed two votes on the student loan interest bill he now wants Congress to extend.

"In 2007, then-Senator Obama missed key votes on the student loan interest bill he is now pushing for Congress to extend," said RNC spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger. "President Obama has done nothing since being President to stop student debt and tuition rates from soaring and apparently he wasn't willing to do anything as a U.S. senator either. With half of college grads under 25 under-employed or unemployed, and New Hampshire students graduating with an average student loan debt of $31,048, it's clear President Obama is looking for an election year sound bite instead of providing actual solutions to help young New Hampshire students struggling in Obama's economy."

The Obama campaign countered, "It's no secret that Barack Obama ran for President in 2007, and it's no secret that President Obama has doubled funding for college scholarships and fought Republican attempts to increase the debt burden for students."

The campaign also said that when Romney "was gearing up for his presidential run he spent 212 days outside of the state of Massachusetts during his final year in office."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, APRIL 23 UPDATE: ROMNEY'S RETURN. Mitt Romney will return to New Hampshire on Tuesday night for the first time since his first-in-the-nation primary victory on Jan. 10, and aides say he will kick off the general election phase of his campaign "in the place where it all began."

Romney will return as GOP speculation nationally is turning to who he may choose as a running mate, and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte is among about a dozen Republicans reportedly on his list.

Others include Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, former Floria Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu said he had "no inside information" but said Ayotte has many "pluses."

"She's a solid conservative, she's right on all the issues and has shown that she understands what has to be done to balance the budget," Sununu said.

He said that being from New Hampshire "may, in an odd way, be her biggest problem because with two people from the Northeast on the ticket, you don't gain anything geographically."

In an ABC "This Week" weekend report on whether Romney will choose a woman given that he trails Obama significantly among women in recent polls, Ayotte was the first name mentioned and Fallin was called a "dark horse."

Romney on Tuesday will pick up nearly 300 delegates on his way to the GOP presidential nomination with victories in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. CBS News says Romney enters tomorrow night with 645 delegates, compared with 252 for former candidate Rick Santorum, 128 for Newt Gingrich and 45 for Ron Paul, both of whom are still officially in the race.

Although the nomination is not formally locked up until Romney receives 1,144 delegates, "Tuesday will mark the close of the nominating process and the beginning of the general election process," said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. "So we're going full circle and returning to New Hampshire, where it all began."

Romney formally announced his candidacy on June 2, 2011 at former New Hampshire House speaker Douglas Scamman's farm in Stratham.

"Besides," said Williams. "New Hampshire is a very important general election state. It is a swing state."

Since January, President Barack Obama has been to the state once, albeit on a "official" visit. Vice President Joe Biden has visited New Hampshire three times since the Jan. 10 primary and four times since November. First Lady Michelle Obama has also visited the state.

After he is declared the winner of the five contests on Tuesday night, Romney will appear at a rally of supporters at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire hotel in downtown Manchester. He is scheduled to deliver a speech entitled "A Better America Begins Tonight" at about 9 p.m.

The Obama campaign and the New Hampshire Democratic Party are set to "welcome" Romney with rallies at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park and other grassroots activities.

As the Granite Status reported earlier this month, Romey and the Republicans have much catching up to do with the Democrats in terms of organizing the state for the general election.

The Obama campaign has opened seven offices and has about 30 staffers. The Republican National Committee is expected to begin setting up its "Victory" operation in the state shortly, but has not yet done so.

State Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley emailed supporters today:

"Since Mitt's been gone, Obama For America-New Hampshire volunteers have reached out to hundreds of voters in every county. They've knocked on thousands of our neighbors' doors, discussed with thousands of voters why we support President Obama and have logged countless hours on the phones getting the word out about the President's accomplishments for middle class Granite Staters.

"Democrats have been hard at work in neighborhoods across the state, while the Romney campaign left nothing but a 'For Lease' sign on its Manchester office," Buckley wrote.

The Obama campaign this week is contrasting Romney and Obama on education issues, including college costs. It is hosting numerous phone banks and on Saturday, April 28, will have a "College Day of Action" at the state universities and colleges.

Democrats today hit Romney for comments he made in Conway in January when he told college students to "shop around" for more affordable education alternatives.

The Obama campaign contends the Paul Ryan budget, which Romney supports, would allow student loan interest rates to double.

But RNC spokesman Allie Brandenburger said, "After three years of failed promises and empty rhetoric, President Obama hasn't delivered the jobs or the college affordability he promised students. With young Americans suffering disproportionately in the Obama economy, there are no amount of lofty slogans or campaign events that can erase President Obama's failed promises to students."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, UPDATE: "FRANKING" GUINTA. Republican Rep. Frank Guinta spent $164,629 on taxpayer-funded, or so-called "franked" mailings in 2011, which, according to a California newspaper, is tops in the U.S. House.

Guinta's chief of staff did not dispute the figure and said the freshman congressman has cut his office budget significantly, returned more than $50,000 to the Treasury and believes that "constituent service" is his top priority.

The Granite Status verified the figure, which is reported by the U.S. House on its web site in quarterly "statements of disbursement" and is also reported by a nonprofit watchdog group called the Sunlight Foundation.

Christine Bedell, government editor for the Bakersfield Californian newspaper, first reported that Guinta ranked first in franked mail spending. She said she sorted by amount the franked mail data provided in the congressional statements of disbursement and reported by the Sunlight Foundation and Guinta "came out on top."

U.S.Rep. Charlie Bass spent $22,344 on franked mail in 2011, ranking him at 202nd among 435 House members.

In 2010, Guinta criticized Democratic former congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter for sending out taxpayer-funded mailings that he said resembled campaign material.

"There is a thin line between maintaining a rapport with one's constituents and electioneering," then-candidate Guinta wrote on his campaign web site in 2010. "These pamphlets violate the idea of a 'Congressional Update,' and show an abuse of a representative's franking privileges."

Today, Guinta was criticized by state Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley.

"Frankly, Frank Guinta is hypocritical," Buckley said. "He is spending more than any other congressman in the nation and he is using taxpayer dollars to run for re-election."

"These are highly produced, campaign-style mailings that were prepared for and mailed at the taxpayer's expense. A practice that, before he went to Washington, be protested against."

He cited a mailer that was photographed and published on the pro-Democratic Blue Hampshire web site.

Buckley called on Guinta to "return the money he spent on these campaign materials to the taxpayers and issue an apology."

Guinta chief of staff Ethan Zorfas responded, "Congressman Guinta has cut his office's budget by 11.4 percent and, in addition, returned over $50,000 to the Treasury at the end of 2011.

"Constituent service will always be the congressman's top priority," said Zorfas. "Mailings are used for invitations to Job Fairs, Women's Conferences and Manufacturing Job Summits. The benefit to Granite Staters is apparent: increased communication with their government and lower operating expenses."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, UPDATE: EMILY'S LIST FOR CAROL. Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, trailing Republican incumbent Rep. Frank Guinta in fund-raising so far in the 2012 election cycle, received a big boost on Friday.

The pro-choice women's fund-raising group EMILY's List endorsed Shea-Porter for the third time. It also endorsed her in 2008 and 2010.

The backing means she will receive campaign donations from EMILY's list supporters and donors.

Shea-Porter, who is trying to regain the 1st District House seat she held for two terms before losing to Guinta in 2010. As we reported this week, she trailed Guinta in cash on hand after the first quarter, $183,159 to $674,747.

"We are really excited about the campaign she's running. Our members obviously know and love her. And and strong progressive women like Carol are going to be the reason Democrats take the House back this November," said EMILY's List spokesperson Jess McIntosh.

In a statement, EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said Shea-Porter "has been an effective advocate for women and working families throughout her career. A strong and progressive voice for New Hampshire, Carol has spent her career standing up for the rights of middle class families and working to increase access to quality education and health care. Carol's dedication and no-nonsense attitude are exactly what Washington needs and the entire EMILY's List community is thrilled to stand with her."

Shea-Porter was among five Democratic women running for the House recommended by EMILY's List to its members today.

The others were Shelley Adler of New Jersey, Kathy Boockvar of Pennsylvania, Julia Brownley of California and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The group has already endorsed Democratic candidate Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire's 2nd District.

Also on Friday, Guinta and fellow GOP Rep. Charlie Bass reacted to news reported earlier this week by Politico and the Granite Status that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved $520,000 worth of air time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day advertising to oppose them.

Both sent out fund-raising emails mentioning the planned expenditure.

"Liberals on TV!" was the subject of Guinta's email. Bass's plea was entitled "DCCC Tries to Buy New Hampshire."

(Earlier updates and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, UPDATE: A WIN FOR THE NHGOP. A key Republican National Committee panel Thursday backed NHGOP committeewoman Phyllis Woods' proposal to no longer punish New Hampshire delegations to future national conventions if other states force the first-in-the-nation primary to be held as early as January in 2016 and beyond.

An amendment to the party rules sponsored by the outgoing Republican National Committeewoman from Dover was approved by a voice vote of the RNC's rules committee meeting this afternoon in Scottsdale, Ariz. While the vote was not a final passage, it did provide vital momentum as the plan now moves forward through the RNC process.

Woods said going into the meeting she though it had only a "50-50" chance of passing. She said afterward she was surprised at the ease at which the proposal was passed.

Woods said the vote "reinforces the intent of the RNC's existing rule that the early states be recognized as vital to the nominating process and should not be penalized if they are forced to move up."

Her plan now goes to the full RNC at its pre-Republican National Convention meeting in Tampa this summer. If passed there, it will have even more momentum as it's considered by the convention rules committee and, finally, the full national convention.

A significant faction of the RNC has long resented the early primary status of not only New Hampshire, but also Iowa, South Carolina and, more recently, Nevada.

But that sentiment wasn't evident Thursday, much to the surprise of the state RNC members at the meeting, who expected a tough battle.

"It's a great day," said Woods' fellow state RNC member, Steve Duprey.

"It's a tribute to Phyllis' leadership on this issue," added state GOP chairman Wayne MacDonald.

Duprey said, "We were cautiously optimistic going in because Phyllis, Wayne and I have been talking it up for some time, but I was surprised by how little opposition there was."

He said only one member of the rules committee stood up to voice concern and others who were expected to be in opposition remained silent.

Duprey said a few other key players stated that the early state status for New Hampshire and the others "is part of (the party's) history and has shown that it works well."

Woods is trying to amend the RNC rule because she felt it was unfair that Republicans in New Hampshire and the other early states should be penalized by the RNC and lose half their convention delegates because other so-called "rogue" states, by moving up their primaries or caucuses, force these early states to then move up their contests to January of the presidential election year.

The current RNC rules allows New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada to hold their contests a month ahead of all other states, but no earlier than Feb. 1.

This year, the Florida GOP decided to ignore the RNC and hold its primary on Jan. 31, in violation of the RNC's mandate that it be held no earlier than March 1. The Florida move prompted South Carolina Republicans to hold their first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 21.

In turn, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, following a state law that requires the Granite State to hold its primary seven days ahead of any "similar election," set New Hampshire's primary for Jan. 10.

As a result, the RNC is sanctioning New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida by allowing them to bring only 50 percent of their delegates to the Republican National Convention. Iowa, which held a caucus on Jan. 3, is allowed to bring a full delegation because its delegates were officially selected after Feb. 1. Nevada was not sanctioned because it held its caucus after Feb. 1.

For New Hampshire, it means only 12, instead of 23, delegates, will be allowed to participate in the Tampa convention.

Woods' proposed rule change would remove the Feb. 1 restriction for early state contests but still require them to hold their primaries or caucus no earlier than one month before "the next earliest state." It also keeps in place the existing requirement that the early primaries and caucuses must be held "in the year in which a national convention is held." That means state Republicans would still be punished if the primary is, in the future, held in December or earlier of the previous year.

Woods' plan won't undo the punishment levied by the RNC this year, but it would apply to 2016, and, once in the rule book, the likelihood is vastly increased that it would continue to be renewed in future cycles.

Duprey said the larger issue is that it finally appears the powerful RNC rules committee is accepting New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status. He said that in prior years, New Hampshire representatives on the RNC had to fight hard for the early-state "carve out."

"I still think the people who oppose any special status for the early states may try to come after us, but they could have done it today, and they didn't," he said.

"We're going to have to monitor the committee to see if any opposition develops going forward," Duprey said. "But in the years 20 years I've been doing this, this is the first time that people accepted that New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa and Nevada are carved out and should stay there, and it works."

While state Republicans have had to fight for early-state status at the RNC, it's been a different story in recent years for state Democrats. For the last two cycles, they received waivers from the Democratic National Committee and once again this year will be bringing a full delegation to their convention in Charlotte.

"I'm sensing more comfort or acceptance of our first-in-the-nation status," said NHGOP chair MacDonald. He said he believes the RNC, or at least key players in the RNC, are beginning to understand that "there is a case to be made for relatively small states vetting the candidates early in the process."

He said he and other key Granite State Republicans "will continue to pursue" getting a waiver from the existing rule this year so that a full delegation can be seated. "But to be honest, at this point I don't see that happening," MacDonald said.

(An earlier update and the full April 19 Granite Status follow.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, UPDATE: CONSERVATIVES TO GATHER. Conservatives and Republicans are expected to gather for two key events this weekend.

Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire president Corey Lewandowski says about 300 attendees are confirmed for its second annual "Conservative of the Year" banquet honoring New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, at the Grappone Center in Concord.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota will appear as a guest speaker and former Gov. John H. Sununu will speak on behalf of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

On Saturday, Tea Party activists will gather at Guppey Park in Dover for an event entitled the "Jack's Back Save Our Republic Tea Party." Former state Republican Party chairman Jack Kimball, who has returned to chair the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC, is hosting.

Radio talk show host and conservative activist Jeff Chidester will emcee the event. Guest speakers include state Rep. Dan Itse, social conservative activist Karen Testerman, state GOP vice chairman Cliff Hurst, Gold Star Mother Natalie Healy and activist Irena Goddard.

"In the last several months I have been asked countless times, 'Where is the Tea Party?'" said Kimball, "and my response has been, 'We are here, and we are directly involved with taking back our republic.' Now it's time to get back out and become visible.

"The Tea Party folks are all still here," Kimball said. "We do not intend to let Occupy Walkl Street shape the dialogue in New Hampshire."

Also today, the Granite Status has learned that the state Republican Party is planning an annual dinner for May 30 at the Radisson hotel in Manchester. Details have yet to be announced.

(The full April 19 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19: QUARTERLY REPORTS. So, who's giving to whom? The quarterly reports are in, so it's a good time to take a look at the congressional races.

In the 2nd District, Democrat Ann McLane Kuster leads Republican incumbent Charlie Bass not only in overall fund-raising but also in the percentage of contributions received from individual donors, as opposed to PACs.

Kuster in the first quarter raised $348,024, with $267,290 from individuals and $80,189 from PACs. Since the 2010 election, she has raised $1.4 million, with $1.19 million coming from individuals and nearly $210,000 from PACs.

Bass raised $268,483 in the first quarter with $94,583 from individual donors and $173,900 from PACs. He's raised a total of $1.03 million since the 2010 election, with $336,714 from individuals and $691,537 from PACs.

Among the PACs making heavy contributions to Kuster are NARAL-PAC, New York Rep. Steve Israel's New York Jobs PAC, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the United Auto Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, United Steelworkers and Progressive Choices PAC.

While many of Kuster's individual donors are from New Hampshire, she did receive $1,000 from TV producer Stephen Bochco and $250 from Fox television executive Nancy Cotton.

Bass's PAC contributors included the AT&T, the Edison Electric Institute, Northeast Utilities, the National Restaurant Association, Lockheed Martin employees, the American Gas Association, Verizon, the Solar Energy Industries PAC and Boeing.

The second quarter began with Kuster having $1.03 million, and Bass, $790,416, on hand.

As expected, there has been a lot less money raised, spent and saved so far in the 1st District. Republican incumbent Frank Guinta in the first quarter raised $179,842, with $101,592 coming from individuals and $77,250 from PACs.

Since the 2010 election, Guinta has raised $962,672, with $521,417 from individuals and $441,254 from PACs.

Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter raised $101,289 in the first quarter, with $80,289 from individuals and $21,000 from PACs.

She has raised a total of $395,154 since the 2010 election, with $310,154 from individuals and $85,000 from PACs.

A sampling of Guinta's PAC contributions came from the American Bankers Association, Citizens Financial, Clear Channel Communications, Independent Community Bankers, Boeing, Liberty Mutual Insurance, AFLAC and AT&T. Sen. Kelly Ayotte's KellyPAC contributed $5,000.

Shea-Porter's PAC donors were the Teamsters, the AFSCME public workers union, Progressive Choices PAC and several contributions earmarked through the JStreet PAC, a self-described pro-Israel PAC supported by people who "believe that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to Israel's survival."

Guinta entered the second quarter with $674,747 on hand, while Shea-Porter reported having $183,159.

FORBES FOR OVIDE. Conservative financial magazine publisher and Fox News television personality Steve Forbes is endorsing fellow Republican Ovide Lamontagne for New Hampshire governor.

Forbes, a two-time presidential candidate, backed Lamontagne in his run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, a race Lamontagne narrowly lost in a party primary to Ayotte.

In backing Lamontagne in 2010, Forbes called him "a proven conservative leader of principle and conviction" who will be a "friend to taxpayers."

On May 8, Forbes will be featured at a reception for Lamontagne at the Devine Millimet law firm. On May 9, Lamontagne and Forbes will co-host a small business roundtable for regional small business leaders at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

MEETING VOTERS. We've learned that Republican Kevin Smith next week will be the first candidate for governor to announce a full schedule of open town hall meetings, something that's seen often during presidential races, but rarely on the gubernatorial level.

Smith's town halls, complete with Q & A from Granite Staters, will take place in all 10 counties during the next two months. He will discuss his "New Hampshire's Future Is Now" economic plan.

The schedule will include, but not be limited to, Kingston during the first week of May; Hudson, May 15; Dover, May 21; Laconia, May 22 or 23; Plymouth, May 29;

Newport, May 31; Conway and Berlin, June 5; Keene, June 11; Hampton, June 12; Bow, the week of June 18; Merrimack, June 20; Colebrook and Littleton, June 28.

TARGETING GUINTA, BASS. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is reserving $520,000 worth of advertising time on WMUR television in Manchester for post-Labor Day buys.

A Democratic source confirmed the report in Politico, which said that the DCCC is preparing $32 million worth of broadcast ad buys nationally, targeting the seats of 26 GOP incumbents, including Guinta and Bass, as well as seven Democratic incumbents and three open seats.

Both New Hampshire congressmen, especially Bass, are viewed as vulnerable by the Democrats. As Politico noted, Democrats need to pick up 25 seats to gain control of the House.

According to a Democrat familiar with the planned buys, this is the first of multiple "waves" of advertising buys planned by the DCCC, some focusing on swing states where the presidential contenders will be vying.

The $520,000 planned to be spent at WMUR may focus on one or both of the races. To what degree one race takes precedence over the other -- or how much is actually spent in New Hampshire in total -- remains to be seen, although it is clear that the Bass race against Kuster will receive much attention from both sides.

"Congressmen Bass and Guinta were swept into office on a Tea Party wave that is now nowhere to be found," said DCCC regional press secretary Josh Schwerin. "Since then, both have voted to end Medicare while protecting tax breaks for billionaires and, in the process, proven that they are wildly out of touch with Granite State voters and extremely vulnerable in November."

A Republican source says he has been told by national GOP media buyers that WMUR has not yet heard from the DCCC regarding the buy.

"It's clear that Nancy Pelosi is planning to use her Washington special-interest money to boost Annie Kuster," said NHGOP executive director Tory Mazzola, "but the reality is that this is more smoke-and-mirrors because a meaningless reservation has no money behind it. If they really thought Kuster had a chance, they'd pre-pay, but that's a gamble they are not willing to take."

"Meaningless" or not, that didn't stop GOP state chairman Wayne MacDonald from immediately sending out a fund-raising email asking for contributions to counter "the overwhelming influx of advertising being shipped in for the Democrats from Washington."

O'BRIEN: NO MORE NAME-CALLING. House speaker Bill O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, after announcing his bid for reelection to the House and as speaker, said he realizes he's a target of the Democrats, but will ignore "name-calling."

Soon after we reported O'Brien's bid for reelection on Monday, state Democratic chairman Raymond Buckley said the speaker "has pursued a radical agenda: cutting funding for higher education in half, cutting health care for seniors and children, pushing for guns in college dorm rooms, as well as the State House, and trying to cut access to contraception for women."

The Democratic Party said the speaker "has become known for his tyrannical attitude and disregard for long-established House rules and traditions -- pushing through a vote to override the governor's veto without public notice; taking away aisle seats from disabled members who displease him; and removing from committee members that vote their consciences."

Buckley said he expects to have a strong opponent in O'Brien, whom he called "the poster boy for bad government."

House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli immediately solicited contributions for the House Democratic Caucus PAC through the party clearinghouse "ActBlue," saying, "The last two years have been devastating for Granite Staters."

But O'Brien said, "We really want to get past all this name-calling and false process stories and stories that say thing are happening now in a way that are different than in past terms."

He said he and members of his caucus this summer "will get out there and talk about a budget that has stopped over-spending.

"We've passed bills that have put in place intelligent deregulation and I think the results are beginning to show. The workforce in New Hampshire is growing."

As for the Democrats' criticisms, "On a personal level I know who I am, so it's not really a concern," O'Brien said. "In terms of its effect on politics in New Hampshire, it's unfortunate that we've now gone to this level of trying to engage people through name-calling. I hope the people require the opposition party to come up with specific policies."

O'Brien is looking to pass significant public-employee pension reform, welfare reform and a compromise education-funding constitutional amendment question for the voters this November.

Such an amendment resolution "has to be bipartisan because we won't get two-thirds of the vote unless we can say it came out of both parties."

He said that if a Republican governor is elected, it will lead "almost certainly" to right-to-work legislation, which he said would be "great for New Hampshire."

LILLY LEDBETTER HITS NHGOP. President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in New Hampshire recruited women's equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter for a conference call yesterday to criticize state Mazzola and Mitt Romney.

Ledbetter is the namesake for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations for filing discrimination lawsuits beyond the previous 180 days. It was the first piece of legislation Obama signed into law three years ago.

Mazzola was critical of the law this week, telling WBIN-TV, "Instead of being about fair pay, it is really about a handout to trial lawyers because it expands the areas that people can sue their employers unnecessarily."

Ledbetter said that Mazzola's comments "presumably show exactly where Mitt Romney stands on the issue."

Norelli and Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan also tried to tie the Mazzola comments to Romney.

Norelli said Romney has declined to say whether he would have signed the Ledbetter act.

Romney did say, however, that with the fair pay act now law, "It's certainly a piece of legislation I have no intention of changing."

Sullivan said that Mazzola, in his party post, "is a spokesperson not only for the NHGOP but also for the Republican candidates in the state, and that includes Mitt Romney."

The Obama campaign has been holding phone banks on the issue throughout the state this week.

Mazzola had no comment on the Democrats' criticism of him, but the Republican National Committee responded by saying that women "are being left behind in the Obama economy."

The RNC said that since Obama has been in office, women's unemployment has risen from 7 to 8.1 percent," fewer women are participating in the labor force and the poverty rate among women has risen.

"The past few years under Barack Obama have been devastating for American women," said RNC spokesperson Allie Brandenburger. "New Hampshire women and hardworking families cannot afford any more broken promises from Obama, they need real solutions to reduce our deficit and get our country back on track."

PARTY FUND-RAISING. New Hampshire Democrats lead the Republicans in fund-raising as the second quarter is now underway and general election preparations are picking up.

Looking at the two parties' federal accounts only, the state Democratic Party will report to the Federal Election Commission this week that in March, it took in $243,310, including $163,000 from the Democratic National Committee and $38,000 from individuals.

For the quarter, the NHDP raised $612,448, spent $545,472, and entered the second quarter with $210,988 on hand. The party will report debt totaling $35,414.

The state Republican Party during the same period raised $91,391, spent $76,473, and entered the second quarter with $45,545 on hand.

It reported debt of $52,988, split almost evenly between money owed to law firms in Manchester and Washington, D.C.

JULIANA'S NARROW WIN. Former Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron's victory in the contested race for Republican National Committeewoman was a narrow one last Saturday.

At the Republican State Committee meeting, she defeated Deputy House speaker Pam Tucker 175-170. We understand that Tucker supporters who were there were frustrated because others who had committed to Tucker did not show up.

Others said Tucker was hurt by being named in the controversial National Organization for Marriage full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader last week listing the names of all Republican House members who did not vote in favor of repeal of the same-sex marriage law.

Tucker had an excused absence.

On other hand, Bergeron worked hard quietly behind the scenes to earn the win and will succeed Phyllis Woods on the RNC at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention.

The state committee also voted in favor of a by-laws change to ensure that in the future a two-thirds vote of the party executive committee will be required to remove any of its members, including party officers. The measure addresses the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Jack Kimball as chairman earlier last year.

The state committee also voted to make it easier for county committee members to remove members who are inactive. And in another by-laws change, the state College Republicans were given a seat on the party executive committee.

QUICK TAKES:

-- Candidate for governor Smith plans a "Cowboy Up" fund-raiser featuring the Tom Dixon Band at Murphy's Tap Room in Manchester from 2 to 4 p.m. May 5.

-- Smith has responded to Democratic candidate for governor Hassan's criticism of his call for health-care reform. "Maggie Hassan is living up to the Democrat stereotype of crying wolf and scaring seniors," Smith said. "It's emblematic of how desperate the Democrats will be come November."

He said his plan "would not impact Medicare coverage," as Hassan charged, "services to seniors in New Hampshire, or change how the federal Medicare program is handled in the state."

-- Hassan yesterday picked up the endorsement of former Democratic state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock and former Republican state Sen. Mark Hounsell. The campaign also announced the endorsements of former State Rep. and former Nashua Democratic Chair Harvey Keye, Nashua Alderman Diane Sheehan, Coos County Democratic Chair David Mitchell of Whitefield, pro-choice advocate Christina D'Allesandro of Salem, and Bill Duncan, of Defending New Hampshire Public Education, from New Castle.

-- Manchester state Rep. Phil Greazzo officially kicked off his campaign for the New Hampshire District 20 State Senate seat on Wednesday evening with an announcement at the meeting of the Manchester Republican Committee. Greazzo will oppose Goffstown state Rep. John Hikel in a party primary. Incumbent Lou D'Allesandro is so far the only Democrat in the race.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


April 24, 2012 Tuesday
CITY-C Edition


State GOP candidates brawling in public


BYLINE: By Jeremy Roebuck; Inquirer Staff Writer


SECTION: NATIONAL; P-com News Nation-World; Pg. A03


LENGTH: 612 words


Pennsylvania Democrats tend to settle their battles in public. The state's Republicans hash theirs out behind closed doors.

Or so goes a saying among veteran political watchers, referring to the latter party's predilection for rallying around an anointed candidate before most voters have even realized an election is in the offing.

But this year, two GOP Senate candidates have bucked that script, filling the state's television airwaves with unusually personal invective matched only by that of the two Democrats seeking their party's nomination for attorney general.

"Republicans tend to like that model," said Chris Borick, a Muhlenberg College political scientist, referring to more genteel campaigns. "But I think it's eroding - we're seeing that in this year's race."

Consider a sampling:

This month, Steve Welch, the Senate candidate backed by the party establishment, unleashed a torrent of ads on TV calling his chief rival, Armstrong County coal executive Tom Smith, "the worst Republican impersonator ever."

Another spot appearing on the Web - and employing a clip from the Adam Sandler film Billy Madison - described Smith's rhetorical style as rambling, incoherent, and "insanely idiotic."

For his part, Smith has countered with ads branding Welch a supporter of President Obama.

Truth is, both Smith and Welch have Democratic baggage. Smith was a registered Democrat for more than four decades, though he maintains that he stood by tea party principles. Welch switched parties to vote for Obama in the 2008 primary, but maintains that he cast a ballot for Republican nominee John McCain in the general election.

Despite questions over Welch's Republican bona fides, Gov. Corbett aggressively pushed the Malvern businessman as his candidate at the party's endorsement convention in January. Many, including Smith, balked at the suggestion that party members should fall in line.

Now, four months later, Welch's and Smith's campaigns have reported spending more than $3 million on ads bashing each other. Imagine the media maelstrom if the race's three other candidates - former State House Rep. Sam Rohrer, Harrisburg-area lawyer Marc Scaringi, and veterans' advocate David Christian - had money to take their campaigns on air.

Still, none of that compares with what Pennsylvania might have been in for had another unseemly Republican political fight arrived here in force.

For the first time since the 1980s Reagan-Bush showdown, it had looked like this year's presidential primary here could be critical - either handing front-runner Mitt Romney the crushing victory he needed to finally put Rick Santorum's challenge to rest, or putting fresh wind behind the former Pennsylvania senator's sails.

 Romney and his supporters were preparing for battle. Earlier this month, his campaign and the super political action committee backing him set aside nearly $3 million to take on Santorum on his home state airwaves.

So far, both groups have spent upward of $34 million on negative advertising bashing Romney's rivals, in hotly contested states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida.

But here in the Keystone State, TV watchers caught only a glimpse of that acrimony. Just a few anti-Santorum attack ads ran here before Romney pulled them in deference to the ailing health of the former senator's 3-year-old daughter, Bella.

Then, Santorum dropped out April 10 - dashing the hopes of dozens of TV ad sales representatives across the state.

The result, said Borick: More and cheaper airtime for the state's other candidates to snipe at each other.

Contact Jeremy Roebuck

at 267-564-5218 or jroebuck@phillynews.com,

or follow on Twitter @jeremyrroebuck.


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PR Newswire


April 24, 2012 Tuesday 10:00 AM EST


Obama Bouncing Back, Widens Lead Over Mitt Romney Among Millennials, Harvard Poll Finds


LENGTH: 2022 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK, April 24, 2012


President beginning to reconnect with and recapture support of America's 18- to 29-year-olds as plurality of Millennials now predict Obama re-election

A new national poll of America's 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, finds President Barack Obama has widened the gap between likely general election opponent Mitt Romney and himself. Obama now leads Romney by a seventeen point margin, a gain of six percentage points over the eleven-point lead the President held in late November IOP polling.

The IOP's newest poll results - its 21st major release since 2000 - also show a plurality of Millennials now predict the President will win re-election in November (43%: win; 27%: lose), a reversal from four months ago when a greater proportion of 18- to 29-year-olds believed he would lose than win (36%: lose; 30%: win). A detailed report on the poll's findings is available on the Institute's homepage at www.iop.harvard.edu.

"Over the last several months, we have seen more of the Millennial vote begin to solidify around President Obama and Democrats in Congress," said Harvard Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson. "At the same time, there has been effectively no change in their support for Mitt Romney and Republicans in Congress. We will continue to track this demographic which we know is critical to success at the polls."

"Although this generation is not as supportive of President Obama and Democrats as they may have been in the historic 2008 campaign, this in no way implies that the Republican Party has successfully captured the hearts, minds and votes of Millennials," said Harvard Institute of Politics Polling Director John Della Volpe. "Instead, Millennials have clearly shown that they are a generation that cares deeply about our country, their role in it - and feel that the political system as represented by both parties has not effectively engaged them on the issues that will shape their and our nation's future."

The web-enabled survey of 3,096 18- to 29-year-old U.S. citizens with a margin of error of +/- 1.7 percentage points (95% confidence level) conducted with research partner Knowledge Networks for the IOP between March 23 and April 9, 2012 finds -

Barack Obama has widened the gap over Mitt Romney. With the general election approaching, Barack Obama has grown his lead over likely Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to seventeen points (43%-26%), a six point larger margin than seen in IOP polling in late November/early December (37%: Obama; 26%: Romney). Obama leads Romney among 18- to 24-year-olds by 12 points (41%-29%) and 25- to 29-year-olds by 23 points (46%-23%). Job approval ratings generally beginning to stabilize for President Obama, especially among Hispanics - but still struggling among white Millennials. While November IOP polling showed Millennials' overall job performance for President Obama hitting all-time lows, the Institute's April poll shows the President beginning to regain Millennials' approval. Over the past four months, Obama's job approval rating among America's 18- to 29-year-olds has risen six percentage points to 52% (46%: Nov. 2011). Among Hispanics specifically, Obama's job approval increased by fourteen percentage points from 52% in November to 66% in April, a level consistent with pre-Fall 2011 levels (68%: Feb. 2011; 62%: Oct. 2010; 69%: Feb. 2010). In a potential 2012 general election match-up with Mitt Romney, Obama leads among Hispanics by 39 points (50%-11%). Despite these positive developments for the President, he continues to struggle with white Millennials - maintaining only a 41% job approval rating; according to 2008 exit polls, this demographic was not only the largest cohort of the Millennial segment but one which favored Obama over Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential race (54%-44%). Approval for Democrats in Congress also rose six percentage points since late November to 39% (33%: Nov. 2011), while approval ratings of Republicans in Congress rose only one percentage point over the same period - currently standing at 25 percent. In contrast to four months ago, a plurality of America's 18- to 29-year-olds now predict Obama will win bid for re-election. Late-November IOP polling showed a greater proportion of 18- to 29-year-olds believed that Barack Obama would lose re-election (36%) than win (30%), with almost a third (32%) not sure. When asked the same question this April, more than four-in-ten (43%) said they believe the President will win-re-election with twenty-seven percent (27%) predicting Obama would lose and three-in-ten (30%) not sure. By multiple measurements, the economy remains the top issue of concern for this generation. As has been the case in past IOP surveys, more Millennials cited "jobs and the economy" (58%) in an open-ended question on which national issue concerns them most - far outpacing any other answer. Additionally, the Institute tested the relative importance of 20 issues facing the United States; respondents were shown two issues and asked to choose which was a more important concern for America. "Creating jobs and lowering the unemployment rate" was considered the more important issue winning match-ups 77 percent of the time against the field and winning a majority of match-ups against every single other issue by a statistically significant margin. For example, 66 percent of Millennials felt it was more important than "ensuring affordable access to healthcare;" 75 percent said it was more important than "preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons;" and 65 percent said it was more important than "reducing the federal deficit." When 2012's undecided voters were isolated - "creating jobs" again remained the number-one priority (75% win percentage). A more robust breakdown of the 20 issues tested and match-up results is available in the IOP's spring 2012 poll executive summary on the Institute's homepage www.iop.harvard.edu. Millennials place more trust in the United Nations than in the federal government, Congress or Wall Street. Levels of trust Millennials place in public institutions measured in the IOP's polling project have remained relatively constant over the last 12 months - however, some comparisons are still worth noting. Overall, 38% of America's 18- to 29-year olds trust the United Nations to do the right thing all or most of the time - a greater proportion than those saying the same about the federal government (27%), Congress (23%) or Wall Street (13%). Although President Obama's job approval rating on many key issues remains below fifty percent, the perception of Obama's handling of economic issues has shown improvement since last fall. After receiving job approval ratings of less than one-in-three (32%) on the economy and the federal budget deficit (30%), Obama's approval increased to forty-one percent (41%) and thirty-six percent (36%) respectively over the past four months. In contrast, Obama's performance on other key issues appears to be stabilizing as his approval ratings handling Afghanistan (50%: Apr. 2012; 51%: Nov. 2011), Iran (48%: Apr. 2012; 46%: Nov. 2011) and healthcare (45%: Apr. 2012; 43%: Nov. 2011) changed only marginally. Still sour, the mood of Millennials has improved since fall 2011. President Obama's job approval rating has been closely tied with Millennials' view on the direction of the country. While still a comparatively modest proportion, one in five (20%) of America's 18- to 29-year-olds now say they believe the country is "headed in the right direction" - an increase of eight percentage points (12%: Nov. 2011) from four months ago; the proportion of Millennials' saying the country is "off on the wrong track" has also fallen by nine points over the same period (43%: Apr. 2012; 52%: Nov. 2011). In addition, four-in-ten (40%) African Americans say the U.S. is headed in the right direction - a significantly higher proportion than the percentage of white Millennials (16%) and Hispanics (21%) saying the same. Men are also statistically more likely to say they are optimistic about the direction of the country than women (23% to 18%).

Harvard students designed the poll in consultation with IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe, whose firm SocialSphere, Inc. commissioned Knowledge Networks to conduct the survey. Complete results, are available - along with past surveys - online at www.iop.harvard.edu.

Methodology

Knowledge Networks conducted a study of young adults on political issues on behalf of Harvard University's Institute of Politics. The goal of the project was to collect 3,000 completed interviews with young Americans between 18 and 29 years old. The main sample data collection took place from March 23 to April 9, 2012. A small pretest was conducted prior to the main survey to examine the accuracy of the data and the length of the interview.

Six thousand, four hundred and sixteen (6,416) KnowledgePanel members were assigned to the study. The cooperation rate was 48.3 percent resulting in 3,096 completed interviews. One hundred seventy-three (173) interviews were conducted in Spanish with the remainder done in English.

The web-enabled KnowledgePanel® is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Initially, participants are chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®. For those who agree to participate, but do not already have Internet access, Knowledge Networks provides a laptop and ISP connection at no cost. People who already have computers and Internet service are permitted to participate using their own equipment. Panelists then receive unique log-in information for accessing surveys online, and are sent e-mails throughout each month inviting them to participate in research. More technical information is available at http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp/reviewer-info.html and by request to the IOP.

Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, was established in 1966 as a memorial to President Kennedy. The IOP's mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non-partisan basis to inspire them to consider careers in politics and public service. The Institute strives to promote greater understanding and cooperation between the academic world and the world of politics and public affairs. More information is available online at www.iop.harvard.edu/.

Knowledge Networks, now part of the GfK Group, is passionate about research in marketing, media, health and social policy - collaborating closely with client teams throughout the research process, while applying rigor in everything we do. We specialize in innovative online research that consistently gives leaders in business, government, and academia the confidence to make important decisions. KN delivers affordable, statistically valid online research through KnowledgePanel® and leverages a variety of other assets, such as world-class advanced analytics, an industry-leading physician panel, an innovative platform for measuring online ad effectiveness, and a research-ready behavioral database of frequent supermarket and drug store shoppers.

The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. GfK, one of the leading market research organizations worldwide, operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 11,000 staff. In 2010, the GfK Group's sales amounted to EUR 1.29 billion. For further information, visit our website: www.gfk.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gfk_group.

Twitter Hashtag: #HarvardPoll

SOURCE Harvard's Institute of Politics


URL: http://www.prnewswire.com


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


April 24, 2012 Tuesday


The Wire: Romney, Obama on campaign trail; Roger Clemens, John Edwards trials; warning about frozen cows


BYLINE: By Karl Kahler kkahler@mercurynews.com


SECTION: BREAKING; News


LENGTH: 49 words


National editor's pick of the top news stories in the nation and world at this hour:

The Wire, a summary of top national and world news stories from the Associated Press and other wire services, moves weekday afternoons. Contact Karl Kahler at 408-920-5023, or follow him attwitter.com/karl_kahler.


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GRAPHIC: This April 6, 2012, photo, provided by the U. S. Forest Service shows the Conundrum Creek Cabin, in the White River National Forest, near Aspen, Colo., where as many as six cows remain that froze to death. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said Tuesday they need to decide quickly how to get rid of the carcasses. The options: use explosives to break up the cows, burn down the cabin, or using a helicopters or trucks to haul out the carcasses. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Brian Porter)
MANCHESTER, NH - APRIL 24: A campaign worker steams a banner in preparation for a rally with Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the Raddisson Hotel April 24, 2012 in Manchester, New Hampshire. In a speech titled "A Better America Begins Tonight," Romney will deliver remarks on the day as primary voters head to the polls in New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama talks with Jimmy Fallon during commercial break as he participates in a taping of the Jimmy Fallon Show, Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C..
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens leaves federal court in Washington, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. Clemens' lawyer opened his defense of the former pitching star by telling jurors that evidence purportedly showing Clemens used steroids was manipulated by his former strength coach, Brian McNamee.
Former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John Edwards, right, leaves a federal court with his daughter Cate, left, in Greensboro, N.C., Monday, April 23, 2012. A former aide to Edwards has taken the witness stand in his criminal trial to testify about his role in allegedly violating campaign finance laws to cover up an extramarital affair.


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States News Service


April 24, 2012 Tuesday


DOG BITES MAN: LAWYERS FOR OBAMA, WALL STREET BACKS ROMNEY


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 695 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC


The following information was released by the Center for Responsive Politics:

By Russ Choma on April 24, 2012

This is no man-bites-dog story.

Law firms led the list of top donors to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in March, while top financial firms were the chief backer's of Mitt Romney's bid. And the top industry donating to super PACs: wealthy individuals in finance.

Overall, an analysis of OpenSecrets.org data of donations greater than $200 shows, the candidates didn't stray far from their past fundraising patterns: industries that have been well represented in the top ten stayed there.

The organization that has given the most to Obama's campaign since the election cycle started has been Microsoft (the company itself cannot give to the campaign, so these numbers represent donations from people employed by the company), with donors giving $304,690. But in the month of March, those donors largely held back, giving only $15,602. Instead, the top company giving to Obama in March was law firm Sidley Austin LLP, (fourth on the list overall), with donors contributing $118,384.

Law firms dominated the list of top groups giving to Obama. Following Sidley Austin LLP, are DLA Piper, Jenner and Block, SNR Denton and Jones Day, with donors at those law firms giving a combined $193,385. In total, donors from the legal industry gave Obama about $1.6 million in the month of March, more than in February and almost three times as much as in January. Lawyers remain the second biggest industry giving to Obama, having donated $9.7 million this election cycle. This is still well behind his top industry -- retirees.

Lawyers have been less than half as generous to Mitt Romney's campaign as they have been to Obama's, donating about $4.1 million overall, and just $413,692 in March. The former Bain Capital chief gets his strongest support from Wall Street and the rest of the financial sector. As a whole, this sector, which we dub finance, insurance and real estate, has given Romney's campaign $17.9 million, making it number one sector overall for Romney. The same is true for the month of March, during which it provided Romney with $1.9 million.

The same sector has given Obama just $7.8 million overall, and only $782,820 in March.

The list of Romney's biggest donors, by organization, in March is further evidence of the financial industry's love affair with him. At the top of the list was Bank of America; donors from that firm gave him $87,000. Next were Fidelity, Massachusetts Mutual, CIT Group and Aetna. Goldman Sachs, Romney's number one overall donor at $564,580, gave just $36,400 in March. Donors from Obama's top group in March, Sidley Austin LLP, also show up as the 10th largest group for Romney, having given $34,250.

Super PACs continue to receive more money from the finance, insurance and real estate sector than from any other -- $48.5 million overall, according to OpenSecrets.org data; in March, the figure was $8.8 million. But those numbers are being driven by large individual givers, often from hedge funds, as our list of top donors to outside spending groups indicates. Labor unions came in second, the first time in this election cycle that they have made such a strong showing.

The chart below shows the top donations by industry this election cycle to the super PACs that have aligned themselves with presidential candidates.

But as an example of how super-sized donations to super PACs from a very few individuals can skew a sector or industry analysis of where those groups are getting their money, consider Miriam Adelson's $5 million donation to Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Newt Gingrich. Adelson lists her employer as the drug rehab clinic she runs, which immediately made the health professionals industry the top source of donations in March -- even though much of the fortune at her disposal comes from the casino industry in which her husband, Sheldon, is heavily invested.

Just two percent of the donors to all super PACs, or about 101 people, contributed 77 percent of the money those groups have taken in, another indication of how dependent the groups are on a small community of ultra-wealthy individuals.


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UPI


April 24, 2012 Tuesday 3:30 AM EST


The Almanac -- weekly


BYLINE: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL


LENGTH: 5447 words


Today is Monday, April 30, the 121th day of 2012 with 245 days to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1777; Hungarian composer Franz Lehar, who wrote the operetta "The Merry Widow," in 1870; actors Eve Arden in 1908 and Cloris Leachman in 1926 (age 86); singer Willie Nelson in 1933 (age 79); actors Gary Collins in 1938 (age 74), Burt Young in 1940 (age 72) and Jill Clayburgh in 1944; singer Bobby Vee in 1943 (age 69); Sweden's King Carl Gustaf XVI and U.S. Olympic champion swimmer Don Schollander, both in 1946 (age 66); actor Perry King in 1948 (age 64); film director Jane Campion ("The Piano") in 1954 (age 58); basketball Hall of Fame member Isiah Thomas in 1961 (age 51); actor Kirsten Dunst in 1982 (age 30); and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 1959 (age 53).

On this date in history:

In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States more than doubled its land area with the Louisiana Purchase. It obtained all French territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.

In 1812, Louisiana entered the union as the 18th U.S. state.

In 1927, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to appear on television when he was shown on opening day at the New York World's Fair.

In 1945, the burned body of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was found in a bunker in the ruins of Berlin. Also that day, Soviet troops captured the Reichstag building in Berlin.

In 1948, 21 nations of the Western hemisphere formed the Organization of American States.

In 1967, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship title when he refused to be drafted into the military.

In 1970, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced he was sending U.S. troops into Cambodia to destroy the "sanctuaries" from which communist forces from North Vietnam were sending men and material into South Vietnam.

In 1975, South Vietnam unconditionally surrendered to North Vietnam. The communists occupied Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.

In 1990, U.S. educator Frank Reed was freed after a 3 1/2-year ordeal as hostage of extremists in Lebanon, becoming the second abducted American freed in Beirut in just more than a week.

Also in 1991, political talks between Roman Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists in Northern Ireland opened. They were the first such discussions in 15 years.

In 1993, Monica Seles, the world's No. 1 women's tennis player, was stabbed in the back by a self-described fan of No. 2-ranked Steffi Graf during a match in Germany.

In 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the suspension of U.S. trade with Iran to protest funding of terrorism.

In 1998, a grand jury indicted Webster Hubbell and his wife on tax evasion charges, Hubbell, a close friend and associate of U.S. President Bill Clinton, accused Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr of having him indicted so he would lie about the president.

Also in 1998, the U.S. Senate approved the applications of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to join NATO.

In 2002, the United States sent 1,000 more troops to eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border to prevent Taliban and al-Qaida forces from regrouping.

In 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his government wouldn't support the proposed "road map" peace plan until Palestinians stopped anti-Israel violence. But, he said he favored creation of a Palestinian state.

In 2005, the bodies of 113 people, nearly all women and children, were found in a mass grave in southern Iraq.

Also in 2005, Jennifer Wilbanks, a Georgia woman who attracted national attention when she vanished days before her wedding, turned up in New Mexico, claiming to have been abducted but later admitting she was a "runaway bride."

In 2006, Israel's Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a psychopath in a newspaper interview and compared him to Adolf Hitler.

Also in 2006, two rebel factions in Sudan rejected a peace agreement in the Darfur conflict. Officials estimate the bloody fighting had killed at least 180,000 and driven more than 2 million from their homes.

In 2009, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection in a key move of a restructuring plan backed by the Obama administration. The U.S. automaker lost $16.8 billion in 2008.

In 2010, data indicated the U.S. economy had expanded 3.2 percent during the first quarter of 2010 with consumer spending growing at an annual rate of 3.6 percent. The report helped send the Dow Jones industrial average past the 11,000 mark for the first time since September 2008.

In 2011, a NATO airstrike in Tripoli killed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son and three of his grandchildren but Gadhafi and his wife escaped injury.

Also in 2011, the massive cleanup following a record outbreak of tornadoes in the southern United States got under way as the death toll rose to at least 340, with 249 killed in Alabama.

A thought for the day: an anonymous wag said, "Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into but hard to get out of."

Today is Tuesday, May 1, the 122nd day of 2012 with 244 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington, in 1769; sharpshooter Calamity Jane, real name Martha Jane Cannary Burke, in 1852; U.S. Army Gen. Mark Clark in 1896; singer Kate Smith in 1907; actors Louis Nye in 1913, Glenn Ford in 1916 and Dan O'Herlihy; television personality Jack Paar in 1918; author Joseph Heller in 1923; game show host Art Fleming in 1924; Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter in 1925 (age 87); and singers Sonny James in 1929 (age 83); Judy Collins in 1939 (age 73), Rita Coolidge in 1945 (age 67) and Tim McGraw in 1967 (age 45); Hong Kong film director John Woo in 1946 (age 66); and jockey Steve Cauthen in 1960 (age 52).

On this date in history:

In 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" was first performed.

In 1884, construction began on the world's first skyscraper -- the 10-story Home Insurance Company building in Chicago.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, U.S. Navy Adm. George Dewey routed the Spanish fleet in the Philippines.

In 1931, the Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City. It remained the world's tallest building for 40 years.

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers, who was captured.

In 1971, Amtrak, the national passenger rail service that combined the operations of 18 passenger railroads, went into service.

In 1991, a record-setting day in baseball: Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics stole his 939th base, making him the all-time leader; Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched his record seventh no-hitter.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered 4,000 military troops into the riot-ravaged streets of Los Angeles.

In 1993, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and others in his entourage were killed in a suicide bomb blast.

In 1997, 18 years of Conservative Party rule in Great Britain ended with a Labor Party victory in elections, which allowed party leader Tony Blair to succeed John Majors as prime minister.

In 1999, Charismatic, a 31-1 long shot, won the 125th Kentucky Derby in Louisville. It was the third highest payoff in Derby history.

In 2001, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan was convicted in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. He was given four life-in-prison sentences.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, declared that major combat in Iraq was over and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the end of major U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan.

Also in 2003, an earthquake killed 176 in Turkey, including scores of children in a school dormitory.

In 2004, the European Union added 10 member countries, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, running the total to 25.

In 2005, five men in Madain, Iraq, confessed to the kidnapping and slaying of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was abducted in October.

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters rallied throughout the United States to focus attention on the importance of immigration.

In 2008, the U.S. Congress gave final approval to a bill making it illegal for employers and insurance companies to discriminate on the basis of genetic history. It became law May 24.

In 2009, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced he would retire from the high court at the end of the current term in June. He was on the court 19 years.

Also in 2009, U.S. government figures showed economic output fell 6.1 percent during the first three months of 2009 and unemployment reached 8.9 percent in April.

In 2010, thousands of tourists and theatergoers were evacuated from New York's Times Square area for more than eight hours as police disarmed a malfunctioned bomb found in a SUV parked at the curb, its motor running, smoke coming from rear vents.

Also in 2010, storms and flooding led to a reported 21 deaths in Tennessee where record rainfall totaled almost 14 inches over two days. The stormy weather also claimed lives in Mississippi and Kentucky.

In 2011, Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States, founder of al-Qaida and the face of global terrorism, was killed in a U.S. midnight commando raid on his compound hideout near the Pakistani capital.

A thought for the day: "Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon." E.M. Forster said that.

Today is Wednesday, May 2, the 123rd day of 2012 with 243 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, in 1729; Gen. Henry Robert, author of "Robert's Rules of Order," in 1837; pioneer Zionist Theodor Herzl in 1860; gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in 1885; baseball Hall of Fame member Eddie Collins in 1887; German fighter ace Manfred "The Red Baron" von Richthofen in 1892; Broadway composer Lorenz Hart in 1895; child-care specialist Dr. Benjamin Spock in 1903; comic Pinky Lee in 1907; singer/actor Theodore Bikel in 1924 (age 88); singer Engelbert Humperdinck, born Arnold Dorsey, in 1936 (age 76); activist/singer Bianca Jagger in 1945 (age 67); pop singer Leslie Gore in 1946 (age 66); country singer Larry Gatlin in 1948 (age 64); actors David suchet in 1946 (age 66) and Christine Baranski in 1952 (age 60); fashion designer Donatella Versace in 1955 (age 57); former professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 1972 (age 40); and soccer star David Beckham in 1975 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist, scientist and inventor, died at age 67.

In 1611, a new translation of the Bible in England, popularly called the King James Bible after King James I, was published.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own soldiers. He died eight days later.

In 1885, Good Housekeeping magazine published its first issue.

In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission approved the regular scheduling of commercial television broadcasts.

In 1933, the modern legend of the Loch Ness monster surfaced when a reported sighting made the news. There had been accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland's Loch Ness dating back 1,500 years.

In 1972, 91 people were killed in a mine fire in Kellogg, Idaho.

Also in 1972, J. Edgar Hoover died after nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the South African elections in late April. He was inaugurated as the country's first black president eight days later.

In 1995, the Clinton administration announced that Cuban boat people seeking asylum would be henceforth returned to Cuba.

In 1999, a meeting between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic led to the release of three U.S. soldiers captured a month earlier by Serbian troops.

In 2002, Israeli forces pulled out of the West Bank city of Ramallah allowing Yasser Arafat to leave his compound.

In 2004, Nigerian Christian militants attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa with firearms and machetes. The Nigerian Red Cross put the death toll at 630.

In 2005, U.S. Army Pvt. Lynndie England pleaded guilty to seven counts related to alleged mistreatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In 2007, Afghan officials reported that 42 Afghan civilians had been killed in a U.S. military operation. President Hamid Karzai criticized U.S. and NATO forces for not being more careful in avoiding civilian casualties.

Also in 2007, Rupert Murdoch, chief executive officer of the News Corp., announced a $5 billion offer to take over Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

In 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis, with winds up to 120 mph, slammed into densely populated southern Myanmar killing more than 84,000 people with close to 54,000 missing.

In 2010, Greece was saved from defaulting on its debts by the International Monetary Fund and the 16 European countries of the eurozone which agreed on a $146 billion loan package for the struggling country.

In 2011, Osama bin Laden, the international terrorist kingpin slain in a surprise raid by an elite team of U.S. SEALs at his hideout near the Pakistani capital, was buried in the North Arabian Sea in a Muslim ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. CIA Director Leon Panetta said Pakistan wasn't told about the raid beforehand to protect its secrecy.

A thought for the day: Anatole France said, "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

This is Thursday, May 3, the 124th day of 2012 with 242 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli in 1469; British explorer John Speke, who discovered the source of the Nile, in 1827; journalist Jacob August Riis in 1849; French perfume maker Francois Coty in 1874; Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1898; singer/actor Bing Crosby in 1903; actor Mary Astor in 1906; Broadway gossip columnist Earl Wilson in 1907; playwright William Inge in 1913; folk singer Pete Seeger in 1919 (age 93); boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., in 1921; singers James Brown in 1933 and Frankie Valli in 1934 (age 78); TV personality Greg Gumbel in 1946 (age 66); magician Doug Henning in 1947; singer/songwriter Christopher Cross in 1951 (age 61); actor Dule Hill in 1975 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated.

In 1919, U.S. airplane passenger service began when pilot Robert Hewitt flew two women from New York to Atlantic City, N.J.

In 1937, Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

In 1946, the International Military Tribunals for the Far East began hearing the case in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II.

In 1948, the "CBS Evening News" premiered, with Douglas Edwards as anchor.

In 1952, a ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lt. Col. William P. Benedict of California became the first aircraft to land at the North Pole.

In 1960, "The Fantasticks" opened off-Broadway. It would become the longest-running musical of all time.

In 1968, the United States and North Vietnam agreed to open peace talks in Paris.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won the British general election, making her the first woman prime minister of a major European nation.

In 1989, Chinese leaders rejected students' demands for democratic reforms as some 100,000 students and workers marched in Beijing.

Also in 1989, former national security aide Oliver North was found guilty on three charges but innocent of nine others in the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush canceled the modernization of NATO short-range nuclear missiles and artillery, accelerating the pace of the removal of U.S. and Soviet ground-based nuclear weapons from "the transformed Europe of the 1990s."

In 1993, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attacked Muslim fundamentalists, saying they should be killed "like dogs."

In 1994, a U.S. district judge in Seattle struck down Washington state's assisted-suicide law.

In 1999, 76 tornadoes tore across the U.S. Plains states, killing about 50 people and injuring more than 700 more.

In 2003, noted New Hampshire landmark "Old Man of the Mountain" collapsed.

In 2004, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, reprimanded six commissioned and non-commissioned officers who supervised the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where many reported abuses occurred.

In 2006, an Armenian A-320 aircraft plunged into the Black Sea off Russia's southern coast, killing all 113 people aboard. Officials said bad weather was the probable cause.

In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II opened her U.S. visit by meeting with survivors and relatives of the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage. She also addressed Virginia lawmakers on the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States.

In 2008, envoys of China and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, met to smooth out their rocky relationship. It was their first session since March pro-independence protests erupted into violence.

In 2009, Jack Kemp, whose long career ranged from pro football quarterback (he led the Buffalo Bills in pre-Super Bowl days to AFL championships in 1964 and 1965) to nine-term U.S. congressman from New York, housing secretary and Republican nominee for vice president in 1996, died of cancer. He was 65.

Also in 2009, businessman Ricardo Martinelli, running as a centrist independent, won the Panama presidential election with 60 percent of the vote.

In 2010, New York City police arrested Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old Pakistani-American, in the attempted Times Square bombing after he had boarded a plane scheduled to fly to Dubai. He later pleaded guilty to all charges and drew a life-in-prison sentence.

In 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives won a parliamentary majority as Liberals were unseated for the first time as the official opposition in the country's fourth election in seven years.

A thought for the day: Gore Vidal said, "Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."

Today is Friday, May 4, the 125th day of 2012 with 241 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include educator Horace Mann in 1796; English biologist and agnostic Thomas Huxley in 1825; American landscape painter Frederic Church in 1826; New York Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1889; former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1928 (age 84); musician Maynard Ferguson in 1928; actor Audrey Hepburn in 1929; opera singer Roberta Peters and Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the singing Jackson family, both in 1930 (age 82); guitarist Dick Dale in 1937 (age 75); novelist Robin Cook in 1940 (age 72); political commentator George Will in 1941 (age 71); singer Nickolas Ashford in 1941); Sigmund "Jackie" Jackson, member of the Jackson 5, in 1951 (age 61); Oleta Adams in 1953 (age 59); actor Pia Zadora in 1954 (age 58); country singer Randy Travis in 1959 (age 53); actors Ana Gasteyer in 1967 (age 45) and Will Arnett in 1970 (age 42); sports reporter Erin Andrews in 1978 (age 34); pop singer Lance Bass in 1979 (age 33); and professional golfer Rory McIlroy in 1989 (age 23).

On this date in history:

In 1494, on his second expedition to the New World, Columbus discovered Jamaica.

In 1886, four police officers were killed when a bomb was thrown during a meeting of anarchists in Chicago's Haymarket Square protesting labor unrest. Four leaders of the demonstration, which became known as the Haymarket Square Riot, were convicted and hanged.

In 1904, construction began on the Panama Canal.

In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea began. It was a turning point for the Allies in World War II, with Japan losing 39 ships and the United States one.

In 1953, "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

In 1959, the first Grammy Awards were presented. "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno won the awards for Record and Song of the Year.

In 1970, National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a demonstration against the Vietnam War.

In 1980, President Joseph Broz Tito of Yugoslavia died at age 87.

In 1982, an Argentine jet fighter sank the British destroyer HMS Sheffield during the Falkland Islands war.

In 1990, Latvia became the third and last of the Baltic republics to take steps toward secession from the Soviet Union.

In 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chief Yasser Arafat signed an agreement, establishing the terms of limited Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

In 2000, the "I Love You" computer virus crashed computers around the world.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II flew to Greece to begin a journey retracing the steps of the Apostle Paul through historic lands.

In 2005, two days after U.S. Army Pvt. Lynndie England pleaded guilty to charges related to alleged prisoner abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison the judge threw out the plea and declared a mistrial. The judge said it wasn't clear whether the Army reservist knew at the time she was acting illegally.

In 2006, confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The 37-year-old Moroccan implicated himself in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

In 2008, a passenger ferry boat reportedly carrying twice its maximum load capsized on a tributary of the Amazon River in northern Brazil. Close to 50 people were killed.

In 2009, fighting between feuding families broke out at a wedding in southeast Turkey with combatants using guns and grenades, leading to the deaths of 44 people, including the bride and groom.

In 2010, The United States reportedly had reduced its nuclear weapons stockpile by 84 percent from peak 1967 levels, from 31,255 warheads to 5,113.

In 2011, rival Palestinian political factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation accord, citing as common causes opposition to the Israeli occupation and disillusionment with the American peace efforts.

A thought for the day: Michel de Montaigne said, "There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees."

This is Saturday, May 5, the 126th day of 2012 with 240 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard in 1813; German political theorist Karl Marx in 1818; hatmaker John Stetson in 1830; crusading journalist Nellie Bly in 1864; author Christopher Morley in 1890; radio actor Freeman Gosden, Amos of "Amos and Andy," in 1899; chef and cookbook author James Beard in 1903; actor Tyrone Power in 1914; singer/actor Alice Faye in 1915; actors Ann B. Davis in 1926 (age86); Michael Murphy in 1938 (age 74); singer Tammy Wynette in 1942; journalists Kurt Loder in 1945 (age 67) and Brian Williams in 1959 (age 53); actors Lance Henriksen in 1940 (age 72), Michael Palin in 1943 (age 69), John Rhys-Davies and Roger Rees, both in 1944 (age 68) and Tina Yothers in 1973 (age 39); and singer Adele Adkins in 1988 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

In 1862, Mexican troops, outnumbered 3-1, defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III.

In 1893, Wall Street stock prices took a sudden drop, sparking the second-worst economic crisis in U.S. history.

In 1904, Cy Young pitched major league baseball's first perfect game in leading the Boston Americans to a 3-0 win over Philadelphia.

In 1925, biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of Tennessee state laws.

In 1945, Allied troops liberated the Netherlands from Nazi Germany.

Also in 1945, Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children were killed in Lakeview, Ore., when a Japanese balloon they had found in the woods exploded. They were listed as the only known World War II civilian fatalities in the continental United States.

In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the United States' first man in space in a brief, sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral.

In 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands died after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his imprisonment as a criminal rather than a political prisoner by British authorities.

In 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan ignored an international uproar and visited a cemetery at Bitburg, West Germany, that contained the graves of World War II Nazi S.S. storm troopers.

In 1996, Jose Maria Aznar became prime minister of Spain.

In 2003, a wave of tornadoes killed 40 people in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.

Also in 2003, India and Pakistan agreed to renew diplomatic ties but India turned down Pakistan's offer of bilateral nuclear disarmament.

In 2004, Republican senators sought an investigation into charges that Iraq misused revenue from the U.N. oil-for-food program. A report estimated the Saddam Hussein regime collected $10.7 billion in illegal oil revenues.

In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was elected to a third term.

In 2006, 10 U.S. soldiers were killed in the crash of a helicopter in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

In 2007, a Newsweek poll indicated U.S. President George Bush had fallen to 28 percent approval among the nation's voters, worst presidential rating since Jimmy Carter's 28 percent in 1979.

In 2009, the World Health Organization reported the number of lab-confirmed swine flu cases had reached 1,500 people in 22 countries. The CDC put U.S. confirmed cases at 403 in 38 states.

In 2010, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua died after a long illness at 58. He was succeeded by Goodluck Jonathan, the vice president and acting president.

Also in 2010, a Picasso painting, "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," depicting the artist's mistress and painted in one day in 1932, sold for a record $106.5 million at a Christie's auction in New York.

In 2011, U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls began a series of televised debates, eventually numbering almost one dozen candidates seeking nomination to run against Democratic incumbent Barack Obama in 2012. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the early front-runner.

A thought for the day: "Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy." Cynthia Nelms said that.

Today is Sunday, May 6, the 127th day of 2012 with 239 to follow.

The moon is full. The morning stars are Neptune, Mercury and Uranus. The evening stars are Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre in 1758; Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Arctic explorer Robert Peary, both in 1856; French writer Gaston Leroux in 1868; silent screen star Rudolph Valentino in 1895; restaurateur Toots Shor in 1903; actor Stewart Granger in 1913; actor-director-writer Orson Welles and author Theodore White, both in 1915; baseball legend Willie Mays in 1931 (age 81); rock musician Bob Seger in 1945 (age 67); former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1953 (age 59); TV host Tom Bergeron ("Dancing with the Stars") in 1955 (age 57); musician John Flansburgh in 1960 (age 52); NHL record-holding goaltender Martin Brodeur in 1972 (age 40); and actors Roma Downey in 1960 (age 52) and George Clooney in 1961 (age 51).

On this date in history:

In 1527, German troops sacked Rome, killing 4,000 people and looting works of art and literature as part of a series of wars between the Hapsburg Empire and the French monarchy.

In 1863, Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee routed Union troops under Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.

In 1915, Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox hit his first major league home run in a game against the New York Yankees.

In 1935, in the depths of the Depression, the Works Progress Administration was established to provide work for the unemployed.

In 1937, the German dirigible Hindenburg burst into flames while docking in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 people.

In 1940, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

In 1941, Josef Stalin became official leader of the Soviet government.

In 1954, 25-year-old British medical student Roger Bannister cracked track and field's most famous barrier, the 4-minute mile, during a meet at Oxford, England. His time: 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.

In 1992, legendary actor Marlene Dietrich died at her Paris home at age 90.

In 1993, two postal workers, both apparently bitter over their treatment at work, allegedly shot co-workers in separate incidents in post offices in Michigan and California, leaving at least three dead and three wounded.

In 1994, Paula Jones accused U.S. President Bill Clinton of making an unwanted sexual advance during a meeting in a hotel room in 1991, when he was governor of Arkansas. It was believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind against a sitting president.

Also in 1994, the Channel Tunnel, a railway under the English Channel connecting Britain and France, was officially opened.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon signed an agreement for a broader mutual effort to fight drug trafficking.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque -- the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.

In 2004, the International Red Cross said it had found evidence of widespread mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by coalition forces in prisons across Iraq.

In 2005, a suicide bomber killed at least 58 people in a vegetable market south of Baghdad.

In 2006, the largest rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region and the government of Sudan signed a peace agreement ending their armed conflict in a three-year civil war that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives.

Also in 2006, unbeaten Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby by 6 1/2 lengths.

In 2007, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France with 53 percent of the vote in a runoff battle with Socialist Sergolene Royal.

In 2009, Maine voters approved same-sex marriages, joining fellow New Englanders Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut.

Also in 2009, Dave Bing, Hall of Fame star for the NBA's Detroit Pistons, was elected mayor of Detroit, succeeding ousted Kwame Kilpatrick.

In 2010, British voters gave the Conservatives control of Parliament, making David Cameron, 43, Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years.

In 2011, the U.S. economy added 244,000 jobs in April but the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9 percent with 13.7 Americans reported out of work. As total non-farm payroll employment rose by 244,000, the private sector added 268,000 jobs.

Also in 2011, heavy rains flooded the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, forcing people in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas to leave their homes.

A thought for the day: "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." George Bernard Shaw said that.


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The Washington Times


April 24, 2012 Tuesday


All you need is Love, Utah Republicans say of black woman;
Black woman's place is in the House, Utah Republicans say


BYLINE: By Valerie Richardson THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, PAGE ONE; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 811 words


Sooner or later, a black Republican woman was bound to run for Congress. It's just that nobody expected her to hail from Utah.

Mia Love won the GOP nomination for the 4th Congressional District race Saturday at the Utah Republican Convention, scoring a major upset after wowing the crowd with a roof-raising speech at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy.

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Mrs. Love took 70.4 percent of the delegate vote, well in excess of the 60 percent required to avoid a primary runoff under Utah's unique rules. She defeated former state legislator Carl Wimmer, who had been viewed as the heavy favorite. He mustered only 29.6 percent of the vote.

If Mrs. Love, 37, defeats her Democratic opponent, Rep. Jim Matheson, she will become the first black Republican woman to serve in the House.

"She really gave a great speech. She gave an enthusiastic and well-delivered speech," said Tim Chambless, associate professor of political science at the University of Utah. "And I think there's a desire to send a message to the rest of the country that Utah is not all white males."

The mayor of Saratoga Springs, Mrs. Love also may have benefited from a convention backlash spurred by state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a Wimmer supporter. Before the final vote, Mr. Shurtleff urged delegates to back a candidate with "a proven record who can beat Jim Matheson this fall. Not a novelty."

Some delegates booed his remark, and Mr. Shurtleff later issued a tearful apology, saying he inadvertently made a "terrible choice of words." He said he had meant to imply that Mrs. Love was new to the process.

Despite her underdog status, Mrs. Love had the support of some GOP heavy-hitters, including Josh Romney, son of likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, as well as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and budgetmeister Rep. Paul Ryan.

Taking out a sitting congressman is never easy, especially one with Mr. Matheson's long tenure in the House, name recognition and proven ability to defy the odds as a Democrat in a Republican state. But Republicans say they're optimistic about Mrs. Love's chances, pointing to the state's newly configured congressional map.

Utah gained a fourth congressional seat in the 2010 census, leading to a dramatic redrawing of the state's House districts. The state Legislature plowed more Republicans into Mr. Matheson's 2nd Congressional District, leading him to jump to the 4th District, which is still largely Republican but has more Democrats.

Mr. Matheson's move prompted cries of "carpetbagger" from Utah Republicans because the Democrat said he planned to keep his eastern Salt Lake City home, which remains in the 2nd District. Members of Congress are not required to live in the districts they represent.

Mr. Matheson, 52, has noted that he represented southwestern Salt Lake City, now a part of the 4th District, earlier in his career. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz represents the state's 3rd District even though he did not live there until the lines were redone.

Even before Mrs. Love's nomination, national Republicans targeted Mr. Matheson for defeat. The National Republican Congressional Committee has aired two television ads highlighting his support for President Obama.

"This is the most Republican district in the country held by a Democrat," said NRCC spokesman Dan Scarpinato. "He doesn't live in the district. So it's going to be a very challenging district for him."

Analysts say Mr. Matheson would have had a better shot against Mr. Wimmer. The Democrat traditionally has won with heavy support from female voters, including Republican and independent women, who may switch allegiances when given the opportunity to vote for a female Republican.

"She's very telegenic, and she's very bright. She has many, many positive qualities," said Mr. Chambless, who served as a speechwriter for former Gov. Scott Matheson, Mr. Matheson's father and fellow Democrat. "Given that Republicans have tried without success to defeat Jim Matheson six times, this is a new approach."

Mrs. Love belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members dominate Utah politics, and participated in the church's recent "I'm a Mormon" ad campaign. She served two terms on the Saratoga Springs City Council before becoming mayor of the fast-growing suburb.

She ran as a conservative Republican, and her campaign has much for conservatives to love: She's pro-life, pro-gun rights, pro-domestic energy exploration and pro-state control of public lands.

"If I could go to Washington tomorrow and change one thing, it would be to restore the power and decision-making back to the people," she says in a campaign video. "What makes America great is this idea that we are free - free to work, free to live, free to choose, and free to fail, because our failures make us better."


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The Associated Press


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 10:05 AM GMT


Democratic super PAC, environmental group air ad


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 125 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


A Democratic super PAC backing President Barack Obama's re-election and an environmental group are airing $1 million in advertising in Colorado and Nevada seeking to tie Mitt Romney to oil companies.

The ad by Priorities USA Action and the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund casts the likely Republican presidential nominee as the "$200 million man," accusing Romney of supporting oil industry profits and tax breaks. It asserts that Romney is "in the tank for big oil."

Priorities USA Action is a super PAC founded by two former Obama White House aides. It has struggled in fundraising compared with Republican-leaning super PACs like American Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, which have raised $100 million this election cycle.


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The Associated Press


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 07:59 PM GMT


6 reasons it's the Year of Big Money in politics


BYLINE: By CONNIE CASS, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1523 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Sure, there's always handwringing about money in politics. This time really is different, though the first presidential race since the courts changed the rules, clearing the way for secret cash and freeing billionaires and businesses to write multimillion-dollar checks for their favorite candidates. It's the Year of Big Money.

Here are six ways cash is transforming the 2012 elections:

1. New ways to give more than ever

Some of the nation's richest tycoons are pouring millions of dollars into campaigns in ways they couldn't before. Corporations and labor unions can do it, too. And they can hide from the public if they choose.

The biggest change is the explosion of the "super" political action committee. Set free from the contribution limits governing federal campaigns and old-style political committees, the new super PACs can take in limitless money and yet operate like an extension of a candidate's team.

There is a catch they can't legally "coordinate" their spending with a candidate, such as planning ad strategy together. But that's interpreted so loosely it hardly matters. Presidential candidates send a few top aides to set up a super PAC, then endorse it publicly, speak at its fundraisers, hang out privately with its biggest givers.

The biggest of these formed for a presidential candidate, Restore Our Future, is operated by former top advisers from Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential bid. So far it's raised more than $50 million, most of it already spent in the hard-fought primaries, and the general election's just getting started.

Two ex-White House aides set up President Barack Obama's entry in the money race, Priorities USA Action, which lags behind with less than $9 million raised.

In the Republican primaries, super PACs supporting Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich outspent the candidates' own campaigns.

How did this come about? It mushroomed from two court decisions in 2010. First, the Supreme Court said corporations and unions have the right like individual Americans to spend as much from their treasuries as they please to influence elections, so long as they act independently of candidates and the spending is disclosed. Then, an appeals court threw out the $5,000 annual limit on contributions to "independent" political committees.

The cash-happy super PAC was born.

Outside spending already has topped $100 million for 2012 federal races, four times the amount at the same point in 2008.

2. More mean-spirited ads

So what do super PACs do with all that money? They buy ads, and almost all are negative.

More than $9 out of every $10 spent by the pro-Romney group was designed to tear down his rivals, instead of promoting Romney. When Santorum or Gingrich popped up in the polls, Restore Our Future whacked him with millions of dollars in negative ads.

Already, the drumbeat for the Obama-Romney race is starting. A Republican super PAC called American Crossroads launched a TV ad blasting Obama for the high price of gasoline. The Obama team's super PAC answered with ads declaring that Romney is "in the tank for big oil."

Why do these "independent" committees go relentlessly negative? Because it works, and because they can do it with impunity, says Trevor Potter, a former federal election commissioner now seeking campaign reform.

"Normally a candidate is worried that voters will think badly of them if they run too many negative ads. Super PACs don't care if people think badly about them," said Potter, the lawyer featured in comedian Stephen Colbert's parody of super PACs.

When Romney's GOP rivals howled that they were being smothered by misleading super PAC ads, the candidate insisted there was nothing he could do, saying, "By law, we're not allowed to talk to them."

3. The rise of the political sugar daddy

Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson may be the best friend a candidate ever had. He and his wife, Miriam, put $20 million toward Gingrich's bid, keeping it going past its expiration date. That's 4,000 times more than the couple could legally give to Gingrich's primary campaign itself: $5,000.

Adelson can afford it. He's the eighth-richest person in America, according to the Forbes list, worth an estimated $21.5 billion.

Every candidate needed at least one megabucks buddy to have a shot at the Republican nomination this year. Wyoming investor Foster Friess, for example, handed Santorum's group more than $2 million.

Romney has the widest circle of wealth. His super PAC reports more than a dozen givers of at least $1 million. Its counterpart on the Obama side lists three: late-night comic Bill Maher, gardening guru Amy P. Goldman and DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, who kicked in $2 million.

Before 2010, individuals could legally spend their own money creating "independent" ads, but without well-organized, candidate-endorsed groups in place to run things, hardly anyone ever did. Those who wanted to put big money behind a candidate sometimes dabbled in gray areas of the law instead.

Billionaire investor George Soros pumped about $1.5 million into the liberal group Moveon.org's campaign to vilify President George W. Bush in 2004. Wealthy conservatives backed the "swift boat" ads attacking Democratic nominee John Kerry. One of them, Texas homebuilder Bob Perry, is now the biggest supporter of the Romney super PAC, giving $4 million.

American elections haven't seen freestyle spending like this since the post-Watergate reforms of the 1970s mandated disclosure of donors and limited contributions.

4. Big business invited in

Companies and unions can play the super PAC game, too. So far businesses and organizations have given just under a fourth of super PAC money, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Publicly traded corporations may fear offending stockholders or customers, however. Gay rights activists protested loudly when Target Corp. donated $150,000 to a super PAC supporting a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate who strongly opposed gay marriage. The company apologized.

Corporations may prefer backdoor avenues of giving that also are opening wider to them under the new rules.

"You can imagine the scenario in which a Microsoft or Google or Facebook decides, `This election really matters. What's another $20 million?'" said Brigham Young University professor David Magleby, who studies campaign finance.

And they could be pressured to give.

Michael J. Malbin, executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute, worries about a return to the days of President Richard Nixon's campaign shaking down corporations. "Unlimited contributions became temptations for officeholders to twist the arms of potential donors and come just one step short of criminal extortion," he said.

5. Donors hiding in the shadows

Super PACs are required to list their contributors, but some big givers stay secret by going through other channels.

Publicity-shy people and companies can give to advocacy groups that don't have to disclose their donors, because ostensibly they are focused on issues or the good of society, not candidates. These tax-exempt groups for years have spent millions on things like prodding people to the polls, voter registration, and "issue ads" that sometimes look more like attack ads.

Now they can act in the open spending much of their money on ads to directly support or, more often, oppose candidates. The state of the law is fuzzy, but it appears court rulings have cleared issue groups to spend almost half their budgets this way.

They include old standard-bearers like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, plus newbies such as Crossroads GPS, created by Republican Karl Rove, and a pro-Obama group, Priorities USA. Those two are sister organizations to super PACs with similar names, and could become a path for unnamed donors into those committees.

Crossroads GPS told the IRS it raised more than $77 million through December. Donors could include individuals, businesses or trade groups. Without naming names, Crossroads reported two gifts of $10 million each and four of more than $4 million.

6. Outside money swamping congressional campaigns

Big money can throw its weight around even more effectively in congressional races.

"Five million spent in the presidential race, it's a lot of money to me, but not a lot of money out of the total spent in the election," former FEC chief Potter said. "You take the same $5 million and you spend it in a House race and you're spending more than everybody else combined. You'd be the single largest spender in most Senate races.

"It is possible to buy, or try to buy, a House or Senate race through this anonymous money and nobody will know you're doing it," he said.

The Republican-allied Chamber of Commerce promises an unprecedented effort this year after spending more than $30 million on the 2010 midterms, just after the courts opened the door. Other groups are piling on, too. Both Democratic and Republican leaders have started super PACs in their fight for House and Senate control.

Many of the donors will be familiar. The House Republican group already has received $5 million from Gingrich's super givers, the Adelsons.

Associated Press writer Jack Gillum contributed to this report.


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Bangor Daily News (Maine)


April 25, 2012 Wednesday


Thursday, April 26, 2012: Gay marriage, jobs and Ted Nugent


BYLINE: aboyle


LENGTH: 688 words


God's plan


In response to the letter " Gay, period" by Nancy Rotkowitz (BDN, April 16), who says to preach what the Bible and Jesus stand for, maybe the word homosexual does not appear in the Bible, but scripture makes it clear that it's not accepted in God's plan of things. Read Leviticus 18-22, Leviticus 20-13, Romans 1-26-27. It is an abomination to God.


Any country, nation or people that justifies this as an acceptable lifestyle is in the final stages of moral corruption.


Vote against same-gender marriage. Thousands of Maine families, consisting of husband/wife, mother/father, are counting on you.


Gloria Boynton


Prospect


Women 2012


I write in response to Democrat Hannah Pingree's OpEd ("What's at stake for women this election?" April 20) attacking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Citing polls, Ms. Pingree claims that "women don't trust Romney to stand up for them." I wonder though how grateful married women are for the extensive leisure time (i.e., unemployment) their husbands have enjoyed under President Obama's counterproductive economic policies.


The slaughter of jobs for men (and, later, women) was a prominent feature of the Obama administration's first two years. Normally, such a low starting base makes significant employment gains easy. Not this time. We have had the weakest economic recovery in our post-war history -- for women and for men.


Ms. Pingree thinks women should thank Mr. Obama for 1.2 million new jobs held by women over two years. But consider: over one year (2002, when we also were exiting a slump), we gained over 3.6 million jobs for women -- a 200 percent besting of our recent two-year performance (source: Department of Labor). In a normal recovery, Ms. Pingree's cited 1.2 million new jobs for women would be derided as an embarrassing bust.


Political activists are nothing if not creative (especially when "spinning" data). Perhaps such tricks will win Mr. Obama re-election. But I wouldn't bet the farm on it. I keep thinking about all those unemployed husbands (and wives). They, and their spouses, may well conclude that Mr. Romney will strongly outperform Mr. Obama's jobs record, and vote accordingly. After all, every other president in our post-war history has managed to do so.


Michael R. Montgomery


School of Economics


University of Maine


Orono


Something fishy


On a trip to east Dover on Thursday last week with my two daughters, we saw fish-stocking trucks, stocking federally endangered atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) into the Piscataquis River. Here lies my issue: while stocking the endangered fish, there were seven people fishing in the river, catching and mortally wounding or outright killing the fish.


These fish are easy to catch at this time of the year, as they are smolts in the six- to 12-inch range and are aggressively feeding on their trip to the ocean, while they are under constant attack from osprey, eagle, otter, cormorant, bass, pickerel and stripers, to name a few predators they encounter. Within weeks or days prior to or after stocking, the brook trout will be stocked and they will advertise for people to take their kids to catch a trout in east Dover. Then these fish are caught by the hundreds. My question to the people of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and NOHA: why isn't the whole Penobscot River watershed closed to fishing as it is below the Veazie Dam to the pipeline in Eddington? At the last salmon season on the Penobscot River, we had catch-and-release fly fishing only with barbless hooks and I haven't heard of a single fish that died during that season. It doesn't seem right for a government agency to list a species endangered, then only enforce it in a certain area.


Andrew Lugdon


Corinth


Ted Nugent comments


Somehow it doesn't surprise me regarding the political correctness of Bangor City Councilors Longo and Baldacci with their desire to protect the citizens from those who take their constitutional right to the limit. Granted, Mr. Nugent was crude and suggestive, but was within his right to express himself, as the two Secret Service agents concluded.


With logic like this, we still be under a monarchy.


David Melochick


Hampden


LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Bangor Daily News



216 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 10:31 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3644 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ashley Hayes-- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Tsunami-Debris-Preparations

An estimated 70% of debris from last year's Japanese tsunami sank off that nation's shore. But that left an estimated 1.5 millions tons heading toward the United States and Canada. West Coast states, including Washington, Oregon and Washington are making plans to deal with the scattered debris, and officials believe some already has come ashore. Although there is no massive debris field, local officials and citizens are being educated about things that could come in, with a focus on potentially hazardous (not radioactive) materials and navigational hazards, such as fish nets.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former campaign aide of John Edwards faced tough questions Wednesday about his motives for testifying against the former presidential candidate, and whether he made up stories about how Edwards allegedly funneled money during his 2008 campaign.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

A small group of observers resumed the United Nations' mission to monitor a truce in Syria that was tenuous from the start and showed signs Wednesday of unraveling as opposition activists again reported widespread violence.

POL-Secret-Service (Will update)

Two veteran senators complained Wednesday that military officials might have been slow to react to an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia and have not been forthcoming with Congress so far in reporting exactly what happened.

Dominican-Republic-Beauty-Queen

Officials have dethroned the 25-year-old model who won the Dominican Republic's top beauty pageant, saying she violated contest rules when she hid her marriage from organizers.

ENT-Bobby-Brown-Charge

Entertainer Bobby Brown pleaded no contest Wednesday to driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher and was sentenced to 36 months of probation. He must undergo a 90-day alcohol treatment program.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

US-SCOTUS-Arizona-Law

Parts of Arizona's sweeping immigration law received a surprising amount of support from a short-handed Supreme Court Wednesday.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch denied holding a grudge against British Prime Minister David Cameron as he testified Wednesday before a probe into press ethics established by the prime minister.

CNN SHOWCASE

UK-Murdoch-Media-Empire -- By Laura Smith-Spark

It was a rare sight for media watchers on Wednesday: Rupert Murdoch, the indomitable head of the News Corp. empire, called before a judicial inquiry to explain how his influence has shaped Britain's media and political landscape. The focus in the Leveson Inquiry hearing was on Murdoch's dealings with a succession of British prime ministers going back decades and whether these cozy relationships worked to his personal advantage.

Arizona Law Legacy -- By Emanuella Grinberg

The past few years haven't been the best for a man trying to make an honest living selling tortillas in Arizona. Business owner Sergio Paez estimates that he has lost 20 businesses as customers in the past three years, from small neighborhood taquerias to chain restaurants. In 2010, his tortilla business was suffering thanks to the nationwide recession. Then Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the state's controversial immigration enforcement policy known as SB 1070, and things got even worse, he said.

INTERNATIONAL

IYW-Chernobyl-Children

Twenty-six years ago this week, a botched reactor safety test in a corner of what was then the Soviet Union set off the worst nuclear accident in history. Fast forward to today, and even in the exclusion zone, plants have re-grown, animals are flourishing and Chernobyl has been opened to tourists.

Israel-Iran

Israel's top general said Iran is led by "very rational people" and doesn't appear poised to build a nuclear bomb that would threaten his nation.

US-Pakistan-Ties

American officials are arriving in Pakistan Wednesday for negotiations over parliamentary recommendations on how Islamabad wants to deal with Washington in the future, as the two countries seek to repair their frayed ties, senior U.S. officials told CNN.

Syria-Unrest

A small group of observers resumed the United Nations' mission to monitor a truce in Syria that was tenuous from the start and showed signs Wednesday of unraveling as opposition activists again reported widespread violence.

Israel-Netanyahu-Interview

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has suggested that time is running out for Western sanctions on Iran to have a meaningful effect on Tehran's nuclear program.

Sudans-Conflict

South Sudan's president, who accused Sudan of declaring war on his nation, cut short his trip to China on Wednesday as tension between the two neighbors intensified over border and oil disputes.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch denied holding a grudge against British Prime Minister David Cameron as he testified Wednesday before a probe into press ethics established by the prime minister.

UK-Hacking-Government

British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected suggestions Wednesday he had acted improperly in his dealings with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Murdoch-Tweets

Few could accuse Rupert Murdoch of losing his sense of perspective. Amid the threats posed to his global media business interests by the phone-hacking scandal, the media mogul retains an almost childlike fascination for the weather and nature.

Britain-Madeleine-McCann

British girl Madeleine McCann, who vanished during a 2007 family vacation in Portugal, may still be alive, UK authorities said Wednesday.

Yemen-al-Qaeda-Death

The fourth-most wanted al Qaeda leader in Yemen was killed Tuesday in an airstrike in the northeastern province of Mareb, the Yemeni government announced.

Brazil-Iran-Diplomat

Iran has recalled a diplomat from Brazil amid allegations he sexually abused children at a swimming pool, state media in Brazil reported.

Pakistan-Missile-Test

Pakistan said Wednesday that it had successfully launched a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The Pakistani military said in a statement that the missile's impact point was at sea.

Pakistan-Gilani-Verdict

The Pakistani Supreme Court is expected to announce its verdict on Thursday in the contempt case against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, a member of the premier's legal team said.

South-Africa-Rape-Video

Three of four minors accused of taking part in a brutal videotaped gang rape of a teenager will face full prosecution, a spokesman for a South African court said Wednesday.

MONEY-China-Stocks

China's boom has made it a magnet for capital, but investing in the world's second-largest economy is still risky.

MONEY-China-Apple-Preview

A senior Chinese official has sided with a company battling with Apple over the right to use the iPad name in China's lucrative market.

MONEY-UK-Recession

Britain's economy declined for the second straight quarter, the U.K. government said Wednesday, in a sign that the nation has entered a recession for the second time in four years.

SPORT-tennis-wimbledon-pay-rise

They've earned admiration around the world for their on-court prowess, not to mention the enviable sum of more than $160 million in prize money between them.

U.S.A.

Arizona-Missing-Girl

The parents of missing 6-year-old Isabel Mercedes Celis pleaded for her safe return Wednesday after police said they had scaled back their search for her.

TRAVEL-California-Screeners-Arrested

Two current and two former TSA employees have been arrested in an alleged drug and bribery scheme by screeners who allowed large shipments of narcotics to pass through security at Los Angeles International Airport in exchange for cash.

US-Marine-Obama

A Marine who used his Facebook page to criticize President Barack Obama has been discharged, a Marine Corps spokesman said Wednesday.

Connecticut-Death-Penalty

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law Wednesday that abolishes the death penalty, making his state the 17th in the nation to abandon capital punishment and the fifth in five years to usher in a repeal.

Ohio-Den-Leader-Campaign

Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio den leader dismissed by her local Boy Scout troop for being a lesbian, said she's disappointed her 7-year-old son is no longer participating in the Scouts.

Georgia-Teen-Beating

One of four Georgia teens charged with stomping and beating another teenager to death in 2010 has been sentenced to life in prison, and another faces trial in June, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

New-Jersey-Autism-Bullying

A New Jersey man has launched a website to publicize what he calls "a culture of bullying" by teachers in his son's Cherry Hill classroom after sending the boy -- who has been diagnosed with autism -- to school with a covert recording device.

US-SCOTUS-Arizona-Law

Parts of Arizona's sweeping immigration law received a surprising amount of support from a short-handed Supreme Court Wednesday.

US-SCOTUS-Immigration-States

Lawmakers across the nation closely followed Wednesday's Supreme Court arguments over the fate of Arizona's tough immigration law. After all, a handful of states have already passed similar laws that are also facing court challenges, and the Arizona decision will likely tip their cases one way or another.

POL-Secret-Service

Two veteran senators complained Wednesday that military officials might have been slow to react to an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia and have not been forthcoming with Congress so far in reporting exactly what happened.

US-Manning-WikiLeaks-Case

A military judge denied a request Wednesday to dismiss all the charges against the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military and State Department documents while serving in Iraq.

US-Military-Anti-Islamic

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has ordered the entire U.S. military to remove all anti-Islamic content from its training materials.

US-Census-Interracial

The number of interracial couples in the United States has reached an all-time high, with one in every 10 American opposite-sex married couples saying they're of mixed races, according to the most recent Census data released Wednesday.

US-Latino-Soldiers-PTSD

When Army Master Sergeant Mike Martinez arrived in Saudi Arabia for his first assignment 22 years ago, he knew his experience in the infantry would make him "real tough, tough like nails." But little did he know back then just how much those words would resonate now, in his new role as a voice for the invisible wounds of war.

POL-Salahi-Virginia-Governor

Famed White House party crasher Tareq Salahi has his sights set on crashing the governor's mansion in Virginia.

Maryland-Beating-Arrests

Police in Baltimore have made the third and fourth arrests in connection with a violent robbery that left a man battered and stripped of his clothes last month while onlookers laughed and did nothing to help.

SPORT-Deion-Sanders-Wife

Former football star Deion Sanders and a third person also were cited for misdemeanor assault in an incident this week that resulted in Sanders' estranged wife being arrested and taken into custody, according to a statement Wednesday by the Prosper, Texas, police department.

MONEY-Mexico-Walmart

Mexican authorities have opened an investigation into permits issued to Wal-Mart in light of allegations that the retail giant bribed officials in Mexico to speed up store construction.

MONEY-Walmart-Mexico-Bribery

Wal-Mart Stores is continuing the effort to contain the damage from allegations that it bribed its way to dominance of Mexico's retail industry.

TECH-iPhone-5-Apple-WWDC

It's a tantalizing bit of expectation building. Apple's invitation to its annual developers conference is tagged with this phrase: "It's the week we've all been waiting for." But if it's that elusive iPhone 5 you'd like to see, you might need to keep waiting.

MONEY-Oil-Jobs

Big Oil is about to report big profits this week. So the industry is trying to focus people on a different story -- that it is a big jobs producer, worthy of its tax breaks and public appreciation in this time of still high unemployment.

MONEY-Occupy-Boardroom

Shareholders across the United States are uniting, creating a movement that could be dubbed "Occupy Boardroom." Long-term shareholders, including pension funds and mutual funds, are attempting to push out board members and fight back against executive pay packages. And unlike Occupy Wall Street, the police can't shut it down.

MONEY-Federal-Reserve-Policy

Mixed economic data has the Federal Reserve sticking to its current game plan for stimulating the recovery.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks finished near the highs of the day Wednesday, as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and cheered strong corporate results from big companies including Apple and Boeing.

MONEY-Sprint-Earnings

Losing money and customers have become the status quo for Sprint Nextel. The only question is "how much?" On the bright side, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier said Wednesday that it shed fewer subscribers and posted a narrower loss than Wall Street analysts had expected.

MONEY-Postal-Service-Senate

The Senate on Wednesday passed a plan to save the struggling U.S. Postal Service, an effort that could save thousands of jobs and 100 mail processing plants now slated to be closed or consolidated next month.

MONEY-Federal-Reserve-Policy

The Federal Reserve believes the economy is improving, but not enough to warrant a change in its stimulative policies just yet.

MONEY-Burger-King

Breakfast at Burger King is about to get more humane. The nation's No. 2 fast food chain announced an agreement Wednesday with the Humane Society of the United States to switch to eggs from hens not kept in cages, and to only use pork products from pigs also not kept and bred in small cages.

MONEY-Amazon-Ebook-Prices

When the Justice Department filed suit against Apple and five major book publishers alleging e-book price fixing, the government hawked it as a triumph for consumers.

MONEY-Mid-Sized-Firms

In what could be yet another sign that the recovery is losing momentum, a new survey shows medium-sized companies are still not confident enough to hire.

MONEY-Apple-Earnings

Much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales helped Apple nearly double its profit last quarter.

MED-California-Mad-Cow

The first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years sparked fears of illness that prompted at least one major South Korean retailer to suspend the sale of American beef.

MONEY-Pollution-Cities

While dangerous pollutants still threaten the health of millions of Americans, the United States has made great strides in clearing the air, according to the American Lung Association.

MONEY-Apple-Supplier-Stocks

Apple isn't the only stock benefiting from its blowout second quarter, during which it sold many more iPhones than expected. Shares of companies that make chips or accessories for iPhones also rode the good-news wave.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Survey-Religion-Support

Religion is playing a key role in determining which presidential candidate Americans support, with President Barack Obama enjoying a wide lead over Mitt Romney among moderately and less religious voters and Romney dominating among very religious voters, according to a Gallup survey released Wednesday.

POL-Rubio-Foreign-Policy

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida boosted his vice presidential buzz Wednesday as a possible running mate for Mitt Romney, giving what his office billed as a "major foreign policy speech."

POL-Gingrich-Campaign-Obit

Newt Gingrich will leave the Republican presidential campaign with a mixed legacy and a campaign deep in debt.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Telephone

Newt Gingrich told Mitt Romney Wednesday he will try and help the presumptive Republican presidential nominee beat Barack Obama in November, acknowledging his bid for the White House has come to an end.

POL-Poll-2012-Arizona

Is Arizona truly a battleground state? The jury's still out, but a second straight survey this week does indicate that it's all knotted up between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Arizona.

POL-Obama-Web-Video

President Barack Obama's re-election team came out with a new web video on Wednesday, accusing rival Mitt Romney of pandering on student loans.

POL-Obama-Campaign-Fundraiser

President Barack Obama will only have to travel four blocks to his campaign fundraiser in Washington Wednesday, but the event will boost his reelection bid's coffers by nearly $900,000.

POL-Poll-Religion-Romney

Mitt Romney leads likely general election rival President Barack Obama among very religious voters, according to a recent survey.

POL-Gingrich-Ending-Bid

Newt Gingrich will officially end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination next week, his spokesman said Wednesday, and will back Mitt Romney in his bid to defeat President Barack Obama in November.

POL-Anti-Romney-Ad-Buy

Mitt Romney is the "$200 million man" who is "in the tank for big oil," according to a new television advertisement being aired by committees supporting President Barack Obama's reelection.

POL-McDonnell-Romney-VP

Doing little to quiet vice presidential speculation, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia said he is open to assisting presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney capture the White House in any way he can.

POL-Santorum-Romney-Interview

One-time GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum danced around the idea of endorsing the party's likely nominee, Mitt Romney, with significant and repeated prodding from CNN's Piers Morgan in a Tuesday interview.

MONEY-Romney-Campaign-Spending-Vote

Well, it's over. Mitt Romney has amassed a nearly-insurmountable delegate lead, and is on track to become his party's nominee for president.

POL-Anti-Romney-Ad-Buy

Mitt Romney is the "$200 million man" who is "in the tank for big oil," according to a new television advertisement being aired by committees supporting President Barack Obama's reelection.

COMMENTARY-stanley-gingrich

Goodbye again, Newt Gingrich.

COMMENTARY-heffner-obama-millenials

Can Obama rock the youth vote again?

FEATURES

TRAVEL-Misstravel-Dating-Site

There's a hot new travel site -- but it doesn't really arrange any travel. The Internet blew up Wednesday over Misstravel.com, a site that launched April 9. According to its founder, Brandon Wade, the site connects rich people with good-looking people who want to gallivant around the world on the rich person's dime.

TRAVEL-Cruise-Standards

In the wake of the deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship accident off the coast of Italy in January, the cruise industry is implementing new safety standards.

MED-Kidney-Transplanted-Twice

Within just a few days, Ray Fearing went from the height of ecstasy -- he had just gotten a much-needed kidney transplant -- to the depths of depression, after finding out his transplant would need to be removed.

FEA-Osteen-Belief-Blog

Joel Osteen, the pastor of America's largest church, swung by the offices of CNN's Belief Blog on Tuesday. He's in town for a "Night of Hope" event at Nationals Park baseball stadium this weekend, which is expected to draw thousands of worshipers who wouldn't otherwise step foot in a church.

COMMENTARY-Moisi-French-Election

The lessons of the first round of the French presidential elections are multiple and somewhat contradictory. There is, on the one hand, the first-round victory of a self-described "normal man" who is still -- in spite of very tight results -- likely to become the next president of France: François Hollande. His lack of charisma has not been a handicap, so great was the rejection of incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.

TRAVEL-summer-airfares

Douglas Quinby was shocked at the price. Traveling from Atlanta to New Orleans in two weeks for work, the travel industry analyst found an airline ticket for $130 a week ago and grabbed it. "To get that fare, you have to book it in advance, or you have to be a lot more wily as a traveler to find those lowest fares," said Quinby, PhoCusWright's senior director of research. Those cheap fares are harder and harder to come by. The summer vacation months, especially Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day, are always incredibly popular travel times. And as travelers head into the summer vacation season, they're facing a perfect storm leading to higher travel prices.

TRAVEL-Tech-Hotels

While technology has become inextricably fused into our daily lives in recent years, hotels have not always kept pace.

TECH-early-peek-borderlands-2

"Borderlands 2" wants to raise the stakes and improve upon its signature art style and outlandish weapons while broadening the story on the planet of Pandora. At a hands-on demo, a pre-alpha build of the new title showed off two classes of characters -- one new and one familiar. It also demonstrated how the development team at Gearbox Software learned and applied lessons from its first title and subsequent downloadable content releases.

SPORT-Golf-Creamer-Military-Foundation

Discipline is a key ingredient in the package required to succeed in the world of professional golf. Paula Creamer has not been found wanting in that department on her journey from military kid to major champion.

MED-Teen-Mortality-Rates

It's known as the "youth bulge" - a decrease in child mortality rates leading to the largest generation of adolescents in history: 1.2 billion to be exact. As many of those teens face poverty, natural disasters and wars in addition to overwhelming physical and emotional changes, researchers worry about the lack of available health resources.

COMMENTARY-lopez-sanctions-tech

Will Obama move thwart murderous regimes?

COMMENTARY-demint-tariff-earmarks

Take politics out of tariff rules.

COMMENTARY-Bennett-Chuck-Colson

Chuck Colson fought for the forgotten.

COMMENTARY-freedman-murdoch-minister

Did UK minister work for government -- or Murdoch?

COMMENTARY-Opinion-Oxfam-Ballaman-South-Sudan-refugee-crisis

World must step in to avert South Sudan crisis.


LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



217 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 2:28 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1736 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler and Samira Jafari -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

US-Manning-Military-Hearing

If things go his way, Pfc. Bradley Manning go walk out of court a free man Wednesday. But it's unlikely the judge will grant his attorney's motion to have all charges against him dismissed with prejudice.

POL-Secret-Service (Will update)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee Wednesday that she retains full confidence in Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan in the wake of the alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia that has resulted in nine members resigning or being forced out of the agency.

UK-Phone-Hacking (Will update)

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch spent hours Wednesday downplaying his political influence, even as British Prime Minister David Cameron said politicians in his country had been too close to Murdoch over the years.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

Renewed terror and violence permeated the Syrian cities of Hama and Douma on Wednesday, just days after U.N. monitors left the areas, opposition activists said.

US-SCOTUS-Arizona-Law (Will update)

The Supreme Court plans to hear arguments Wednesday on an Arizona law that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration, a thorny issue of white-hot controversy that states around the country have grappled with amid record levels of immigration to the United States.

POL-Gingrich-Ending-Bid (Will update)

Newt Gingrich will officially end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and formally express his support for Mitt Romney next week, two sources close to Gingrich tell CNN.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

UK-Phone-Hacking

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch denied holding a grudge against British Prime Minister David Cameron as he testified Wednesday before a probe into press ethics established by the prime minister.

Syria-Unrest

Renewed terror and violence permeated the Syrian cities of Hama and Douma on Wednesday, just days after United Nations monitors left the areas, opposition activists said.

CNN SHOWCASE

Arizona Law Legacy -- By Emanuella Grinberg

The past few years haven't been the best for a man trying to make an honest living selling tortillas in Arizona. Business owner Sergio Paez estimates that he has lost 20 businesses as customers in the past three years, from small neighborhood taquerias to chain restaurants. In 2010, his tortilla business was suffering thanks to the nationwide recession. Then Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the state's controversial immigration enforcement policy known as SB 1070, and things got even worse, he said.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

Renewed terror and violence permeated the Syrian cities of Hama and Douma on Wednesday, just days after United Nations monitors left the areas, opposition activists said.

Israel-Netanyahu-Interview

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has suggested that time is running out for Western sanctions on Iran to have a meaningful effect on Tehran's nuclear program.

Sudans-Conflict

South Sudan's president, who accused Sudan of declaring war on his nation, cut short his trip to China on Wednesday as tension between the two neighbors intensified over border and oil disputes.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch denied holding a grudge against British Prime Minister David Cameron as he testified Wednesday before a probe into press ethics established by the prime minister.

UK-Hacking-Government

British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected suggestions Wednesday he had acted improperly in his dealings with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Murdoch-Tweets

Few could accuse Rupert Murdoch of losing his sense of perspective. Amid the threats posed to his global media business interests by the phone-hacking scandal, the media mogul retains an almost childlike fascination for the weather and nature.

Britain-Madeleine-McCann

British girl Madeleine McCann, who vanished during a 2007 family vacation in Portugal, may still be alive, UK authorities said Wednesday.

Yemen-al-Qaeda-Death

The fourth-most wanted al Qaeda leader in Yemen was killed Tuesday in an airstrike in the northeastern province of Mareb, the Yemeni government announced.

Brazil-Iran-Diplomat

Iran has recalled a diplomat from Brazil amid allegations he sexually abused children at a swimming pool, state media in Brazil reported.

Pakistan-Missile-Test

Pakistan said Wednesday that it had successfully launched a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The Pakistani military said in a statement that the missile's impact point was at sea.

Pakistan-Gilani-Verdict

The Pakistani Supreme Court is expected to announce its verdict on Thursday in the contempt case against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, a member of the premier's legal team said.

South-Africa-Rape

Seven of the eight suspects who are accused of taking part in a brutal videotaped gang-rape of a teenager will appear in a South African court Wednesday to ask for bail.

MONEY-China-Stocks

China's boom has made it a magnet for capital, but investing in the world's second-largest economy is still risky.

MONEY-China-Apple-Preview

A senior Chinese official has sided with a company battling with Apple over the right to use the iPad name in China's lucrative market.

MONEY-UK-Recession

Britain's economy declined for the second straight quarter, the U.K. government said Wednesday, in a sign that the nation has entered a recession for the second time in four years.

U.S.A.

US-SCOTUS-Arizona-Law

The Supreme Court plans to hear arguments Wednesday on an Arizona law that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration, a thorny issue of white-hot controversy that states around the country have grappled with amid record levels of immigration to the United States.

US-Teen-driving-study

A new study suggests that teen girls are far more likely than boys to engage in distracted driving behavior.

MONEY-Stocks

Stronger-than-expected results from Apple, Boeing and other major companies lifted U.S. stocks at the open Wednesday.

MONEY-Mid-Sized-Firms

In what could be yet another sign that the recovery is losing momentum, a new survey shows medium-sized companies are still not confident enough to hire.

MONEY-Apple-Earnings

Much stronger-than-expected iPhone sales helped Apple nearly double its profit last quarter.

MED-California-Mad-Cow

The first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years sparked fears of illness that prompted at least one major South Korean retailer to suspend the sale of American beef.

California-Post-Riot

On April 29, 1992, the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues in South Los Angeles became a flashpoint of one of the worst rioting in U.S. history. On Tuesday, Operation Hope, a financial literacy and small business development program formed after the riots, led a convoy of bankers, business leaders, politicians and entrepreneurs on a bus tour to survey the past and recognize economic progress in South Los Angeles 20 years later.

New-York-Subway-Plot

Within weeks of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Osama bin Laden was planning follow-up operations to bring down airliners in the United States and Southeast Asia, according to a convicted al Qaeda operative testifying in a terror trial in New York.

MONEY-Pollution-Cities

While dangerous pollutants still threaten the health of millions of Americans, the United States has made great strides in clearing the air, according to the American Lung Association.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Obama-Web-Video

President Barack Obama's re-election team came out with a new web video on Wednesday, accusing rival Mitt Romney of pandering on student loans.

POL-Gingrich-Ending-Bid

Newt Gingrich will officially end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and formally express his support for Mitt Romney next week, two sources close to Gingrich tell CNN.

POL-Anti-Romney-Ad-Buy

Mitt Romney is the "$200 million man" who is "in the tank for big oil," according to a new television advertisement being aired by committees supporting President Barack Obama's reelection.

POL-McDonnell-Romney-VP

Doing little to quiet vice presidential speculation, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia said he is open to assisting presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney capture the White House in any way he can.

POL-Santorum-Romney-Interview

One-time GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum danced around the idea of endorsing the party's likely nominee, Mitt Romney, with significant and repeated prodding from CNN's Piers Morgan in a Tuesday interview.

MONEY-Romney-Campaign-Spending-Vote

Well, it's over. Mitt Romney has amassed a nearly-insurmountable delegate lead, and is on track to become his party's nominee for president.

POL-Anti-Romney-Ad-Buy

Mitt Romney is the "$200 million man" who is "in the tank for big oil," according to a new television advertisement being aired by committees supporting President Barack Obama's reelection.

COMMENTARY-stanley-gingrich

Goodbye again, Newt Gingrich.

FEATURES

TRAVEL-Tech-Hotels

While technology has become inextricably fused into our daily lives in recent years, hotels have not always kept pace.

TECH-early-peek-borderlands-2

"Borderlands 2" wants to raise the stakes and improve upon its signature art style and outlandish weapons while broadening the story on the planet of Pandora. At a hands-on demo, a pre-alpha build of the new title showed off two classes of characters -- one new and one familiar. It also demonstrated how the development team at Gearbox Software learned and applied lessons from its first title and subsequent downloadable content releases.

SPORT-Golf-Creamer-Military-Foundation

Discipline is a key ingredient in the package required to succeed in the world of professional golf. Paula Creamer has not been found wanting in that department on her journey from military kid to major champion.

MED-Teen-Mortality-Rates

It's known as the "youth bulge" - a decrease in child mortality rates leading to the largest generation of adolescents in history: 1.2 billion to be exact. As many of those teens face poverty, natural disasters and wars in addition to overwhelming physical and emotional changes, researchers worry about the lack of available health resources.

COMMENTARY-lopez-sanctions-tech

Will Obama move thwart murderous regimes?

COMMENTARY-demint-tariff-earmarks

Take politics out of tariff rules.

COMMENTARY-Bennett-Chuck-Colson

Chuck Colson fought for the forgotten.

COMMENTARY-freedman-murdoch-minister

Did UK minister work for government -- or Murdoch?


LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2012


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CNN Wire


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 1:58 PM EST


Gingrich super PAC navigates the wilderness


BYLINE: By Peter Hamby, CNN Political Reporter


LENGTH: 856 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Newt Gingrich, isn't quite sure what to do with itself these days.

Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson hasn't donated since February.

His wife Miriam is keeping the flame alive, but she hasn't cut a check in over a month.

Aside from the Adelsons, who have steered more $20 million to Winning Our Future, just 25 people around the country gave money to the group in March, according to the PAC's most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.

By contrast, 136 donors wrote checks last month to Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing Mitt Romney.

The group's staff has dwindled. They have not run a television ad since early March.

And one recently departed adviser to the group is now conceding defeat.

Katon Dawson, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman who was providing political advice to the group but left in March, said Gingrich lacked the organizational muscle and fundraising discipline that could have overcome Romney.

"At the end of the day organization matters," Dawson told CNN. "Money matters. Having a spin machine matters. Getting on the ballots mattered. All the institutional stuff that everyone in the race wanted to blow off mattered. And Romney set it up. To the victor goes the spoils. Money and organization is Newt's weakness."

The group is running some voter contact efforts in North Carolina ahead of the May 8 primary, a spokesman for the PAC said.

But advisers to the group and a handful of Republicans familiar with its inner-workings said they are in limbo until Gingrich signals what his next steps are.

"Business is slower than usual," said one operative who worked closely with the PAC at the height of the Republican primary season. "People are looking at where the dust is settling and figuring out what's happening moving forward."

The PAC's strategists are evaluating whether there is enough appetite for a Romney alternative in the Republican race.

There does not seem to be much: recent polls have shown that almost 90% of Republicans are behind Romney in a match-up against President Barack Obama.

"There is one outstanding question and that is, is there still a significant anti-Romney vote," said Rick Tyler, a spokesman for Winning Our Future.

Gingrich apparently has the same question.

In the wake of five more losses in Tuesday night's northeastern primaries, the former House speaker is in the process of reassessing his campaign.

Tyler would not say if the group plans to buy TV airtime in any upcoming primary states but said that while the group is "decidedly downsized," they are "clearly active."

"We will go as long as Newt's in the race," Tyler said.

According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising, Winning Our Future has not run a television ad since March 13, when Alabama and Mississippi failed to deliver Gingrich the strong showings he had been hoping for in the two southern primaries.

The lull in activity is not for lack of cash flow.

Unlike the Gingrich campaign, which has more than $4.3 million in debts, Winning Our Future reported nearly $6 million in the bank at the end of March.

Those funds cannot be transferred to Gingrich's campaign account, but beyond that the rules are murky on what can be done with the money if Gingrich ends his presidential bid.

Meanwhile, the business of backing Newt has proven lucrative for those involved.

The president of Winning Our Future, longtime Gingrich aide Becky Burkett, has collected nearly $250,000 in payments for fundraising and consulting work since the group was formed in December.

The group's managing director, a Texas-based GOP operative named Gregg Phillips, received nearly $300,000 for strategy work over the same period.

In February, longtime Republican operative Norman Cummings earned a one-time payment of $135,000 for consulting work listed as "research."

Unless Gingrich pulls off a miracle upset at the August convention, Winning Our Future will perhaps best be remembered for the barrage of ads they ran against Romney in January, hammering the former Bain Capital head as a predatory capitalist who coldly shut down factories and laid off workers for the sake of a profit.

While the group's promise to run $3.4 million worth of anti-Romney ads in South Carolina never materialized - they only ran $1.7 million in the state, still a hefty sum - they brought the topic of Romney's venture capital experience to the fore by purchasing and promoting a sinister documentary about his record at Bain.

Despite the film's sharply negative tone, one of its producers told CNN that injecting Bain into the Republican discourse was important because Romney's private sector resume will surely be revisited in the general election by the Obama campaign.

"I don't have any regrets on that," said the producer, who did not want to be identified admitting defeat to Romney. "It was better to call attention to the Bain Capital issue in January than it will be in September. He still hasn't resolved how to answer it. So hopefully by the time Obama does it, maybe people will take the attitude of 'Well, maybe I've heard that already.'"


LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2012


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CNN Wire


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 1:02 PM EST


$1 million ad buy ties Romney to big oil


BYLINE: By the CNN Political Unit


LENGTH: 251 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Mitt Romney is the "$200 million man" who is "in the tank for big oil," according to a new television advertisement being aired by committees supporting President Barack Obama's reelection.

The two groups - pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action and the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund - purchased $1 million in airtime for the ad in Colorado and Nevada, the groups announced Wednesday.

"Big oil's fingerprints are all over him," the ad says, pointing to reports that conservative groups - including Americans for Prosperity, backed by the wealthy brothers Charles and David Koch - plan to spend $200 million in support of electing Romney.

Responding to the ad, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Americans are paying "twice as much" at the pump now than before Obama took office.

"President Obama and his allies will do whatever they can to try to deflect blame and cover up for Obama's failure to control gas prices. Blaming Mitt Romney for President Obama's failed record on energy and the economy will do nothing to help the household budget squeeze Americans are facing," Saul said in a statement.

Priorities ended March with $5 million cash on hand, and the LCV Victory Fund with $360,000, according to April Federal Election Commission filings.

A different conservative group, Crossroads GPS, on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million buy targeted at U.S. Senate races in Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Virginia.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer and John King contributed to this report


LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Updated 9:02 a.m. -- Adds response from Romney campaign (grafs 4-5)


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E&E News PM


April 25, 2012 Wednesday


CAMPAIGN 2012: As new ad debuts, LCV and super PAC leaders cagey about next moves


SECTION: THIS AFTERNOON'S STORIES Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 389 words


Jennifer Yachnin, E&E reporter

On the same day they unveiled a $1 million ad campaign aimed at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action vowed their partnership would continue but offered few details about where or how the groups will attack next.

"This specific campaign is a $1 million campaign between two different states, and I can guarantee you that more resources will be put into this," Priorities USA Action co-founder Bill Burton told reporters during a conference call this afternoon.

But neither Burton and his colleague, Paul Begala, a senior adviser to the super PAC, nor LCV President Gene Karpinski would offer additional details, declining to answer multiple questions.

"We're not going to preview our specific plays," Karpinski said.

In their first joint campaign, the groups split the cost of a $1 million ad buy in Colorado and Nevada that aims to tie Romney to the oil industry, playing off the GOP message strategy that has highlighted high gas prices in recent months.

While six-figure conservative ad buys have repeatedly slammed President Obama's energy agenda and accused him of failing to do enough to lower consumer gas prices, the LCV and Priorities USA Action campaign aims to paint Romney as a cheerleader for tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.

"He's the $200 million man. And Big Oil's fingerprints are all over him," the ad begins, a reference to the reported $200 million figure that energy magnates Charles and David Koch have pledged to support right-leaning organizations in the 2012 cycle.

"Big Oil's pledged $200 million to help Mitt Romney. And Romney's pledged to protect their profits and billions in special tax breaks," the ad continues. "So when you fill up your tank, remember who's in the tank for Big Oil. Mitt Romney: the $200 million man."

In the conference call with reporters, the groups' leaders said they envisioned voters recalling the ads as they fill their vehicle's tanks at their local gas stations.

"Voters need to know who benefits from those high gas prices," Begala said, associating Romney with "oil barons."

The joint venture represents a significant expenditure for the LCV's political arm, which put nearly $1 million toward Obama's first presidential campaign in 2008.


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Environment and Energy Daily


April 25, 2012 Wednesday


CAMPAIGN 2012: New ad by Obama allies seeks to link Romney to Koch brothers


SECTION: POLITICS Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 430 words


Elana Schor, E&E reporter

Six-figure conservative hits at President Obama's energy agenda are flooding the airwaves this spring, but today marks the first charge of his green cavalry.

Priorities USA Action, a political action committee founded by two former top Obama aides, and the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund are joining forces for a $1 million ad buy in the Western swing states of Colorado and Nevada that slams presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney as "in the tank for Big Oil."

The TV and online commercial attempts to flip the script of GOP attacks on Obama for not doing enough to help bring down gasoline prices, asking voters to think about the former Massachusetts governor's opposition to cutting oil-industry tax breaks "when you fill up your tank." In a reference to energy magnates Charles and David Koch's reported $200 million in planned pre-election padding for right-leaning coffers, the ad tars Romney as oil's "$200 million man."

The Democratic allies' new ad marks a somewhat early entry into the fray for LCV's political arm, which spent nearly $1 million to help Obama prevail in 2008 and is poised to far exceed that tally this year. The involvement of LCV's action fund also could signal a shift in priorities for environmental groups as the outlook for individual Senate races shifts -- the group's campaigns director earlier this year told E&E Daily that the upper chamber was his "top priority" (E&E Daily, Jan. 23).

For Priorities USA, the commercial comes after a public go-ahead from the president to fundraise in unlimited amounts after its competing "super PACs" on the Republican side of the aisle built a formidable early lead in donations.

Much of the lucrative haul reeled in by conservative PACs is going toward advertising that savages Obama's pro-renewable energy policy and his rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Two groups in particular, the Crossroads GPS super PAC and the American Energy Alliance, have spent more than $5 million in the past month alone on ads slapping the president over high pump prices (E&E Daily, March 29; E&ENews PM, April 10).

Romney has criticized the Democratic bid to roll back a suite of tax benefits for major oil and gas companies, which last month fell to its second Senate filibuster in two years. But the new ad's broader attempt to link Romney to the reported $200 million election-year budget of the Koch brothers is less grounded in fact, given that the duo tend to support conservative groups also working to help a slew of congressional Republicans.

Click here to watch the new anti-Romney ad.


LOAD-DATE: May 29, 2012


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Farmers Independent (Bagley, Minnesota)


This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS


April 25, 2012


Latest salvo fired in Mommy Wars


BYLINE: Farmers Independent staff


LENGTH: 598 words


Virtually everything said and done in a presidential election year distorts the truth, much like concave and convex mirrors in a carniva attraction alter one's true reflection.

That kind of distortion occurred in the recen dustup over whether women who choose tc stay at home can completely understand the economic challenges and personal struggle; faced by women who choose, or need, to worl outside the home while raising children.

There is no question that professiona women receive much more societal validatioi than "stay-at-home moms." Few magazine covers at the checkout line or full-page ad: promoting events and awards to "successful' women laud mothers who stay home to raise their children. There aren't a lot of televisioi shows today like "Ozzie and Harriett," "Leave It to Beaver" or "Father Knows Best."

The view expressed by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen that Mitt Romney'i wife, Ann, has "never worked a day in her life' and thus can't relate to struggling families i; bogus. Can a politician who has never helc a job in the private sector relate to thost who work there, or are searching for a jol there? I'm thinking of the former community organizer, now president, Barack Obama Can a career politician like Vice Presiden Joe Biden identify with someone who doesn' have the perks -- planes, limousines, high pa\ and discounted, or free health care -- he ha; enjoyed for most of his career?

Former Vice President Dan Quayle's wife Marilyn, who is an attorney, said it best a the 1992 Republican National Conventioi in Houston: "...having a profession is no incompatible with being a good mother a good wife. ... Women's lives are differen from men's lives. We make different trade offs. We make different sacrifices. And wt get different rewards."

If a woman "chooses" to work at home (anc aren't politically liberal women supposed tc support a woman's career choice?) and if she feels adequately compensated, shouldn't he: choice be affirmed, not only by her husband o: partner, if she has one, but also by society?

Similarly, if a woman wants to work, o: must work outside her home, shouldn't she be equally supported by society and not made to feel added guilt and pressure? Reasonable people ought to be able to answer, "yes," tc both questions.

Still, all of this is a distraction. Even i Ann Romney had chosen to work outside he: home (and she did perform a great deal o volunteer work while battling breast cance: and multiple sclerosis), and even if she thei could ~ in Rosen's mind - relate to othe women who made that same decision, how would that make anyone else's life better'. Would such a choice by Romney have improved the economy so that women whe want to work outside the home, but can' find jobs, get one? Would it have allowec women to stay home if they were affordec that "luxury"?

This is what politics has become. It's abou feelings and image, not substance and idea; that work. Because of skyrocketing debt, higl unemployment and the failed policies the} have promoted, Democrats cling to feeling; and focus on one's ability to relate. But it'; a fiction to believe that the only women'; issues of importance are those promoted b\ the left.

Liberal women are attempting to dominate women who share a different political anc moral worldview. It's all a house of mirrors nothing more than a distortion of reality in ar election year. Expect to see more of the same between now and November.

(Direct all MAIL for Cal Thomas to Tribune Media Services, 2010 Westridge Drive, Irving, TX 75038. Readers may alsc e-mail Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune com.)


LOAD-DATE: July 4, 2013


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The Frontrunner


April 25, 2012 Wednesday


Santorum Stops Just Short Of Endorsing Romney


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 169 words


Politico (4/25, Mak, 25K) reports Rick Santorum "flirted with endorsing...Mitt Romney on Tuesday, stopping just short of an official declaration of support, but praising him for a 'good speech' following the former Massachusetts governor's wins in several primary states. CNN host Piers Morgan insisted that Santorum had endorsed Romney off-air," tweeting "that an endorsement was made during a commercial break." However, Santorum "denied that he had made an endorsement. 'All I said was the obvious. ... I will support the nominee of our party,' Santorum said. 'If he's the nominee, I'm going to do anything I can do to help him win.'"

The Hill (4/, Easley) reported on its website that Santorum, referring to Romney, told Morgan, "It's very clear he's going to be the Republican nominee and I'm going to be for the Republican nominee and we're going to do everything we can to defeat Barack Obama." The former Pennsylvania Senator "later reiterated that he would 'absolutely' endorse Romney if he became the nominee."


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Investor's Business Daily


April 25, 2012 Wednesday
EAST EDITION


SECTION: A; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 663 words


Apple Crushes Q2 Estimates

1 Apple's EPS jumped 92% to $12.30 as sales hiked 59% to $39.2 bil, screaming past forecasts of $10.04 EPS on $36.81 bil in sales. The tech titan returned to issuing cautious guidance: It sees $8.68 Q3 EPS on sales of $34 bil, well below estimates. Shares jumped 7% late after falling 2% earlier, the 10 th drop in 11 sessions. More on this page

Stocks Mixed In Lower Trade

2 Stocks gave a mixed showing after digesting a round of earnings and mostly weak economic data. The NYSE composite rose 0.6% and the S&P 500 0.4%. But weakness in techs handed the Nasdaq a 0.3% loss. Turnover fell across the board. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.97% More on this page

Baidu Revenue Misses, Falls

3 The Chinese search engine giant's Q1 EPS rose 87% to 87 cents, topping views by 3 cents. Revenue grew 82% to $677.1 mil, just under views of $677.57 mil. Online marketing revenue grew 75% to $676.5 mil. Active online marketing customers rose 17% to 321,000. Baidu sees Q2 revenue of $847.2 mil-$867 mil, the midpoint below views for $862.6 mil. Shares tumbled late. More on A5

Dutch Parties Spurn Austerity

4 The top opposition parties rejected budget cuts needed to reach a deficit target, a day after the coalition gov't collapsed, meaning the acting PM must seek votes among smaller parties. The gov't auctioned $2.6 bil in 2- and 25-year debt, in line with views. In the secondary market, the 10-year yield fell, as did those for Spain and Italy. Greece's central bank sees the economy shrinking 5% this year vs. the earlier view of 4.5% contraction.

Buffalo Wild, Panera Beat EPS

5 But both trendy eateries just missed on sales. Buffalo Wild Wings' EPS soared 21% to 98 cents, 3 cents better than views. Sales climbed 38% to $251.1 mil. Shares fell 6%. Panera Bread's EPS rose 28% to $1.40, 5 cents above views. Sales climbed 18% to $499 mil. It raised guidance. Shares rose 1% late after falling fractionally earlier. More on this page

United Tech, 3 M: Q1 EPS Top

6 United Technologies' EPS rose 18% to $1.31, beating views by 11 cents. Sales fell nearly 7% to $12.42 bil, below forecasts for $12.71 bil. U.S. demand for heating and cooling products rose but China's demand for elevators fell. 3 M said EPS grew 9% to $1.63, 10 cents above views. Sales rose 2% to $7.49 bil, in line. 3 M raised the low end of its '12 EPS view. United Tech edged up; 3 M rose 2%.

Alexion's Q1 EPS Hikes 55%

7 Profit for the rare blood disease drug maker shot up to 45 cents -- 6 cents over estimates. Sales rose 47% to $244.7 mil, topping views. Alexion raised its '12 sales outlook to about $1.08 bil. Shares rose 3%. After the close, Questcor said EPS tripled to 61 cents on a 160% revenue surge to $96 mil. Shares fell in late trading. More on A5

New-Home Sales Trend Up

8 March's 328,000 annual sales rate topped views and was down from Feb.'s rate that was revised to 353,000 from 313,000. But the median price fell 1%. Shares of home builders like PulteGroup and D.R. Horton rose. The Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.15% in Feb. vs. Jan. The FHFA home price index rose 0.3% vs. Jan. See Vital Signs on A2

Consumer Morale Ticks Down

9 The Conference Board's April reading dipped to 69.2 from March's downwardly revised 69.5. Consumers' feelings on their present situation improved, while their expectations turned gloomier. Gauges on job and business sentiment were mixed. Consumers were also less inclined to make car or home purchases. But inflation expectations eased, coinciding with a drop in gasoline.

Obama Pushes Student Debt

10 Looking to rev up young voters, the president urged Congress to keep student loan rates at 3.4%, saying he only repaid his loans 8 years ago. GOP rival Mitt Romney has already taken that position. A Dem-led Congress in '07 cut student loan rates -- but set them to revert to 6.8% on July 1. Student loan debt is now $1 tril by some measures. Critics say easy loans spur schools to hike tuition costs.


LOAD-DATE: April 24, 2012


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States News Service


April 25, 2012 Wednesday


PRIORITIES USA ACTION AND LCV VICTORY FUND AD: MITT ROMNEY, IN THE TANK FOR BIG OIL


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 260 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC


The following information was released by the League of Conservation Voters (LCV):

League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund and Priorities USA Action today partnered to release a new television ad $200 Million Man to highlight Governor Romneys pledge to protect Big Oils profits and billions in special tax breaks, at the expense of middle class Americans. The ad is part of a major campaign running on television and online in Colorado and Nevada beginning today.

With Governor Romney promising to keep the oil industrys taxpayer-funded handouts, its not surprising that Big Oil is spending big money to protect its big subsidies, said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund. Romney has whole-heartedly embraced an industry that is profiting twice off Americans: once at the pump and again when we pay our taxes.

While President Obama is taking serious action to make America less dependent on dirty and dangerous sources of Middle East oil and create clean energy jobs here at home, Governor Romney and the oil companies bankrolling his campaign are profiting from high gas prices politically and financially, said Paul Begala, Senior Advisor for Priorities USA Action. With Mitt Romney in Big Oils pocket, voters can be sure he wont do a thing to drive down gas prices for the middle class.

Watch the ad at www.lcv.org/romney and www.prioritiesusaaction.org.

# # #

Paid for by Priorities USA Action, www.prioritiesusaaction.org, and LCV Victory Fund, 202-785-8683, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.


LOAD-DATE: April 25, 2012


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 25, 2012 Wednesday 12:35 AM GMT


McDonnell, in GOP veep chase, airs sunny pro-Va ad


BYLINE: By BOB LEWIS, AP Political Wrtier


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 692 words


DATELINE: RICHMOND Va.


After a bruising legislative session that saw him targeted by television comedians, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is touting his record and burnishing his image as a vice-presidential prospect with a new television ad.

McDonnell's political action committee, Opportunity Virginia, is spending about $400,000 to broadcast the 30-second ad in markets statewide for 10 days starting Wednesday. No state money is going into the commercial.

The sunny commercial debuts as Republican Mitt Romney's lead in the GOP delegate count makes him the party's presumptive presidential nominee. It features eight business figures putting the best face on Virginia's three-year low 5.6 percent unemployment rate, favorable pro-business rankings, agricultural exports and recovering state finances.

At the end, a fresh-faced McDonnell who endorsed Romney in January just before the South Carolina primary steps up to a camera and says, "Virginia's growing strong, and so is our future."

Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said the ad is unprecedented, but McDonnell's image was in need of some mending in Virginia and beyond after the 2012 General Assembly session.

"It's never happened before, that's for sure," said Sabato, whose Center for Politics at UVa keeps detailed records of Virginia politics. "It's showy but it's a smart move because he's taken a big hit."

In March, McDonnell's job-approval rating in a statewide survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute dropped to 53 percent, down from 58 percent the month before and 61 percent last September. The polls have a margin of sampling error of less than 3 percentage points. The March poll also indicated that even with McDonnell paired with Romney, Democratic President Barack Obama would still carry Virginia.

"The controversies have taken a big chunk out of his popularity," Sabato said.

McDonnell got swept along as a Republican-ruled legislature muscled through a number of bills backed by social and religious conservatives, particularly a bill that would have required women to undergo invasive ultrasound exams before having abortions.

The strongly anti-abortion governor toned down the bill so that it effectively required only an external ultrasound, but only after he was vilified by pundits on cable news politics shows and lampooned on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Saturday Night Live also took a well-documented poke at Virginia over the bill.

He and legislative Republicans also found themselves in a steely standoff with Senate Democrats angry that even though they held the same 20 Senate seats Republicans did, they were unable to stop this year's tide of conservative legislation with GOP Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling cast tie-breaking votes. As a result, Democrats delayed passage of the state budget by five weeks holding out for concessions.

The ad cites praise from MoneyRates.com, which ranked Virginia the best state in which to earn a living, and CNBC's designation of Virginia as America's Top State for Business.

It accurately notes a one-time infusion of about $4 billion McDonnell engineered last year for transportation, calling it "the largest investment in transportation in a generation."

It also trumpets that year-end budget surpluses during the first two fiscal years of the single, non-renewable, four-year term that Virginia uniquely allows its governors totaled more than $1 billion. But the ad omits mention of the decision in 2010 by McDonnell and the legislature to defer more than $600 million in state contributions into the Virginia Retirement System to help close a $4.6 billion shortfall that year.

McDonnell's 2012 budget demands increased VRS payments by state and local governments, starting a multi-year effort to pay down a pension fund with its nearly $25 billion unfunded liability.

McDonnell's communications director, J. Tucker Martin, rejected suggestions that the ad was McDonnell's audition for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

"This ad is running in South Boston (Va.), not Boston," he said. "Sometimes, a positive ad is just a positive ad."

(equals)

Online:

View the Opportunity Virginia ad: http://youtu.be/ubk8-EcOZHQ


LOAD-DATE: April 25, 2012


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Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont)


April 26, 2012 Thursday


What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 578 words


Thursday April 26, 2012

Apparently not in the case of a General Services Administration party in 2010, in which more than $820,000 was spent on catered food, commemorative coins, team building exercises, a clown, a mind reader and a rap video.

Even though no one can deny the event was outrageous, as noted by Michelle Cottle on the Daily Beast, "We are, after all, talking about the GSA, whose proud tradition of overspending was well established in the Bush years as well."

When the GSA learned about the expenditure, it issued a disciplinary letter to Jeff Neely, the administrator responsible for the party. But we think he should be fired just for sending the e-mail that read: "I know I'm bad. But why not enjoy it while we can? It ain't gonna last for ever."

It didn't take long for Republicans to try to use the scandal to bludgeon President Obama.

Florida Rep. John Mica accused "people from the White House" of covering up the extravaganza.

He must get his talking points from the always Fair and Balanced Fox News, which stated "Obama Admin. knew about GSA scandal."

That's because an internal GSA e-mail admonished the official responsible for the party. And we know the White House looks at each and every one of the millions of e-mails produced every week by agencies under its umbrella. Right?

The American Future Fund, a conservative group in Iowa, recently released a commercial stating "On Tax Day, did you ask yourself how exactly President Obama spends your money?"

The commercial then goes on to detail the events at the Las Vegas event, a wink and a nudge linking him to the party.

And then there's the presumptive Republican candidate for president Mitt Romney who said Obama was to blame because "I think the example starts at the top," and that example includes elaborate vacations and "spending in a way that is inconsistent with the state of the overall economy and the state of the American family."

(And we all know the $250-million man is an expert on "the state of the American family.")

Though we're not excusing the shenanigans of the GSA employees who participated in the Vegas debauchery, it should be enlightening to put the cost into perspective.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting concluded as much as $60 billion was lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Frighteningly, the commission called its estimate "conservative."

According to the Heritage Institute: The federal government spends $25 billion every year maintaining unused or vacant government properties; a GAO audit discovered there were $295 billion in cost overruns in the development of 90 weapons systems; Congress spent $20 million for "commemoration of success" celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan; and $34 billion worth of Homeland Security contracts contained waste, fraud and abuse.

In 2003 it was reported that $25 billion in government spending was unaccounted for.

In 2004, the St. Petersburg Times reported the Department of Defense spent $100 million in six years for airline tickets that were not used and for which it did not seek refunds. And from 1991 to 2001 DoD employees defaulted on $623 million in travel expenses charged to government credit cards.

It's all well and good to harp on the waste of the GSA's extravaganza, but let's get real. Billions of dollars of taxpayer money goes down a rathole every year. And while politicians use the examples every day to knock each other over the head, they never really do anything about it, do they?


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Business Wire


April 26, 2012 Thursday 8:23 PM GMT


Fitch: Doubling Stafford Student Loan Rate in Focus


LENGTH: 705 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


A scheduled doubling of interest rates on subsidized undergraduate Stafford student loans could create a short-term opportunity for private lenders, although Fitch Ratings believes that regulatory uncertainty with respect to the student lending business, a dwindling number of lenders in the space, and longer-term interest rate dynamics would all likely result in little response from private lenders. Left with few alternative financing sources, future undergraduate students could face higher interest rates as a result.

President Obama has called for delaying the scheduled rate hike, and on Monday Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he supported maintaining the lower rate, removing bipartisan disagreement on this point during a presidential election year, and we believe an extension is likely to occur. Congress is scheduled to vote Friday on the rate issue.

The interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans is scheduled to double to 6.8% on June 30, 2012 as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. That bill phased in interest rate cuts beginning in 2008, eventually halving it to 3.4%. The increased rate would not be retroactive to existing loans and would only be applied to those taken out beginning July 1, 2012, should the increase take place.

In the current interest rate environment, private lenders could potentially offer college students variable-rate loans that would initially be much cheaper versus a 6.8% subsidized Stafford loan rate. But while variable-rate loans may be cheaper now, they could prove to be more costly over the 10-30 year average maturity of the loans should interest rates rise. Additionally, consumers who choose a private loan will incur interest costs while in school, whereas the government covers the interest on subsidized Stafford loans while the student is in school.

Significant legislative and political challenges continue to face the private student lending space, most notably uncertainty regarding private student loans being dischargeable in bankruptcy and the introduction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As a result, some banks have sharply reduced student lending activities while others have exited the business altogether.

Fitch believes these dynamics create little incentive for private lenders to capitalize on what could be a short-term imbalance between Stafford-subsidized rates and private alternatives.

Fitch's outlook on the private student loan ABS sector remains negative, particularly for those originated using looser underwriting before the 2008 recession, as unemployment among recent college graduates has resulted in higher than anticipated defaults and ratings volatility in the private student loan space. The potential rating impact of higher interest rates on future students depends on future trends in employment levels for recent college graduates and overall economic conditions.

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com .

The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article, which may include hyperlinks to companies and current ratings, can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com . All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings.

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS . IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM . PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.



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The Christian Science Monitor


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Obama slow jam on 'Fallon' just a taste of 'epic' social media war ahead;
President Obama's slow jam on 'Jimmy Fallon' shows how candidates will try to become part of clips that will be passed around on social media. A huge social media effort by MoveOn.org also shows how Election 2012 may play out online.


BYLINE: Gloria Goodale Staff writer


LENGTH: 670 words


A new campaign by the liberal political action group MoveOn.org to place an ad on the Facebook page of every college student in the US is the opening shot of what some experts are calling a "truly epic war." The result, they say, will see social-media use in Election 2012 become far more savvy and sophisticated than it was four years ago.

The campaign, which is launching this week, starts with the student loan issue. MoveOn.org is raising money to target every potential youth vote with an interest in keeping loan rates from doubling in July.

"This is a curtain raiser for what to expect in the general election this year," says Kevin Phelan, managing director for North America at the Meltwater Group, a social media monitoring software firm in Boston.

While social media have been playing ever-larger roles in political campaigns, "the technology available today versus four years ago is so advanced that the battle waged by the two camps should be epic," he adds.

A key priority is a steadily increasing ability to microtarget potential voters as well as supporters and "influencers" - the social media-savvy partisans who can be leveraged for their wide-ranging contacts, says Mr. Phelan.

His firm has spent the past year working with some 100 different companies, all prepping for this final push. he says, noting advancements in "social media monitoring," known as CRM, "to gather passionate advocates and analytics will allow these digital natives to stay behind the scenes but still have a major impact on the election and media."

The explosion of companies devoted to "scraping," whereby computers gather and collate the tiniest bit of information about online activities, has allowed them to create a digital profile for virtually every Internet user, he says.

"So, if you have 600 friends and you have mentioned even once that you support Obama, for instance," that campaign has the ability to track and target you in virtually your every online move to determine how and when you might be useful in getting their word out, he says.

"It may not be things we haven't dreamt of," says David Jackson, associate political science professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, "but it will be much more sophisticated than we have seen before."

The pressure to evolve new strategies is a direct result of the way users adapt to being targeted. Our "filters" are getting savvier alongside technology, he says, so companies have to continually get more creative for us to get the message.

He points to President Obama's appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday - a show that engages online users as well as traditional broadcast viewers. It was not enough for the president to simply be interviewed on the show. he says: "He was actually integrated into the entertainment, performing in one of the show's regular sequences, "Slow-Jam-The-News."

"We will see new methods of interacting with voters, learning from them and offering new ways to get involved and share their support," says Anthony Rotolo, professor of social media at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies in New York, via e-mail.

Expect to see both candidates attempt to leverage social media data with the potential of offering a real-time understanding of how the public feels on any issue or how candidates are doing at any given moment in a region, he adds.

While there is a notable social media disparity between President Obama and GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney - perhaps most visible on their Facebook accounts, where Romney has under 2 million "likes" to Obama's more than 26 million - the playing field has evened in unexpected ways since 2008, says Mr. Rotolo.

In the last few years, he points out, "other demographics have joined sites like Facebook, Twitter, and new networks like Pinterest in much larger numbers. This presents an opportunity for Mr. Romney to leverage social media to reach audiences who were not as accustomed to interacting in this way on social networks during the 2008 campaign," he says.


LOAD-DATE: April 29, 2012


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ClimateWire


April 26, 2012 Thursday


POLITICS: Obama, attempting to broaden his appeal, attacks Romney as extreme on climate change


SECTION: SPOTLIGHT Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 1214 words


Evan Lehmann, E&E reporter

President Obama indicated yesterday that he will use Republican denunciations of climate change to cast Mitt Romney as the standard-bearer of a stridently conservative GOP that belittles science. The move coincides with similar moves by administration officials and political allies to describe Republicans as a backward force on climate.

The president, in expansive remarks on global warming and other topics published by Rolling Stone magazine, expressed frustration with the slow pace of reducing carbon dioxide emissions internationally. He also accused unnamed outside groups of spending lavishly on campaigns that seek to "debunk" the evidence around rising temperatures.

But Obama's sharpest criticisms were saved for Romney, whom he namelessly described as the leader of an increasingly conservative party that is more ideological than in the last presidential race in 2008, when both candidates supported programs to reduce greenhouse gases. President Obama. "Think about John McCain, who obviously I have profound differences with," Obama said of the Arizona Republican senator who received the GOP nomination four years ago. "Here's a guy who not only believed in climate change, but co-sponsored a cap-and-trade bill that got 43 votes in the Senate just a few years ago, somebody who thought banning torture was the right thing to do, somebody who co-sponsored immigration reform with Ted Kennedy. That's the most recent Republican candidate, and that gives you some sense of how profoundly that party has shifted."

The president's remarks signal an expansion of his strategy to depict Romney as a rigid conservative who has adopted tea party principles. The inclusion of climate change in that argument follows efforts by the Obama campaign to paint Romney as out of touch on middle-class taxes, Medicare and energy.

"I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign," Obama added, "and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way." Scaring moderates to the polls?

The president's criticism of climate skepticism might invigorate portions of the Democratic base that felt deflated after the Senate failed to pass climate legislation in 2010, political analysts said. But it is unlikely to produce a more potent outcome: attracting moderate voters who could tip the November election in crucial swing states.

"For Obama, clearly the enthusiasm among some of those core constituencies who turned out in impressive numbers in 2008 is down," said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "You're not going to get them back by convincing them that you're the guy who walks on water, like [Obama] did when they first voted for him. But you may be able to get their enthusiasm up by scaring the crap out of them."

"And climate change may work there," he added.

Romney, for his part, has provided Obama with some ammunition. After saying last June that people are contributing to climate change and emissions should be reduced, Romney backtracked. In October, he said, "My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet."

Democrats and their allies are taking Romney at his most recent word. Yesterday, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund and Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC, launched a $1 million television ad campaign in Colorado and Nevada that claims Romney is protecting the interests of oil companies.

"Mitt Romney is the first major presidential candidate in history to be a climate change denier, literally," Gene Karpinski, president of the LCV Victory Fund, told reporters. "That may work with the extreme crazies, tea party folks, but the significant majority of the public understand it's a real problem."

Republican strategists dismissed Obama's new message on climate change as a hollow attack without resonance in an election that will turn on economic issues. Even McCain's former climate adviser during the 2008 presidential race said the attack won't smudge Republicans. Is the average voter unconcerned?

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's former chief economic adviser and a supporter of reducing emissions, said Obama is wrong to say the Republican Party has shifted to the right. The real problem with climate policies, he said, came when Obama failed to improve the cap-and-trade bill before it passed the House in 2009, led by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).

"I believe that we really should fix some of these things," Holtz-Eakin said of carbon emissions. "But I would not pretend to advise any candidate, Republican or Democrat, to make this an issue in their campaign, because they will inevitably fail." The task of getting "actual legislation through is hideous," said Holtz-Eakin, "so 2012 is not the year to make that promise."

Another GOP strategist sees an opportunity in Obama's climate message.

"Romney has a great opportunity to turn the tables and make Obama appear to be the one who is extreme on this position," said Jon Lerner, a Republican pollster. "For the average voter, particularly in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan [and other] battleground states at the presidential level, they're far more concerned about what energy taxes are going to do to jobs in their communities than they are about global warming."

Besides, he said, Romney's vulnerability to attacks that portray him as a fringe conservative was diminished by fending off ideological primary opponents like Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann.

"They see him as conservative," Lerner said of voters. "But they don't see him as an extreme, scary Republican. Romney came through the primaries basically being the moderate Republican."

"I really wonder if voters are going to buy the 'Mitt is too conservative' theme after we've been beaten about the head and shoulders during the primary as a 'Massachusetts moderate.' And it's pretty unlikely that hitting Mitt on climate change is going to move voters who are not already in Obama's camp," said a Romney adviser who asked not to be identified.

Still, the message about Republican obstructionism on climate also surfaced in remarks Monday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said worldwide problems related to rising temperatures are "not going away."

"It's not been magically disappeared because people don't want to have a political discussion about it," Clinton said in an address at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. "It still is affecting people's lives, and it's affecting the lives of Americans here at home as well as countless millions around the world."

"I mean, we can disagree on what we should do on climate change, and that's totally fair game. We may not want to make the investment because we have other priorities, but let's not disagree about the science," she added. "I mean, so let's have an evidence-based discussion. That doesn't mean you have to agree with the solutions that are proposed, but we do great damage to our political system when we act like ideology in the American political process is more important than facts. We are a fact-based people."


LOAD-DATE: May 29, 2012


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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CNN Wire


April 26, 2012 Thursday 10:28 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4520 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ashley Hayes -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A Syrian opposition group says it has documented hundreds of deaths since the U.N. peace plan monitors began their work last week.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (will update)

A former campaign aide of John Edwards will face more questions Thursday, a day after he was quizzed about his motives and asked whether he made up stories about how Edwards allegedly concealed contributions from campaign donors.

SPORT-Janet-Evans-Comeback

She was remembered in her last Olympics 16 years ago -- a near lifetime in an athlete's career -- as a diminutive figure whose size belied her big emotion and ability to win Olympic gold. Now 40, Evans has qualified to participate in late June's trial to make the U.S. Olympic team that will go on to compete in the London Games in July.

Pennsylvania-Missing-Kid

A year ago in January, Steve Carter was browsing online and came across a missing children's website. To his astonishment, he recognized himself after clicking through its pages. What followed was a year-long story of self discovery.

POL-EPA-Commments

The White House and the Environmental Protection Agency are distancing themselves from controversial remarks which surfaced this week by a regional administrator attacking the oil and gas industry.

Mexico-Crime-Guns

Nearly 70 percent of the crime guns recovered in Mexico during the past five years and traced by the U.S. government originated from sales in the United States according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

POL-Secret-Service (Will update)

The Secret Service continued to be rocked Thursday by allegations of its agents' transgressions, though one U.S. government official cautioned against assuming there are systemic problems or that they are not properly investigated.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family (Will update)

Fourteen members of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's family were being deported Thursday night to Saudi Arabia, Pakistani officials said.

US-Manning-Wikileaks-Case (Will update)

After a three-day hearing mostly focused on defense motions aimed at getting all or some of the charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning thrown out or combined, the Army intelligence analyst still faces the exact same charges he faced when he first appeared in court last December.

POL-Senate-Domestic-Abuse (Will update)

The U.S. Senate voted to renew a law designed to combat domestic abuse Thursday after Republicans stepped back from what was becoming a politically risky fight over some of the expansions they oppose to the Violence Against Women Act.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

In a landmark ruling, an international tribunal found former Liberian President Charles Taylor guilty Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

UK-Phone-Hacking-Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch admitted to a phone-hacking cover-up at one of his tabloid newspapers and apologized Thursday for not paying more attention to a scandal that has convulsed his media empire and rocked the British political establishment.

CNN SHOWCASE

UK-Royal-Kate-Corporate -- By Max Foster (With UK-Royal-Kate-Graduates)

The Duchess of Cambridge is one of the world's biggest, if not the biggest, stars right now. Twelve months on from her marriage to Prince William, she is credited with reinvigorating the British monarchy and arguably helping secure its future. It may look like Catherine, or Kate as she is popularly known, has breezed through her first year of official engagements, but the apparent ease belies a great deal of hard work and careful planning. St James's Palace, which looks after after the duke, duchess and Prince Harry, has deliberately taken a corporate approach to Kate's role. Aides equate her to a chief executive and regard themselves as advisers -- she calls the shots but they are there to help.

Africa-Taylor-Reaction -- By Damon van der Linde and Moni Basu

Jabati Mambu has lived all his adult life without his right hand. He was only 15 when rebels of the Revolutionary United Front swept through Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In their signature, sinister style, they hacked off Mambu's hand with a machete. Mambu, now 28 and a goalkeeper for Sierra Leone's amputee football (soccer) team, was one of thousands of victims who felt huge relief Thursday after an international tribunal convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor on 11 counts of aiding and abetting the rebels to carry out war crimes. "I think this should send out a very big message to those who want to commit crimes," Mambu said. "People will listen, even if they don't care, and they will know what has happened today is important for us victims."

INTERNATIONAL

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family

Fourteen members of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's family were being deported Thursday night to Saudi Arabia, Pakistani officials said.

Syria-Unrest

A Syrian opposition group says it has documented hundreds of deaths since the U.N. peace plan monitors began their work last week.

Syria-Q&A

For 13 months, violence has raged in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the opposition in a lopsided battle that has seen thousands killed amid a number of international attempts to broker a peace deal.

UK-Royal-Kate-Graduates

The Duchess of Cambridge has successfully graduated as a "fully fledged member" of Britain's monarchy after fulfilling all her objectives one year on from her marriage to Prince William, a senior royal source has told CNN.

Myanmar-Politics

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday that her party members' refusals to take their seats in parliament to protest the wording of the 2008 constitution were based on nothing more than a "technical" obstacle.

Iraq-Bombings

Four people died and another 11 were wounded in a pair of apparently coordinated bomb blasts Thursday in Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

SPORT-NHL-Racist-Tweets

As Joel Ward's Washington Capitals teammates swarmed their new hero after his playoff series-winning goal against the NHL's defending champions Wednesday night, more sinister emotions were swirling on social media.

UK-Phone-Hacking-Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch admitted Thursday there had been a "cover-up" of phone hacking at his flagship British tabloid newspaper and apologized for not paying more attention to a scandal that has convulsed his media empire and rocked the British political establishment.

UK-Murdoch-Media-Empire

It's a rare sight: Rupert Murdoch, the indomitable head of the News Corp. empire, called before a judicial inquiry again Thursday to explain how his influence has shaped Britain's media and political landscape. The questions from a British inquiry have shone the spotlight on Murdoch's dealings with a succession of British prime ministers going back decades. They also have raised questions about whether cozy relationships have worked to Murdoch's personal advantage, questions that also have been posed in Australia and the United States.

Afghanistan-Violence

A man wearing an Afghan National Army uniform killed a U.S. coalition service member, the U.S. military said Thursday. It was the latest in a string of such attacks.

UK-Madeleine-McCann

Portuguese police have found no reason to reopen an inquiry into the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann during a 2007 family vacation in Portugal, a senior police official said Thursday.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

In a landmark ruling, an international tribunal found former Liberian President Charles Taylor guilty Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Blood-Diamonds

Much of the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor focused on the role played by so-called "conflict diamonds" in funding rebels in conflict areas. What are "conflict diamonds?"

Charles-Taylor-Profile

Charles Taylor: Lay preacher and feared warlord.

Israel Hunger Strike

A group representing 1,650 Palestinian prisoners who are on a hunger strike in protest of the conditions of their detention urged Israel Thursday to start urgent talks on the treatment of prisoners.

Jordan-Prime-Minister

Jordan's prime minister resigned Thursday, the Jordanian Royal Court and state-run Petra news agency said. It is the third prime minister change in less than 18 months.

Ukraine-Former-Prime-Minister

A top European Union official expressed concern Thursday about the condition of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, saying she was roughed up in prison.

Nigeria-Explosions

At least eight people were killed, including one suicide bomber, and dozens were wounded in three bomb blasts in central and northern Nigeria on Thursday, the Red Cross said.

Japan-Ozawa-Verdict

A Japanese court on Thursday found one of the country's most influential politicians not guilty of participating in a funding scandal, reconfiguring the balance of power in the governing party.

China-bo-insider-florcruz

Once the ultimate power couple in China, Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai have now vanished. Bo has been stripped of his top Communist Party posts for unspecified "serious violations of discipline," while Gu has been detained in connection with the death of Neil Heywood, a British businessman. The scandal has rocked the Chinese leadership to the core. But weeks after the shocking news of the couple's fall from grace broke, little substantiated information has come out. It has mostly been rumor and speculation.

MONEY-Spain-Downgraded

Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's credit rating by two notches on Thursday, the latest sign the Europe's debt crisis is once again gathering force.

MONEY-Hong-Kong-bo-Xilai

In a sign of the widening investigation into Bo Xilai's family and finances, his older brother resigned from the board of a state-controlled alternative energy company Wednesday. Bo Xiyong -- who also uses the name Li Xiaming -- resigned from China Everbright International "for the best interest of the Company and the shareholders," the company said in a statement. He had been a board member of the Hong Kong-listed company since 2003.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home early Thursday after receiving cancer treatments in Cuba.

Pakistan Gilani Verdict

The Pakistani Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt but gave him just a symbolic sentence that will not require him to serve time in prison.

Philippines-Mind-Museum

Maria Isabel Garcia doesn't get as many angry reactions to her work as she used to. For over 10 years she has been one of the Philippines only science writers in a national newspaper, and during that time received her fair share of disparaging comments from readers in the devoutly Catholic country. Yet as the curator of The Mind Museum, the Philippines first modern, purpose-built science museum, her work now is a lot more palpable and potentially contentious than her newspaper column.

SPORT-Football-Terry-Ferdinand-Chelsea

The English Premier League has decided to dispense with their traditional pre-match handshake before Sunday's clash between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers due to the legal case involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.

SPORT-Football-Europa-Bilbao-Atletico

Fernando Llorente's dramatic last minute goal sealed an all-Spanish Europa League final as Athletic Bilbao booked a clash with Atletico Madrid in Bucharest.

SPORT-tennis-ljubicic-retirement-croatia

He predicted it would be an emotional occasion, and so it proved. Ivan Ljubicic could have chosen to bow out from tennis on a grander stage, but the Monte Carlo Masters was the perfect place for him. "I picked this one as my last because in 1999 I beat (Russia's Yevgeny) Kafelnikov, which was my first big victory, my breakthrough. So I felt like it was the right moment, the right place to finish it off," the 33-year-old told CNN.

SPORT-tennis-djokovic-serbia-open

Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the hometown tennis tournament run by his family, following the devastating death of his grandfather.

SPORT-Tennis-Barcelona-Nadal-Murray

Rafael Nadal rattled off his 31st consecutive victory at the Barcelona Open after a comfortable straight sets win over Colombia's Robert Farah.

SPORT-football-champions-league-madrid-bayern

Bayern Munich will enjoy home advantage when they play Chelsea in the European Champions League final after defeating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu following Wednesday's dramatic penalty shootout.

U.S.A.

POL-Secret-Service-Scandal

A U.S. government official familiar with the Secret Service acknowledged Thursday that agents have made missteps in the past but was quick to defend the government's internal review process.

SPORT-Saints-Investigation

The general manager for the New Orleans Saints said Thursday he has never listened in on an opposing team's communications, or asked to have the capability. Allegations that he had the ability to eavesdrop on coaches for nearly three seasons were not true, Mickey Loomis told reporters. "I have a clear conscience."

Florida-Fatal-Crash-Report

A Florida highway patrolman who ordered the opening of an interstate highway, despite dense fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire, had not received any formal training on opening or closing roads and was not aware of the agency's relevant policy or procedures, according to an investigation into the deadly January crashes that left 11 people dead.

Indiana-In-Vitro-Lawsuit

A teacher at a Catholic school in Indiana is suing the diocese where she worked after being fired because the in vitro fertilization treatments she received were considered against church teachings.

POL-Senate-Domestic-Abuse

The U.S. Senate voted to renew a law designed to combat domestic abuse Thursday after Republicans stepped back from what was becoming a politically risky fight over some of the expansions they oppose to the Violence Against Women Act.

POL-Boehner-Obama-Travel

In a sign that campaign season is in full force on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner used his weekly press conference Thursday to rip into President Barack Obama, saying his recent trips were "pathetic."

US-Bin-Laden-Photos

A federal judge has turned aside calls to publicly release video and photographs of the U.S. military raid and aftermath that left al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden dead.

Maryland-Arrest

Baltimore police said they've arrested a suspect in the death of a 16-year-old North Carolina girl whose body was found in a Maryland river a year ago.

Florida-Drug-Testing-Ruling

A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against Florida Gov. Rick Scott's order to test most state employees for drug use, according to a ruling filed Thursday.

US-Manning-WikiLeaks-Case

Pfc. Bradley Manning's attorneys failed again Thursday in their attempts to persuade a judge to throw out some of the charges against him.

US-cannibal-shrimp

An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.

No-credible-threat-bin-laden-anniversary

Law enforcement issued an intelligence bulletin late Wednesday saying there is "no credible information" that terror groups will try to mount attacks to coincide with the upcoming one-year anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to U.S. officials.

MONEY-Zynga-Earnings

Zynga's first quarter results edged past analysts' expectations, pushing shares of the company that has a lot riding on the continued success of Facebook higher.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks rose Thursday, as hopes for more stimulus from the Federal Reserve and upbeat housing data overshadowed concerns about the job market and mixed corporate earnings.

MONEY-Amazon-Earnings

Amazon's been spending lots of money on expanding its operations, so analysts expected a huge drop in profit for the first quarter. And even though earnings did fall, they didn't decline nearly as much as analysts had feared.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Energy

Chesapeake Energy's CEO is about to lose a controversial perk that allowed him to take personal stakes in wells drilled by the company.

MONEY-Exxon-Mobil-Earnings

High gas prices the first three months of the year allowed Exxon Mobil to post huge earnings, but they were short of both year-earlier results and forecasts.

MONEY-Chrysler-Earnings

Chrysler Group reported its best quarter in more than 13 years, driven by strong sales that were another sign of the automaker's progress since its 2009 bailout and bankruptcy reorganization.

MONEY-Premarkets

U.S. stocks rose Thursday, as hopes for more stimulus from the Federal Reserve overshadowed concerns about the job market and mixed corporate earnings.

MONEY-Middle-Class-Jobs

The middle class may be starting to heal from a decades-long decline, President Obama's chief economic adviser said Thursday.

MONEY-Unemployment-Benefits

First-time claims for unemployment benefits remained elevated for the third straight week, the government said Thursday, a sign that a job recovery might be stalling.

MONEY-Health-Insurance-Rebate

Thanks to a provision in the health care reform law, millions of consumers will be receiving rebates from their insurers this summer.

MONEY-Electric-Cars-Emissions

When it comes to choosing an environmentally friendly car, where you live may be as important as what you drive.

MONEY-Costco-Mortgages

Costco shoppers can not only find bulk-packs of chicken wings, 24-rolls of toilet paper and large-screen TVs at a discount. They can now land themselves a mortgage. After a year of testing, Costco is rolling out a full-service mortgage lending program on its website in partnership with First Choice Bank, a New Jersey-based community bank, and 10 other lenders.

MONEY-Income-Tax

It's a provocative fact about the tax code: Nearly half of U.S. households end up owing no federal income tax. But it's not surprising given the addiction to tax breaks by both Democrats and Republicans, and the fact that the U.S. tax code is set up to be progressive.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

A surge in gasoline prices earlier this year sparked talk of $5 a gallon by this summer, but prices at the pump have been ticking lower in April, and it appears they'll continue falling as the driving season approaches.

ELECTION 2012

POL-GOP-Strategy

For Republicans and certain presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the best defense appears to be a good offense on issues and themes being pushed by President Barack Obama and Democrats.

POL-Romney-Campaign-Soviet

On the same day Vice President Joe Biden knocked Mitt Romney for having a "Cold War mindset," two of Romney's national security advisers made references to threats dating back to the Soviet Union era.

POL-Bachmann-Romney-Conservative

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has yet to formally endorse Mitt Romney's presidential bid, but she said Thursday that it's only a matter of time.

POL-Conservative-Ad-Energy

An independent conservative group launched its latest round of ads Thursday that are set to air in eight presidential battleground states backed by $6.1 million, according to the organization.

POL-Paul-True-Believers

Darryl Williams and Benjamin Kline were shivering before the speech even started, their black umbrella no match for the steady rain and brisk Philadelphia wind. Even as water hit their faces, though, they were smiling, excited at the thought of seeing Ron Paul. Williams and Kline are true believers.

POL-Independent-Voters-Economy

Some of the leading Republican pollsters said they believe their party has a growing chance to grab a large number of independent voters because of their negative view of the economy, especially as experts question whether the economic recovery is beginning to slow.

POL-Obama-Celebrity-Ad

President Barack Obama's much talked about appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late night TV talk show is being used against the president by a major Republican group that says it's going up with an online ad that criticizes Obama as a "celebrity president."

POL-Thune-VP-Speculation

He's not saying yes, but he's also not saying no. Sen. John Thune, the number three Republican in the Senate, said Thursday he doesn't expect to be chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate.

POL-Biden-Speech-New-York

Vice President Joe Biden took direct aim at presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a speech Thursday, hitting the candidate as having an outdated approach to foreign policy that was "fundamentally wrong."

POL-Ann-Romney-Health-Scare

Ann Romney, the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney who suffers from multiple sclerosis, revealed she had a health "scare" leading up to Super Tuesday.

COMMENTARY-Navarrette-rubio-vp

Why Marco Rubio can't save the GOP.

COMMENTARY-Noorani-Arizona-immigration

When Romney faces Latino voters.

COMMENTARY-kamenetz-obama-higher-education

Obama should push bankruptcy relief for student loans.

FEATURES

Farming-Ancient-People

One of the outstanding mysteries of human history is how agriculture spread across Europe, replacing the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Did farmers migrate, bringing a culture of plant and animal domestication that took over? Or did local hunter-gatherer groups merely adopt ideas about those practices?

FEA-Childrens-Vegan-Book

Parents have many talks with their kids as they grow up. There's the "birds and the bees" talk and the "sharing is caring" talk, or even the "don't be a bully" talk. Now, author Ruby Roth wants parents to have the "If it's too scary to talk about while we're eating, it's too scary to eat" discussion with their children. Roth is talking about veganism. Like vegetarians, vegans don't eat meat, but they take that philosophy a few steps further. Vegans won't consume or use any products that contain any part of an animal. For example, they don't eat eggs or dairy and won't wear leather.

SPORT-golf-bubba-defends-new-orleans

If it was left up to Bubba Watson, he'd be at home changing diapers instead of defending his New Orleans title this week. Ahead of Thursday's opening round at the Zurich Classic, reigning champ Bubba admitted he'd rather be caring for his adopted baby boy Caleb than on the green at TPC Louisiana.

MED-berries-memory-study

As the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease continues to rise, researchers are investigating various ways that people can prevent memory decline through nutrients in foods we might eat often anyway.

MED-Allergies-New-Theory

Depending on severity, allergies can range from annoying to deadly. Millions of Americans are familiar with the sneezing, itching and coughing that come along with spring allergies to toxins, while others suffer hives or even airway blockage if they eat the wrong food. And we know that food allergies are on the rise, partly because of awareness but experts say something else may be going on. It's a mystery why industrial countries see more and more children having reactions to common foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, eggs, milk, wheat or soy. But there's a deeper question to ask here: Why do humans have allergies at all?

MED-cancer-diet-exercise-guidelines

Cancer survivors often talk about first reactions when their doctors first used the word "cancer" during a diagnosis. "It's almost like the word was in another language that I didn't understand," a friend of mine said once.

MED-searching-medical-miracle

I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish for a miracle when I was staring down a catastrophic illness almost five years ago. Of course I did. Though I was being treated by brilliant physicians, my survival odds were still frightening.

WUS-Spain-stolen-babies

Sister Maria Gomez is an 87-year-old Catholic nun. This month, she appeared in a Spanish court escorted by police. She is accused of snatching an infant from her birth mother and putting the child up for an illegal adoption in 1982. Sister Maria Gomez flatly refused to testify and was jeered as she stepped outside the court. The elderly nun wearing a gray habit has become the face of what is known in Spain as Ninos Robados or Stolen Children. Thousands of newborn babies -- according to groups working with the now-adult adoptees -- were taken from their mothers, straight out of hospitals, and sold to families desperate for children. At least 2,000 official cases have been filed with Spanish prosecutors, but some believe there could be tens of thousands more, dating as far back as the 1950s and continuing as recently as the 1990s. So far, it seems the cases, from all across Spain, were individuals making money from misery rather than a nationally coordinated network or organized crime gangs. But of all these cases, only one person has been named as a suspect, Sister Maria Gomez.

African-cats-movie-inside-africa

Filmmaker Keith Scholey has a PhD in zoology and three decades of experience filming and photographing wildlife. Yet when it came to predicting the behavior of the lions and cheetahs of Kenya's Maasai Mara Nature Reserve, all that proved of little use. "You're constantly surprised," he said. "When you start following wild animals, you're initially an incredible expert. And the more you follow them, you realize you're less and less of an expert."

ENT-john-cusack-raven-edgar-allen-poe

Best known for quirky rom-coms like "Say Anything," "High Fidelity" and "Grosse Pointe Blank," John Cusack returns this weekend in a gothic murder mystery entitled "The Raven." Cusack plays author Edgar Allen Poe. But instead of treating the story like your standard biopic, the author finds himself at the center of a serial killer investigation, where the killer is using Poe's work for inspiration. In a rare instance in which a film portrays a writer as an actual hero, the downtrodden Poe becomes integral in solving the case, with Cusack portraying the famed writer in a very serious and dark manner.

India-child-marriage-annulled

Eighteen-year-old Laxmi Sargara found out she was married when her parents-in-law came to tell her that in a few days time they'd come back to take her to live with them. It was a few days before Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious day for child marriages in India, when many parents in the poorest areas of the country promise their children to other families. Sargara was just one-year-old when she was married to Rakesh, then a three-year-old child from another village in the Jodphur district of Rajasthan.

TECH-thermal-imaging-street-view

It's an illuminating idea which its creators hope will help drive up energy efficiency and bring down buildings' carbon emissions.

COMMENTARY-Miron-Wal-Mart-bribery-law

Prosecute Wal-Mart, but get rid of anti-bribery law.

COMMENTARY-Charles-Taylor-Victims

Do war crimes trials really help victims?

COMMENTARY-taylor-liberia-oped

Taylor verdict: Why peace must accompany justice

COMMENTARY-passel-cohn-mexican-immigration

Why wave of Mexican immigration stopped

COMMENTARY-Gerson-Young-Women

Why are young women more ambitious than men?

COMMENTARY-Coleman-egypt-islam

Is Egypt headed for Islamist rule?


LOAD-DATE: April 27, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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All Rights Reserved



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CNN Wire


April 26, 2012 Thursday 7:02 PM EST


Conservative group puts millions into Obama energy attack


BYLINE: By Gabriella Schwarz, CNN Producer


LENGTH: 463 words


DATELINE: Washington (CNN)


Washington (CNN) -- An independent conservative group launched its latest round of ads Thursday that are set to air in eight presidential battleground states backed by $6.1 million, according to the organization.

The president of Americans for Prosperity said the ad will begin running on Friday on cable and broadcast television stations for two weeks in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.

The 60-second spot criticizes the Obama administration's energy policies and its failure to provide clean energy jobs in the United States.

"You cannot allow or it does not work when an administration is using our tax dollars in pursuit of an ideology, in this case global warming," AFP president Tim Phillips said during a press conference in Washington, D.C.

The White House has promoted what it calls an "all-of-the-above energy strategy" that will decrease American dependency on foreign oil, expand U.S.-based jobs and reduce emissions that it says contribute to climate change and pollution.

But Phillips said President Barack Obama's "almost obsessive focus on global warming" speaks to "this administration's focus on an ideology as opposed to genuinely trying to get this economy moving again."

"American tax payers are paying to send their own jobs to foreign countries," the narrator in the spot said. "Tell President Obama: American tax dollars should help American taxpayers."

Phillips said the ad buy would be accompanied by "hundreds of thousands of dollars" toward grass roots efforts in the targeted states, all of which are expected to be competitive in the next presidential election. AFP Spokesman Levi Russell said there will be two to three events in each state over the next few weeks, a mixture of rallies and town halls.

The Obama re-election campaign responded to the announcement, which it said was backed by "secretive oil billionaires."

"While the President fights everyday to build an economy where everybody gets a fair shot and does their fair share, special interests across the country are mobilizing to buy the election for Governor Romney to try to promote their interests over the interests of the American people," Obama National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt said in a statement.

AFP is a nonprofit group backed by conservative oil billionaires David and Charles Koch, among others, which has donated significant funds toward advertising and advocacy ahead of the November election. Nonprofits like AFP are able to accept unlimited corporate and individual contributions but are not required to disclose their donors.

Thursday's announcement marks the third round of ads from AFP in recent months. The two previous endeavors centered on the failed energy company Solyndra that went bankrupt after receiving government funding.


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April 26, 2012 Thursday 5:36 PM EST


Web ad mocks Obama as 'celebrity president'


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 473 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's much talked about appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late night TV talk show is being used against the president by a major Republican group that says it's going up with an online ad that criticizes Obama as a "celebrity president."

American Crossroads, the independent super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove that backs GOP causes and candidates, says their spot will run online starting as early as Thursday in the three university towns the president visited during his two day, three battleground state tour Tuesday and Wednesday. Obama held events at the University of North Carolina, the University of Colorado and the University of Iowa as part of his push for the extension of a measure that would hold down federal student loan rates, an important issue for many younger voters.

As part of his push, the president Tuesday night appeared on Fallon's NBC late night talk show. A skit in which the two men "slow-jammed" was the buzz of the cable news networks, talk radio and blogs the next day.

Crossroads' online ad uses clips from Obama's appearance with Fallon, and also includes footage of Obama dancing with Ellen DeGeneres on her popular daytime program during the 2008 presidential election, and of the president at a fundraiser earlier this year singing Al Green's famous song "Let's Stay Together."

The spot says that "four years ago Americans elected the biggest celebrity in the world. And America got one cool president. But after four years of a celebrity president, one-in-two recent college grads are jobless or underemployed, 85% moving back in with their parents, student loan debt exceeds one trillion dollars."

The ad ends by asking "after four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?"

The spot brings back memories of a TV commercial put up in late July 2008 by Sen. John McCain's Republican presidential campaign that mocked Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world," and juxtaposed clips of Obama's speech in front of 200,000 people in Berlin, Germany the previous week with quick images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. That ad asked if then-Sen. Obama was "ready to lead?"

The Democratic National Committee on Thursday pushed back against the video, saying it "overlooks some key facts."

"President Obama has worked to make college more affordable and create more and better-paying employment opportunities for younger Americans," said DNC spokeswoman Melanie Roussell. "Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has offered nothing but lip service and dishonest attacks on the President's record to young voters. Even his position on student loans is nothing more than an empty promise given his support for the Ryan budget, which would make it significantly harder for young people to afford college by allowing the student loan interest rate to double and cutting Pell Grants."


LOAD-DATE: April 27, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Update 1:35 p.m. ET - adds response from DNC in graphs 8 and 9


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CNN Wire


April 26, 2012 Thursday 2:30 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2742 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Samira Jafari and Mark Bixler -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-GOP-Strategy

For Republicans and their certain presidential nominee in November, the best defense appears to be a good offense on some issues being pushed by President Barack Obama and Democrats.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing (will update)

In a landmark ruling, an international tribunal found former Liberian President Charles Taylor guilty Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Israel Hunger Strike

A group representing 1,650 Palestinian prisoners who are on a hunger strike in protest at the conditions of their detention urged Israel Thursday to start urgent talks on the treatment of prisoners.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A military rocket attack killed more than 70 people in the Syrian flashpoint city of Hama, in what activists said Thursday is one of the deadliest incidents in the grinding conflict.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (will update)

A former campaign aide of John Edwards will face more questions Thursday, a day after he was quizzed about his motives and asked whether he made up stories about how Edwards allegedly concealed contributions from campaign donors.

Jordan-Prime-Minister

Jordan's prime minister resigned Thursday, the Jordanian Royal Courts and state-run Petra news agency said. It's the third resignation from the post in 18 months.

Nigeria Explosions

Explosions in Nigeria killed at least eight people and wounded 26 in two cities Thursday, a Red Cross spokesman said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

UK-Phone-Hacking-Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch admitted to a phone-hacking cover-up at one of his tabloid newspapers and apologized Thursday for not paying more attention to a scandal that has convulsed his media empire and rocked the British political establishment.

CNN SHOWCASE

US-Tsunami-Debris-Preparations -- By Phil Gast

First came the stuff that floats on the surface and is pushed by wind: Buoys, a soccer ball, flotation devices. And, most notably, a rust-stained unmanned fishing trawler in Alaskan waters. Communities in Alaska, Hawaii, the West Coast and Canada are preparing for the main event from debris pushed offshore by last year's massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

A military rocket attack killed more than 70 people in the Syrian flashpoint city of Hama, in what activists said Thursday is one of the deadliest incidents in the grinding conflict.

Syria-Q&A

For 13 months, violence has raged in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the opposition in a lopsided battle that has seen thousands killed amid a number of international attempts to broker a peace deal.

UK-Phone-Hacking-Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch admitted Thursday there had been a "cover-up" of phone hacking at his flagship British tabloid newspaper and apologized for not paying more attention to a scandal that has convulsed his media empire and rocked the British political establishment.

UK-Murdoch-Media-Empire

It's a rare sight: Rupert Murdoch, the indomitable head of the News Corp. empire, called before a judicial inquiry again Thursday to explain how his influence has shaped Britain's media and political landscape. The questions from a British inquiry have shone the spotlight on Murdoch's dealings with a succession of British prime ministers going back decades. They also have raised questions about whether cozy relationships have worked to Murdoch's personal advantage, questions that also have been posed in Australia and the United States.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

In a landmark ruling, an international tribunal found former Liberian President Charles Taylor guilty Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Blood-Diamonds

Much of the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor focused on the role played by so-called "conflict diamonds" in funding rebels in conflict areas. What are "conflict diamonds?"

Charles-Taylor-Profile

Charles Taylor: Lay preacher and feared warlord.

Japan-Ozawa-Verdict

A Japanese court on Thursday found one of the country's most influential politicians not guilty of participating in a funding scandal, reconfiguring the balance of power in the governing party.

China-bo-insider-florcruz

Once the ultimate power couple in China, Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai have now vanished. Bo has been stripped of his top Communist Party posts for unspecified "serious violations of discipline," while Gu has been detained in connection with the death of Neil Heywood, a British businessman. The scandal has rocked the Chinese leadership to the core. But weeks after the shocking news of the couple's fall from grace broke, little substantiated information has come out. It has mostly been rumor and speculation.

MONEY-Hong-Kong-bo-Xilai

In a sign of the widening investigation into Bo Xilai's family and finances, his older brother resigned from the board of a state-controlled alternative energy company Wednesday. Bo Xiyong -- who also uses the name Li Xiaming -- resigned from China Everbright International "for the best interest of the Company and the shareholders," the company said in a statement. He had been a board member of the Hong Kong-listed company since 2003.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home early Thursday after receiving cancer treatments in Cuba.

Pakistan Gilani Verdict

The Pakistani Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt but gave him just a symbolic sentence that will not require him to serve time in prison.

Philippines-Mind-Museum

Maria Isabel Garcia doesn't get as many angry reactions to her work as she used to. For over 10 years she has been one of the Philippines only science writers in a national newspaper, and during that time received her fair share of disparaging comments from readers in the devoutly Catholic country. Yet as the curator of The Mind Museum, the Philippines first modern, purpose-built science museum, her work now is a lot more palpable and potentially contentious than her newspaper column.

SPORT-tennis-ljubicic-retirement-croatia

He predicted it would be an emotional occasion, and so it proved. Ivan Ljubicic could have chosen to bow out from tennis on a grander stage, but the Monte Carlo Masters was the perfect place for him. "I picked this one as my last because in 1999 I beat (Russia's Yevgeny) Kafelnikov, which was my first big victory, my breakthrough. So I felt like it was the right moment, the right place to finish it off," the 33-year-old told CNN.

SPORT-tennis-djokovic-serbia-open

Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the hometown tennis tournament run by his family, following the devastating death of his grandfather.

SPORT-football-champions-league-madrid-bayern

Bayern Munich will enjoy home advantage when they play Chelsea in the European Champions League final after defeating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu following Wednesday's dramatic penalty shootout.

U.S.A.

POL-Secret-Service-Scandal

A day after U.S. lawmakers were briefed on an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service members, a report emerged Thursday of similar allegations, this time in El Salvador.

MONEY-Exxon-Mobil-Earnings

High gas prices the first three months of the year allowed Exxon Mobil to post huge earnings, but they were short of both year-earlier results and forecasts.

MONEY-Chrysler-Earnings

Chrysler Group reported its best quarter in more than 13 years, driven by strong sales that were another sign of the automaker's progress since its 2009 bailout and bankruptcy reorganization.

MONEY-Premarkets

U.S. stocks were poised for a choppy open Thursday, as optimism from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's comments is countered by nervousness by the latest jobs report and a weak Italian bond auction.

MONEY-Unemployment-Benefits

First-time claims for unemployment benefits remained elevated for the third straight week, the government said Thursday, a sign that a job recovery might be stalling.

MONEY-Health-Insurance-Rebate

Thanks to a provision in the health care reform law, millions of consumers will be receiving rebates from their insurers this summer.

MONEY-Electric-Cars-Emissions

When it comes to choosing an environmentally friendly car, where you live may be as important as what you drive.

MONEY-Costco-Mortgages

Costco shoppers can not only find bulk-packs of chicken wings, 24-rolls of toilet paper and large-screen TVs at a discount. They can now land themselves a mortgage. After a year of testing, Costco is rolling out a full-service mortgage lending program on its website in partnership with First Choice Bank, a New Jersey-based community bank, and 10 other lenders.

MONEY-Income-Tax

It's a provocative fact about the tax code: Nearly half of U.S. households end up owing no federal income tax. But it's not surprising given the addiction to tax breaks by both Democrats and Republicans, and the fact that the U.S. tax code is set up to be progressive.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

A surge in gasoline prices earlier this year sparked talk of $5 a gallon by this summer, but prices at the pump have been ticking lower in April, and it appears they'll continue falling as the driving season approaches.

Maryland-Arrest

Baltimore police said they have arrested a suspect in the death of a 16-year-old North Carolina girl whose body was found in a Maryland river a year ago.

POL Rohrabacher Afghanistan

A U.S. congressman barred from visiting Afghanistan over the weekend minced no words when characterizing the incident.

New-York-Terror-Trial

Closing arguments are expected Thursday in the terror trial of Adis Medunjanin, accused in a suspected plot to bomb New York's subways.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Paul-True-Believers

Darryl Williams and Benjamin Kline were shivering before the speech even started, their black umbrella no match for the steady rain and brisk Philadelphia wind. Even as water hit their faces, though, they were smiling, excited at the thought of seeing Ron Paul. Williams and Kline are true believers. They are two men who in spite of political reality and weather still come out to support their "ideal candidate." They don't care that many have crowned Mitt Romney the presumptive nominee or that it is now mathematically impossible for Paul to win the Republican nomination before the convention. They just know who they support. "We believe he is the best candidate," Williams said. Not everyone agrees, though, and the electoral math is against the 12-term congressman from Texas. On Tuesday, Romney swept Paul in all five states that voted. And even if Paul were to win every single delegate from now until the convention he wouldn't be able to win the nomination, according to analysis by CNN Political Research Director Rob Yoon.

POL-Obama-Celebrity-Ad

President Barack Obama's much talked about appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late night TV talk show is being used against the president by a major Republican group that says it's going up with an online ad that criticizes Obama as a "celebrity president."

POL-Thune-VP-Speculation

He's not saying yes, but he's also not saying no. Sen. John Thune, the number three Republican in the Senate, said Thursday he doesn't expect to be chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate.

POL-Biden-Speech-New-York

Vice President Joe Biden will take direct aim at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in a speech on foreign policy Thursday, according to prepared remarks released by the president's re-election campaign.

POL-Ann-Romney-Health-Scare

Ann Romney, the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney who suffers from multiple sclerosis, revealed she had a health "scare" leading up to Super Tuesday.

COMMENTARY-Navarrette-rubio-vp

Why Marco Rubio can't save the GOP.

COMMENTARY-Noorani-Arizona-immigration

When Romney faces Latino voters.

COMMENTARY-kamenetz-obama-higher-education

Obama should push bankruptcy relief for student loans.

FEATURES

SPORT-golf-bubba-defends-new-orleans

If it was left up to Bubba Watson, he'd be at home changing diapers instead of defending his New Orleans title this week. Ahead of Thursday's opening round at the Zurich Classic, reigning champ Bubba admitted he'd rather be caring for his adopted baby boy Caleb than on the green at TPC Louisiana.

MED-berries-memory-study

As the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease continues to rise, researchers are investigating various ways that people can prevent memory decline through nutrients in foods we might eat often anyway.

MED-Allergies-New-Theory

Depending on severity, allergies can range from annoying to deadly. Millions of Americans are familiar with the sneezing, itching and coughing that come along with spring allergies to toxins, while others suffer hives or even airway blockage if they eat the wrong food. And we know that food allergies are on the rise, partly because of awareness but experts say something else may be going on. It's a mystery why industrial countries see more and more children having reactions to common foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, eggs, milk, wheat or soy. But there's a deeper question to ask here: Why do humans have allergies at all?

WUS-Spain-stolen-babies

Sister Maria Gomez is an 87-year-old Catholic nun. This month, she appeared in a Spanish court escorted by police. She is accused of snatching an infant from her birth mother and putting the child up for an illegal adoption in 1982. Sister Maria Gomez flatly refused to testify and was jeered as she stepped outside the court. The elderly nun wearing a gray habit has become the face of what is known in Spain as Ninos Robados or Stolen Children. Thousands of newborn babies -- according to groups working with the now-adult adoptees -- were taken from their mothers, straight out of hospitals, and sold to families desperate for children. At least 2,000 official cases have been filed with Spanish prosecutors, but some believe there could be tens of thousands more, dating as far back as the 1950s and continuing as recently as the 1990s. So far, it seems the cases, from all across Spain, were individuals making money from misery rather than a nationally coordinated network or organized crime gangs. But of all these cases, only one person has been named as a suspect, Sister Maria Gomez.

African-cats-movie-inside-africa

Filmmaker Keith Scholey has a PhD in zoology and three decades of experience filming and photographing wildlife. Yet when it came to predicting the behavior of the lions and cheetahs of Kenya's Maasai Mara Nature Reserve, all that proved of little use. "You're constantly surprised," he said. "When you start following wild animals, you're initially an incredible expert. And the more you follow them, you realize you're less and less of an expert."

ENT-john-cusack-raven-edgar-allen-poe

Best known for quirky rom-coms like "Say Anything," "High Fidelity" and "Grosse Pointe Blank," John Cusack returns this weekend in a gothic murder mystery entitled "The Raven." Cusack plays author Edgar Allen Poe. But instead of treating the story like your standard biopic, the author finds himself at the center of a serial killer investigation, where the killer is using Poe's work for inspiration. In a rare instance in which a film portrays a writer as an actual hero, the downtrodden Poe becomes integral in solving the case, with Cusack portraying the famed writer in a very serious and dark manner.

India-child-marriage-annulled

Eighteen-year-old Laxmi Sargara found out she was married when her parents-in-law came to tell her that in a few days time they'd come back to take her to live with them. It was a few days before Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious day for child marriages in India, when many parents in the poorest areas of the country promise their children to other families. Sargara was just one-year-old when she was married to Rakesh, then a three-year-old child from another village in the Jodphur district of Rajasthan.

TECH-thermal-imaging-street-view

It's an illuminating idea which its creators hope will help drive up energy efficiency and bring down buildings' carbon emissions.

COMMENTARY-Miron-Wal-Mart-bribery-law

Prosecute Wal-Mart, but get rid of anti-bribery law.

COMMENTARY-Charles-Taylor-Victims

Do war crimes trials really help victims?

COMMENTARY-passel-cohn-mexican-immigration

Why wave of Mexican immigration stopped

COMMENTARY-Gerson-Young-Women

Why are young women more ambitious than men?

COMMENTARY-Coleman-egypt-islam

Is Egypt headed for Islamist rule?


LOAD-DATE: April 27, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



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E&E News PM


April 26, 2012 Thursday


CAMPAIGN 2012: $6M ad campaign rips Obama energy policies, stimulus spending


SECTION: THIS AFTERNOON'S STORIES Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 487 words


Elana Schor, E&E reporter

The failed solar company Solyndra has slipped from its prominence in the GOP case for defeating President Obama, but conservatives have no plans to stop slamming him over the clean energy spending in 2009's economic stimulus law.

The tea party group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), backed by the right-leaning energy magnates Charles and David Koch, today announced a new $6.1 million ad campaign in eight swing states that seeks to brand new Solyndras in the form of companies that used their federal stimulus grants to create jobs overseas.

The TV and online ads accuse Obama of having "wasted $34 billion on risky investments," an unclear data point that could refer to the total size of the Energy Department's loan guarantee program, including its nuclear investment. "The result: failure," the commercial continues, telling voters to remind Obama that "American tax dollars should help American taxpayers."

Alongside its ads in Michigan, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia, AFP plans what its president, Tim Phillips, today called a "significant" grass-roots organizing push aimed at stoking public resistance to the Obama administration's energy agenda.

"To us, it's an economic argument and an economic issue," Phillips told reporters today, dismissing the employment opportunities generated by the stimulus law as "transient at best."

The push from AFP, which is joining Republican super PACs and other right-leaning groups in collecting high-dollar donations to blast Obama over high gasoline prices, is all but guaranteed to fuel an airwaves war that Democrats escalated yesterday with a $1 million ad that blasts GOP nominee Mitt Romney as "in the tank for Big Oil" (E&E Daily, April 25).

That ad's jeer at Romney as the oil industry's "$200 million man" refers to the reported election-year budget of AFP. In something of a counterpunch, the tea party group today used similar language to the anti-Romney ad in asking Obama to "stop tanking America."

The first stimulus-funded project that AFP linked to foreign job creation in its ad is a $1.2 billion loan guarantee for a California solar project that used some materials made in Mexico, though the ad states that the solar facility itself would be located in Mexico.

The second stimulus-funded project targeted by AFP is a loan to Fisker Automotive, which shifted its electric-car assembly operations to Finland. DOE officials have defended their $529 million loan to Fisker as steered entirely toward the company's U.S.-based work (Greenwire, Oct. 21, 2011).

The third stimulus-funded project attacked in the ad is described as a traffic light installation "in China." However, the report AFP cites underscores that energy-efficient parts for the traffic lights were sourced from China due to shortages in the United States, and that the final products were assembled domestically.

Click here to watch the new AFP ad.


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Environment and Energy Daily


April 26, 2012 Thursday


URANIUM: Uncertain fate of plant hangs heavy over economically ravaged Ohio -- and local officeholders


SECTION: SPOTLIGHT Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 1755 words


Hannah Northey, E&E reporter

PIKETON, Ohio -- Grisly unemployment numbers hang heavy over regulars at J.C.'s Restaurant, a dusty roadside gathering spot in one of this state's hardest hit counties -- and the threat that a nearby federal uranium enrichment plant might close doesn't help that grim mood.

Truck drivers and technicians who work at the $5 billion American Centrifuge Facility across the street slowly trickle into the ramshackle building, where tattered baseball caps hang from wooden rafters and old bottles line the windowsills.

Wearing a grease-smeared apron and oversized sweatshirt, Cindy Evans, 26, buzzes from table to table to serve up meatloaf, coffee and breakfast specials. A sheen of perspiration glistens on her tan skin under a black racing ball cap covering a blonde ponytail.

Evans explains between serving tables that longtime residents will have to leave Pike County -- which has the state's highest unemployment rate, almost 16 percent -- or ask for federal assistance if the plant doesn't receive a $2 billion federal loan guarantee and closes. Business at the 1950s-era family-owned restaurant is also sure to suffer, she says. J.C.'s restaurant serves as a local hangout. Photo by Hannah Northey.

"We have regulars but they wouldn't keep us alive," Evans says. "Workers here don't have an option, they either go out of state or go on welfare."

Piketon, a town of more than 1,900, where rusty tractors, trailers and farms dot long expanses of highway, has been hard hit by the recession and the closure of local businesses and factories. Empty retail spaces leave open holes in downtown stretches of buildings, and "For Sale" signs are a common sight.

Residents of the area are keenly aware of the plant's controversial role in the upcoming presidential election, national politics, the debate over job creation and the need for a domestic source of uranium enrichment. They are also aware that USEC Inc., which oversees the federal facility, pours dollars into the local economy and could bring more work to the area.

USEC is currently relying on a credit facility to spend up to $15 million a month on the centrifuge project through May, expenditures that will taper out in June. Without short-term funding for research and eventually a $2 billion federal loan guarantee, USEC has warned it will have to make "difficult decisions" about the plant's fate, including winding the project down.

But the Energy Department has made no indication that it will approve the loan guarantee, leaving a total of up to 3,524 jobs -- more than 1,600 in Ohio alone -- in jeopardy.

Sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant, Phil New examines the mashed potatoes, corn and roll before him while considering the precarious circumstances surrounding the uranium plant. New, whose heating and air conditioning business in Pike County stands to benefit from the influx of workers buying new homes or renting out apartments, said the government needs to act fast to save Pike County and its economy.

"This plant controls all of southern Ohio in a lot of ways," New said in a deep voice that reverberated from his broad shoulders covered in a plaid print. "The plant is a lifeline in this area, it determines pretty much what the economy in this part of the state does." 'Dipped in secret sauce'

Across the street from J.C.'s, a winding road dubbed "Centrifuge Circle" leads to a sprawling industrial complex the size of 30 football fields. The lot, surrounded by lush, rolling hills, is home to USEC's highly guarded, classified centrifuge technology. If developed, the plant would be the first to use domestic gas centrifuge technology to produce low-enriched uranium for reactors.

Although the project has hit repeated funding snags, USEC continues to operate a row of 43-foot-tall machines in the massive complex, which serve as a demonstration. The towering machines hum quietly behind a high metal fence and barbed wire under the watchful eyes of workers, bathed in the orange glow of overhead lamps.

Despite signs around the plant that expansion was halted -- piles of large metal pipes, construction material and generators -- USEC hopes to build a row of 120 machines to assure investors and shed a light on the technology that could one day fuel the global nuclear fleet of more than 430 reactors. Japanese export banks have indicated they may invest $1 billion if the federal loan guarantee is finalized.

USEC hopes to expand the demonstration machines 100-fold on an incremental scale, and fill up to six buildings with tens of thousands of the machines if the market demand increases during the next 20 to 40 years.

The company is also quick to point out that it's spent more than $2 billion on the project, and to shoot down criticism that the technology isn't commercially viable.

"When you hear the word 'unproven,' that's false," said USEC spokeswoman Angela Duduit.

Carlos "Rick" Mays, 42, who oversees the centrifuges from a control room inside the building, says he believes the classified technology "dipped in secret sauce" is technologically viable. "If I thought anything was wrong, I wouldn't be here," said Mays, a father of four from South Webster, Ohio, who moved back to the area after working in Washington, D.C., and serving in the military.

But opponents say USEC has been beset by technical problems, is running out of money and is about to enter a market that will be flush with supply (E&E Daily, Oct. 27). Opponents have also highlighted a plethora of questions surrounding the amount of risk DOE would factor into the loan guarantee.

Jack Spencer, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the government shouldn't support USEC's private, commercial operation because a specific company's commercial success should not be something Washington decides. Once developed, USEC stands to benefit from an uptick in demand for uranium and enrichment capabilities, but it's still not clear why the government would support a private, commercial venture, he said.

Spencer said the free market is best suited to determine which companies succeed or fail, and taxpayers should "certainly never be stuck with covering costs of commercial activities" that should fall directly on the private sector. "There's a difference between public policy and private business decisions." Spencer said. "It's not the government's prerogative to support private, commercial endeavors."

Energy Secretary Steven Chu has repeatedly touted the need for USEC funding as a matter of national security. But even if the government does need uranium enrichment capabilities, Spencer said it shouldn't result in a program that also supports USEC's commercial sale of reactor fuel.

But Paul Jacobson, a spokesman for USEC, argued that there's a close alignment between federal interests and uranium enrichment and that USEC is taking a risk by investing in the project. All other competitors are foreign government-controlled entities that would force the U.S. to rely on another country for civilian nuclear fuel and would prevent the U.S. from using that fuel for national security purposes. Diner politics

Residents of southern Ohio say that funding the uranium enrichment plant has as much to do with politics as it does with jobs.

In the retro Diner 23, about four miles north of the USEC plant in Waverly, Ohio, the owners have hosted a stream of lawmakers and outspoken advocates of the project.

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) used the diner as a launching pad for campaigns, said Mike Corwin, 63, who opened the business in 2000 with his wife Sharon, 59. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and former Gov. Ted Strickland (D) have also visited frequently. Pictures of the smiling politicians hang from the silver walls inside the diner. Mike Corwin, who owns a diner in Waverly, Ohio, reminisces about visits from politicians. Photo by Hannah Northey.

Schmidt's loss in the March Republican primary left a void of support for the USEC project, despite assurances from President Obama that he would support the plant, Sharon Corwin said from behind the counter at Diner 23.

"She's been one of the only politicians right on top of the president, backing up his promises here," she said. "It was a genuine loss when we lost her."

Schmidt, who came to the House in 2005 and has always struggled in her re-election battles, had come under fire for taking $500,000 in free legal assistance from Turkish-American activists, suffered defeat on Super Tuesday (E&E Daily, March 7). She lost in the suburban Cincinnati-based 2nd District to Iraq War veteran surgeon and 2009 Cincinnati mayoral candidate Brad Wenstrup, a Republican.

Wenstrup is now heavily favored against Pike County native William Smith (D), 61, in November. Smith, a truck driver who has a family member and friends who work at the Piketon plant, said during an interview that while he supports the Piketon plant, political infighting has called into question much-needed funding.

"They're kind of treating this like a yo-yo, one day the federal government is going to take care of it, the next day they're not," Smith said. "I know people personally whose lives are entwined with the process there."

USEC needs to be held accountable for spending the money, he said, and the government has a responsibility to either fund the site or prepare it for another business. "It's kind of a like a blight in the middle of the county," Smith said.

Blaine Beekman, a Pike County commissioner, said he's looking to Portman and Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown to move the project forward.

"They're talking about Rob being a potential vice president, that gets your attention," he said. "They're strong supporters and we need they're help."

Ohio businessman Jeff Albrecht said he's also pinning his hopes on Portman, who used to represent the area in the House, but he acknowledged the project is wrapped up in politics.

After Obama stayed at Albrecht's Ramada Inn in Portsmouth, Ohio, as a presidential candidate, the then-senator said he planned to back the loan guarantee and create up to 4,000 jobs in the state. Albrecht has since spent $3.5 million upgrading the hotel into a Holiday Inn overlooking the Ohio River, but says Obama has yet to uphold his promise.

Southern Ohio needs the high-paying, high-tech jobs that USEC would offer instead of welfare or other hand-outs, and Albrecht said he expects presidential nominees will pick the issue up when they head to southern Ohio.

"When [Mitt] Romney comes to Ohio, it will be on his plate," he said. "This is a big political issue down here."


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The Frontrunner


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Pro-Obama Super-PAC, Environmental Group Hammer Romney In New Ad


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 125 words


The Hill (4/25, Lederman) reported on its website, "A super-PAC supporting President Obama and an environmental group have joined forces to spend $1 million dubbing Mitt Romney 'the $200 million man' and painting him as a shill for Big Oil. Priorities USA and the League of Conservation Voters are sharing the cost to air the ad statewide in Colorado and Nevada over the next few weeks, a source with one of the groups said Wednesday." In the spot, a narrator says of Romney, "He's the $200 million man and Big Oil's fingerprints are all over him." The Hill noted that "the narrator claims that the oil industry had pledged $200 million to help Romney get elected and ensure his protection in exchange for tax breaks and high profits for the industry."


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The Hill


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Obama super-PAC, green group join forces for $1 million hit on Romney


BYLINE: By Josh Lederman


SECTION: Pg. 18


LENGTH: 354 words


A super-PAC supporting President Obama and an environmental group have joined forces to spend $1 million dubbing Mitt Romney "the $200 million man" and painting him as a shill for Big Oil.

Priorities USA and the League of Conservation Voters are sharing the cost to air the ad statewide in Colorado and Nevada over the next few weeks, a source with one of the groups said Wednesday.

"He's the $200 million man, and Big Oil's fingerprints are all over him," says the narrator in the ad.

Footage of an oil rig and gas stations is displayed as the narrator claims that the oil industry had pledged $200 million to help Romney get elected and ensure his protection in exchange for tax breaks and high profits for the industry.

"So when you fill up your tank, remember who's in the tank for Big Oil: Mitt Romney, the $200 million man," the ad says.

It's the same theme that Obama's reelection campaign used in early April, just as the primary election was effectively wrapping up, when it aired an ad tying Romney to the oil industry and reminding viewers that the industry is spending heavily to attack Obama.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said that when Americans look at their budget, they will realize they are paying more for gas since Obama took office.

"President Obama and his allies will do whatever they can to try to deflect blame and cover up for Obama's failure to control gas prices," Saul said. "Blaming Mitt Romney for President Obama's failed record on energy and the economy will do nothing to help the household budget squeeze Americans are facing."

This isn't the first time Priorities USA, the super-PAC endorsed by Obama and his campaign, has teamed up with other Democratic-allied groups to knock Republicans and promote Obama. In January, the political action committee joined with the Service Employees International Union for a six-figure ad buy in Spanish hitting Romney on immigration.

The League of Conservation Voters has been active this election cycle targeting Republicans, including Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts, and its partnership with Priorities USA is expected to continue throughout the cycle.


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The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania)


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Billionaires top list of donors to super PACs


BYLINE: By JOHN DUNBAR And MICHAEL BECKEL The Center for Public Integrity


SECTION: NEWS


LENGTH: 1297 words


Contrary to expectations, the much-criticized court decisions that gave us "super PACs" have not led to a tsunami of contributions flowing from the treasuries of Fortune 500 corporations - at least not yet anyway.

What the Citizens United decision and a lower court ruling have done is make household names out of a bunch of relatively unknown, very wealthy conservatives. Of the top 10 donors to super PACs so far in the 2012 election cycle, seven are individuals - not corporations - and four of those individuals are billionaires.

The top 10 contributors gave more than a third, or $68 million of the nearly $202 million reported by the outside spending groups this election, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission records.Rounding out the top 10 are two labor unions and a physicians' medical malpractice insurance group.

The top donor list is mostly Republican, which is not surprising given the competitive GOP presidential primary season. Even so, Democrats have had less success in raising money for super PACs so far.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court and a lower court set the stage for the new super PACs.

Such organizations can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals to spend on advertising supporting or opposing a candidate, but are not permitted to coordinate their spending with campaigns, though many employ former campaign operatives.

Top donors c

No. 1 on the donor list by far is billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson and family, who gave $26.5 million. Nearly all of it was spent in a fruitless effort to elevate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to the GOP presidential nomination through donations to the pro-Gingrich super PAC "Winning Our Future." Another $5 million went to a group aimed at electing Republicans to the House.

Adelson, 78, ranks 8th on the Forbes 400 list of the nation's richest people with a net worth estimated at $21.5 billion. He is an outspoken supporter of Israel and backed Gingrich's comment that Palestinians are "an invented people."

No. 2 Harold Simmons, an 80-year-old Texan, ranks 33rd on the Forbes list with a net worth estimated at $9.3 billion. He gave $16.7 million, which includes $3 million from Contran Corp., in which he has a 95 percent interest.

Simmons, and his wife, Annette, have given to six different super PACs this cycle, but the conservative group American Crossroads, co-founded by Karl Rove, former adviser to President George W. Bush, is by far his favorite. Simmons has given the super PAC $12 million in the 2012 cycle.

Contran is in a wide range of businesses, including chemical manufacturing, metals and waste management. Simmons has been very public in his dislike of President Barack Obama calling him a "socialist" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal and "the most dangerous American alive because he would eliminate free enterprise in this country."

Third on the list is another Texan, homebuilder Bob Perry. Perry, one of the GOP's most active and prolific donors over the past decade, is a relative piker compared to Adelson and Simmons. He's not on the Forbes list. Of his $6.7 million in donations, $3.5 million has gone to the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future and $2.5 million has gone to American Crossroads.

The other individual donors in the top 10 are:

Peter Thiel (fifth), a libertarian, gave $2.7 million to super PACs supporting GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. Thiel co-founded PayPal. Forbes ranks him No. 293, with a $1.5 billion net worth.

A. Jerrold Perenchio (sixth), gave $2.6 million, with $2 million going to American Crossroads. He is a longtime GOP donor and former owner of Spanish language network Univision. Forbes ranks him at 171 with a $2.3 billion net worth.

William J. Dorc, a Louisiana energy executive, and Foster Friess, an investor, tied for ninth at $2.25 million. The two men were responsible for most of the contributions to the pro-Rick Santorum super PAC, the Red White and Blue Fund.

The National Education Association, the nation's largest union, was fourth at $3.6 million. It gave $3 million to its super PAC, the NEA Advocacy Fund, which has yet to spend any money on advertising this year.

Ranked eighth is the AFL-CIO, with $2.3 million in donations, virtually all of it going to its Workers' Voices super PAC.

Rounding out the top 10 is an unlikely super donor, the Cooperative of American Physicians. The coop gave all its money - nearly $2.6 million - to a super PAC of the same name. The group consists of California doctors who buy medical malpractice insurance through the organization. The doctors want lower malpractice insurance rates and smaller awards in medical malpractice judgments.

Courts change the game c

This marks the first presidential election following the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, decided in January 2010. The conservative majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled that spending on independent messages that support or oppose federal candidates by corporations and labor unions does not lead to corruption.

A few months later, a federal court cited this rationale in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. That decision led directly to the creation of super PACs. It said that outside spending groups - like American Crossroads, for example - could accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals to be spent on political ads.

Previously, if a group wanted to expressly advocate for or against a federal candidate, it could only collect $5,000 per person per year.

If an independent group were to raise $5 million for high-profile TV ad campaign advocating against the president or members of Congress, it would need at least 1,000 donors in a year to give the legal maximum. Now, one wealthy individual can single-handedly give a super PAC the cash it needs - and change the political dynamics of a race overnight.

Washington, D.C.-based attorney Dan Backer, a proponent of super PACs, suspects that much of the money flowing to these nascent groups will come from "the same folks who've always contributed," though he also argues that super PACs will allow more people to get involved and have their voices heard.

Backer said the money "translates into information that empowers voters."

No limits c

Bob Edgar, a one-time Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania who now heads the advocacy group Common Cause, is among those who have railed against the prospect of deep-pocketed corporations and individuals spending big sums ahead of the 2012 election.

"There's no limit on the amount of money that can enter a political campaign," he said.

Edgar admits he is surprised that fewer corporations haven't flexed their political muscle by giving to super PACs, but he predicts that a few "brand-sensitive" corporations will wade into the super PAC water.

"Corporations are discovering that they have to be careful," he said. "They can tarnish their brands if they are seen as meddling in partisan politics."

However, there is a way for donors to go unnoticed. Nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code can accept unlimited contributions and spend the money on ads, just like super PACs, but they aren't required to reveal their donors.

In fact, 62 percent of the $123 million raised by American Crossroads, the super PAC, and Crossroads GPS, the nonprofit, through the end of 2011 came from mystery donors, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of tax and campaign finance records.

So there may indeed be a flood of money from big corporations headed into the 2012 election - we just won't see it.

The Center for Public Integrity is a non-profit, independent investigative news outlet. To read more of their stories go to iwatchnews.org


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


April 26, 2012 Thursday


The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, Granite Status column


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 2060 words


April 26--THURSDAY, APRIL 26, UPDATE: FEC ADVISORY OPINION. The Federal Election Commission voted 5-1 Thursday morning to issue an advisory opinion that New Hampshire's controversial push poll law is preempted by federal law when it comes to candidates for federal offices.

While saying that ultimately, it is a question for the courts to decide, the commission gave its opinion that the state cannot force federal candidates to identify themselves to voters when they conduct push polling calls against their opponents, as required by the state law.

The calls would be subject only to the Federal Election Campaign Act, which requires no such disclaimers on polling calls, the commission said.

The opinion would presumably carry some weight in a court challenge of the law. The state Attorney General's Office is reviewing the opinion.

The advisory opinion was requested by Democratic pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which intends to conduct polling for federal candidates and nonprofit special interest groups in New Hampshire this year.

The commission reached no conclusion on whether the state statute is preempted with respect to telephone surveys made on behalf of nonprofit organizations which "do not contain express advocacy," but said it does apply to "federal candidates' authorized campaign committees" and "other federal political committees."

The opinion may help U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass' defense of a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General charging him with violating the state push poll law.

The Attorney General has been aggressively enforcing the push poll law with respect to federal candidate for the past several years.

Today's action is an advisory opinion and does not have the direct force of law, but could be used to bolster arguments against the state statute in court challenges. In that sense, it could be a major blow to the state statute.

To read the advisory opinion click here.

Watch for further updates on this developing story.

(The full April 26 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 26: SO LONG, NEWT. With Newt Gingrich expected to leave the Republican presidential campaign next week, efforts are intensifying in New Hampshire and nationally to unify the party behind presumptive nominee Mitt Romney.

"Newt Gingrich will suspend his campaign next week," Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond confirmed to the Granite Status on Wednesday.

Hammond said reports that the Gingrich announcement will come next Tuesday are "not accurate. 'Next week' is as specific as he's gotten."

Hammond said Romney called Gingrich on Wednesday morning.

"They had a very good conversation, building upon several conversations they've had throughout the campaign on how Newt is committed to helping Governor Romney become President," said Hammond. "They are laying plans out right now on what is the best role for him to play to help him do that.

"Newt is also committed to helping win a majority for Republicans in the United States Senate and helping Speaker (John) Boehner maintain a House majority as a governing coalition is as important to the next President as it is to replace Barack Obama in the White House," Hammond said.

Gingrich finished fifth in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10, a handful of votes behind fourth-place finisher Rick Santorum.

Hammond said Gingrich "intends to commit his talents and resources to making sure that Republicans have every advantage in the fall election."

He said Gingrich, Romney and Santorum "began talking several months ago. They made a pact that whatever happens in the race they were committed to supporting each other as the nominee. There have been open lines of communication at the candidate level for some time. They were frank and cordial exchanges."

Hammond said Gingrich "will do what he can to make sure conservatives are mobilized to vote for Mitt Romney this fall. They are an important coalition for the Republican Party. With them, we win."

MITT THE UNITER? The question now is whether Romney can truly unite Republicans -- not just the former candidates and their top followers -- behind him. That's not only a nationwide question, it's a New Hampshire question as well.

The WMUR Granite Poll conducted by the UNH Survey Center and released on Monday showed Obama leading Romney 51 to 42 percent in the Granite State and Romney still a bit scarred from a tough primary fight.

Obama received a 91 percent favorable rating among self-identified Democrats in the poll, but Romney was viewed favorably by only 66 percent of self-identified Republicans, with 23 percent of Republicans viewing him unfavorably.

While Obama beat Romney 40 to 35 percent among New Hampshire independents in a head-to-head match-up, neither candidate is viewed favorably by that all-important group.

Obama's favorable/unfavorable rating among independents was 34/54 percent, while Romney's was 30/49 percent.

Two top state Tea Party leaders say that eventually, the base will rally behind Romney.

"Tea Party voters and conservative voters in general are still not convinced that Mitt Romney is going to govern from the right," said former Gingrich New Hampshire campaign manager and Tea Party activist Andrew Hemingway.

"They have questions about him, but coming into the general election, they'll rally around Mitt for the same reason they rallied around Santorum and Newt. They were the 'not-Romney' candidates and now Romney is the 'not-Obama' candidate."

Hemingway said conservative voters "may not necessarily get excited about Mitt Romney because there is not a lot to get excited about, but they'll get excited about how bad Obama is and about having a chance to remove him from office."

Jack Kimball, a former GOP candidate for governor and current chairman of the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC, said he will personally "enthusiastically get behind Mitt Romney because the alternative is unacceptable.

"There are a lot of Tea Party and liberty-oriented folks who are upset and may not jump on board because they feel Mitt is not conservative enough," Kimball, who supported Herman Cain and then Gingrich, said. "But for me, I'll work as hard as I can to bring these folks to the fore. I'm going to take Mitt Romney at his word."

Romney senior adviser Jim Merrill said there are signs of unity.

He said supporters of the other primary candidates have come on board and some appeared at the Tuesday night speech by Romney in Manchester, which Merrill said was a "pivot point" in the campaign.

Merrill said that while the Democrats have had no primary and have begun organizing for Obama, "What they fail to realize is that for the last year and a half Mitt Romney has organized in New Hampshire town-by-town and county-by-county. That team is still in place. Those people we organized and identified are ready to go. In the near term, there will be a campaign staff and office in New Hampshire."

The Republican National Committee is also expected to make an announcement of key "victory" operations staffing in the next several days.

"Polls are a snapshot in time," said Merrill. "We aren't governed by the poll. We had a broad coalition in January and I expect we'll be able to build a similar coalition here for November because the survey also shows that far and away the biggest concern is jobs and the economy.

"And you've got a very stark contrast" between Romney and Obama, "and we're looking forward to making that contrast day after day."

THE POLITICAL PENDULUM. Is the political pendulum swinging back in a "left-ward" direction again?

Polls so far this week conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for WMUR indicated that, as poll director Andrew Smith says, "legislative overreach" is having a negative impact on the GOP, just as it did on the Democrats two years ago.

It's still very early but besides the poll showing Obama with a 9 percentage point lead over Romney, another showed Democratic candidates for governor either tied with or slightly ahead of their Republican counterparts, albeit with a large number of voters undecided.

It's no surprise that about 80 percent of those surveyed said they did not know enough about the newcomers to statewide elective politics -- Maggie Hassan, Jackie Cilley and Kevin Smith -- to say whether they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of them.

But it was a bit of a surprise that only about half of all those surveyed and half of self-identified Republicans said they did not know enough about Ovide Lamontagne, despite his two past runs for statewide office, to say whether they have an impression of him.

But UNH poll director Andrew Smith says it should be no surprise.

"He's well-known within the party leadership but not so much among the rank-and-file," said Smith. "He did well in a small-turnout election (2010 U.S. Senate primary), but that was a couple of years ago. These people are out of the sight of the voters between elections.

"Every candidate ought to run as if nobody knows who they are and they're behind," said Smith. "This gives you an indication of where you stand with the voters."

Smith said it should be "absolutely expected that there would be a shift from what we saw in 2010," when Republicans were swept to huge majorities in the House, Senate and Executive Council and in the U.S. Senate race and two U.S. House races.

"In every election, one side is more energized than the other side, and the energized side gets their people to the polls while the dispirited side does not. The energized side's candidates win up and down the ticket and then that party in power always seems to engage in legislative over-reach.

"Then, people get angry and they get out and vote for the other guys in the next election. Democrats did the same in 2006 and 2008 as Republicans did in 2010," said Smith. "I think we'll get back to more of an equilibrium this year."

Although the pendulum may be swinging, "Republicans still have an overall advantage going into this election because of the state of the economy," said Smith. "The large-scale factors are really what's important and the economy is always the biggest factor," he said. "When the economy is bad, even if you're not responsible for it, you're going to lose."

LEDBETTER IN NH. The Obama campaign is bringing equal pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter to New Hampshire next week.

Ledbetter, the namesake of the Fair Pay Act, appeared on a conference call with Granite State Democrats last week criticizing Romney and the NHGOP, but next week she will appear in person at house parties in Hanover, Nashua and Concord.

MANNEY FOR OVIDE. Lamontagne this week picked up the endorsement of Pam Manney, the immediate past vice chair of the New Hampshire GOP.

She called him "a proven leader whose business acumen and a long-time advocacy for low taxes and smaller government will serve New Hampshire well."

SMITH'S TOWN HALLS. Kevin Smith has announced he will answer voters' questions at 14 town halls over all 10 counties during the next two months.

The first three are on May 7 at Seacoast Charter School in Kingston; May 15 at the American Legion in Hudson; and May 21 at the Dover Public Library, all at 6 p.m.

The full schedule is listed on KevinSmithForGovernor.com.

Smith told us, "This is an opportunity to engage with the voters, not just Republicans but also independents and maybe some Democrats, to hear what's on their minds and it's an opportunity for me to talk about my plan, 'New Hampshire's Future is Now.'"

Smith said this week's poll "showed if nothing else, that this race is wide open and no one has locked down anything."

MORE UNIONS FOR MAGGIE. With the addition of two more union endorsements in the past week, Hassan's campaign for governor has now picked up the backing of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Council No. 35, Carpenters Local 118, Iron Workers Local 7 and United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 1445 and 791.

HODES BACK AT THE FIRM. The Shaheen and Gordon law firm announced Wednesday that it has been rejoined by former U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, who was previously with the firm from 1996 to 2004.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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Palm Beach Post (Florida)


April 26, 2012 Thursday
FINAL EDITION


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 8A


LENGTH: 1234 words


Why gut universities while creating another?

The article, "Scott OKs new university despite $300 million in cuts," reported that the same budget that resulted in cutting $300 million from the State University System created another state university, University of South Florida Polytechnic. Gov. Scott argued, "At a time when the number of graduates of Florida's universities in the (science, technology, engineering and medicine) fields is not projected to meet workforce needs, the establishment of Florida Polytechnic University will help us move the needle in the right direction."

So rather than adequately fund STEM programs at existing universities, the governor established another university. Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, who pushed for this university so hard that he singled out USF for budgetary punishment when it opposed his move, is term-limited. So I suppose we'll now hear that he will become the first president of Florida Polytechnic. After all, Gov. Scott appoints the board of trustees to the universities, and they select the president. Does anybody find this whole mess appalling, or is it business as usual in the great (?) state of Florida?

INGRID JOHANSON

Boca Raton

Try 'Manipulation County'

Following the political scene in Palm Beach County is both amusing and scary. The fiasco over the state attorney's race is a good example of the manipulative politics that is all too rampant ("Warnings lead judge to abandon campaign.")

In this most recent case involving the Dave Aronberg campaign, one factor should be apparent: County Commissioner Burt Aaronson is like a war horse who should turn in its reins before inflicting more damage.

NANCY GUNTHER

Delray Beach

New bureau should dig deep into bank overdraft practices

According to the article, "U.S. to review banks' policies on overdrafts," the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is going to review the practices of the major banks regarding this issue. Such a review is long overdue.

I hope that the bureau will investigate most banks' policies of always putting the largest debit through first, so that any smaller debits will create multiple overdrafts. This practice is an obvious attempt to create as much income from overdraft fees as possible. It is obvious that much of the $31.6 billion in overdraft fees paid to banks in 2011 is the result of this questionable, perhaps fraudulent, practice.

It is almost humorous that banks will claim that they are victims of fraud involving real estate mortgages and short-sale transactions. It would seem that people are simply following the example set by the banks. Most people realize that banks are under no obligation to cover a person's checking account overdrafts. They do it only to create revenue, and it is much more profitable than creating lines of credit for customers.

JIM WEIX

Palm City

Antonacci should convene grand jury on guns to felons

Kudos to Peter Antonacci, Palm Beach County's interim state attorney, for making operational changes ("New state attorney makes big changes in little time"). He is in a unique position to do so because he is not constrained by having to run for office.

I would like to see Mr. Antonacci add to his to-do list: Why is it so easy for felons and teenagers to get their hands on a firearm? Grand juries have been used successfully to investigate public corruption and the proliferation of pill mills. Why not for the proliferation of guns by felons? I recommend a grand jury to investigate gun violence. No one is more at risk of being shot than our police officers. Mr. Antonacci's reputation for fairness would, one would hope, remove any opposition from lawful gun owners.

HARVEY B. LEVINSON

Boca Raton

Editor's note: Harvey B. Levinson served in the Nassau County, N.Y., District Attorney's Office.

Candidates' treatment of pets certainly is relevant

In response to the commentary, "We've heard enough about Ronney's 'Crate-Gate,'" I disagree, and not because I think presidents have to be normal, as Alexendra Petri suggested.

In fact, I prefer that the president be better than normal -- smarter, more diplomatic, with more finesse, and, above everything else, kinder.

One of the reasons I voted for President Obama was that in 2008 I asked a campaign person if he had ever met Mr. Obama and, if so, what was he like. The person said he had, and that what struck him most was that Mr. Obama was kind. I've found that people who are kind to the "least of these thy brethren" are the best at any job, because without kindness they fail. I want a president who will look after all creation, not just the rich and corporate types.

SANDY WILSON

Port St. Lucie

Romney has best chance

Thank God Republicans in Florida had the good sense to pick the candidate who has the best chance to beat President Obama and not their favorite candidate. And now most of the other candidates have dropped out.

I'm a conservative, but I'm also a realist, so I voted for the candidate who can get the independent vote. You can't win an election against President Obama without the independent vote, and independents won't vote for a true conservative, unfortunately.

JEANINE ROWE

Atlantis

Obama's tax won't fix deficit

I am so tired of President Obama misleading the public to hide his poor job performance. His millionaires' tax would raise enough money to cover the deficit for only two days. Hopefully, my fellow independents are as tired as I am of this "obamanation" of a president.

WILLIAM RYAN

Boynton Beach

Senate must confirm water district appointees

It was reported that the Florida Senate failed to confirm hundreds of Gov. Scott's appointments. On the line are Melissa Meeker, the executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, and board members Daniel DeLisi, James Moran, Juan Portuondo, Timothy Sargent and Glenn Waldman. The terms of two other board members, Sandy Batchelor and Daniel O'Keefe, have expired, and they must be reappointed to continue.

Audubon Florida has urged their reappointment. Through the challenges of the past year -- severe drought, unprecedented budget cuts and new directions in Everglades restoration planning -- Ms. Meeker and the board have provided effective leadership when it has been needed most.

JANE GRAHAM

Miami

Editor's note: Jane Graham is Everglades policy associate for Audubon Florida.

Frommer has a point; better train service would be boon

Regarding the great article by Arthur Frommer, "New airline fees and other travel challenges await": We are encouraged to conserve energy and yet more roads and highways are being built for more car traffic, and airlines are taking on extra cost for luggage. As Mr. Frommer laughingly suggested in his article on budget travel, perhaps we should just wear all our clothes, thereby not having to have luggage.

I realize that road-building gives many people jobs. Would it not also give people jobs to build better trains and tracks? We fall far behind Europe. Why can't we have better train travel facilities? I know the argument is that our country is very big, but going from one country to another also covers a large territory.

I wanted to travel from Florida to Atlanta, and I know that there are train routes there, but I was told that I would have to take a train overnight to Washington, D.C., and then backtrack to Atlanta. Yes, train travel is not as fast as traveling by plane, but not everyone is in such a hurry. I'm not.

MELANIE BOUTON

Greenacres


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Providence Journal


April 26, 2012 Thursday


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


SECTION: NEWS; Commentary; Pg. 7


LENGTH: 532 words


Kitty Genovese redux

I think that what I find most horrifying about listening to the 911 tapes of the death of Trayvon Martin is how his cries for help went unanswered. One cowardly woman wouldn t even look out the window or let her husband go help.

The story of the murder of Catherine Susan Kitty Genovese immediately comes to mind. About a dozen people ignored her cries for help on that night in 1964 in Queens, N.Y. It s called the bystander effect. I studied it in psychology class but could never understand it. How can someone listen to that and just stand idly by.

Then I witnessed it first hand one time years ago when a car ended up in the water and 10 people stood by waiting for fire/rescue! I and two other men jumped in and were able to free the two occupants. I must admit that the sight of those people standing on the bank and doing nothing at all to help, including a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management park ranger, will always be imprinted in my mind.

Now, when I hear all of those cowards calling 911 from the safety of their locked homes while that boy struggles and screams for help, it doesn t surprise me. I am surprised only that nobody filmed it for YouTube.

James F. Drew

Providence

The flat-tax solution

With all the hype about our income taxes not being fair, with the rich paying a lesser percentage of their income compared with middle-class earners, there is only one way to make it fair. We need a flat tax with no deductions, and with everyone paying the same percentage of their income regardless of how it is obtained.

I cannot understand why that type of income tax is so objectionable.

Donald McCall

North Scituate

Journal s Romney bias

The Journal continues to push its agenda by endorsing political candidates like Mitt Romney and vilifying anyone else ( It s Romney in GOP race, editorial, April 19).

The media are not being truthful about Congressman Ron Paul. He is the only one with a plan to solve our nation s problems, stop unfunded, undeclared wars, and who actually respects and follows the Constitution. He also has more delegates than is being reported. Thousands of people come to hear him speak, but we are supposed to believe that these people don t vote.

Yet The Journal pushes Mitt Romney -- a man who supported the bank bailout in 2010, which benefited some of his top contributors, people from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America.

He supports illegal secret surveillance of U.S. citizens via the Patriot Act and would authorize the military to arrest U.S. citizens without warrant or trial or lawyer.

Alice Losasso

West Warwick

Who s being racist?

Regarding the letter of April 20 headlined Behind hatred of Obama, I was appalled that you chose to print such a vitriolic letter as that by Charles Lawrence, which ended in a terribly racist assumption.

I have never, ever read a story, column, article or letter written by a conservative that referred to President Obama s color in any pejorative way. Ever.

References to President Obama s color are always made by liberals; color is given as the reason that any of the president s words and/or actions are questioned. For shame.

Mary Weston

Newport


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Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)


April 26, 2012 Thursday


'Sorry' can't heal all wounds


BYLINE: Sentinel & Enterprise


SECTION: OPINION; Columnists


LENGTH: 475 words


By BILL MAXWELL

I sense that almost weekly an individual, organization, company or government somewhere in the United States publicly apologizes for doing something wrong.

A few public apologies during just the last two weeks: Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apologized to Ann Romney for saying she had never "worked a day in her life." Acura, the luxury carmaker, apologized for seeking a "not too dark" black actor for an ad. And most notably, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged to Afghanistan that U.S. soldiers were wrong to have posed in 2010 for photographs with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents.

Aaron Lazare, author of "On Apology," defines "apology" as "an encounter between two parties in which one party, the offender, acknowledges responsibility for an offense or grievance and expresses regret or remorse to a second party, the aggrieved.

President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1988 apologizing for the internment of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans following the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. The government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to the victims and their heirs.

In 2010, Congress passed a bill apologizing to American Indians. The bill stated in part that the government apologizes "on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by the citizens of the United States."

Several months after Obama became our first black president, Congress grudgingly approved a formal resolution apologizing for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery" of black Americans. The legislation also apologized for Jim Crow, the separate-but-equal system that followed emancipation. Unlike the Japanese legislation, the bill for blacks did not include reparations, still a major issue for millions of blacks.

During a White House ceremony in 1997, President Bill Clinton apologized for the government's role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. From 1932 to 1972, 399 black sharecroppers in Alabama were denied treatment for syphilis by physicians of the U.S. Public Health Service.

Have these apologies succeeded?

Lazare writes that "many offenses are experienced as assaults on the offended party's self-respect or dignity, and so a successful apology must somehow restore these vital aspects of the self in order to heal."

But restoring the self-respect or dignity of the offended party is only the first step. To be totally successful, apologies also must heal the damaged relationships between the aggrieved and the offender.

I cannot help but conclude that public apologies, even the sincerest, have not restored the self-respect and dignity of most victims of our atrocities. I am convinced we overestimate the power of such apologies.

Emailbmaxwell@sptimes.com .


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Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)


April 26, 2012 Thursday
METRO EDITION


Readers Write


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 10A


LENGTH: 1039 words


ROLE OF CORPORATIONS

Stadium supporters, show us the money

The April 25 column by Lori Sturdevant ("Going public at last, executives mean business on stadium") gave much food for thought. U.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis has testified on behalf of the stadium at numerous legislative committee meetings. Apparently Ecolab's Doug Baker is also part of an ad hoc group that originated with the intention of "keeping the Vikings in Minnesota for the next half century." Meanwhile, Target's vice president for property development, John Griffith, has evidently been involved behind the scenes at the mayor's office promoting the Vikings stadium ("Target Corp.'s stadium champion pushes deal," April 23).

According to testimony I have heard at the Legislature and Minneapolis City Council, these men feel the Vikings are an enormous civic asset that draws employees to the region and "puts us on the map." If they feel so strongly about this, note that the Fortune 500 companies in Minnesota made more than $400 billion last year. One quarter of 1 percent of that (very little to these companies, collectively) would build the stadium. Why not truly organize and put their money where their mouths continually seem to be?

If they fail to do so, their assertions will be revealed for the window dressing that they are: The stadium would be a wonderful amenity that supposedly will bring in new employees, and one whose luxury suites executives certainly will enjoy (and deduct as a business expense) -- as long as the taxpayers foot the bill.

For the record, I am a physician who moved here in 1990 (one who's paid plenty of taxes). My decision (and those of my non-native Minnesotan physician colleagues) to move to the Twin Cities had nothing at all to do with sports teams, and everything to do with quality of health care, schools, cultural amenities, attitudes toward healthy living, availability of parks and trails, and what I perceived (then, anyway) as respect for the environment.

LAURA J. LEHMANN, EDINA

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

Student loan dispute shows the fault lines

U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., say we can't afford to spend $6 billion a year to help keep student loans affordable ("Kline fights Obama's bid to cap student loan interest," April 25), yet they have no problem lobbying for a trillion-dollar tax cut that will do very little for students, or for continuing to spend more than half a trillion dollars per year on defense. We have both federal and state politicians making villains out of public employees, when in reality their burden on the taxpayer is relatively small. These fights are symbolic and cowardly, as they do nothing to address the serious problems our country faces.

In France, it's looking like a socialist could be elected president as part of a backlash against huge budget cuts and other austerity measures. A real socialist, by the way, not the type that Barack Obama is accused of being by some people who flunked out of civics class.

How much further do Kline, McConnell and their ilk think they can push the masses before America meets a similar fate as France? How out of touch with the public can our politicians be before we show them the door? I hope to find out, sooner rather than later.

BOBBY KAHN, MINNEAPOLIS

Role of diplomacy

A country can't ignore those it doesn't like

Roxana Saberi's assertion that it "won't be time to resume ties with Iran until there are people in power there who have earned legitimacy other than by using force" betrays a sad but common misunderstanding of what diplomacy is all about ("Roxana Saberi's insights on Iranians," Rash Report, April 21). Should we have no ties with China? How about Saudi Arabia, a critical oil supplier? Or Sudan, or Bahrain, where an absolute monarch suppresses the majority but we home-port our Fifth Fleet?

The point of having ties with countries isn't to be nice, or because the other country is nice -- it's to serve our national interests. We need to have channels for talking with the Chinese, the Saudis, even the Burmese, where we have maintained an embassy throughout the period of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest. In all these countries, the government is in place by force. We even have a diplomatic presence in Cuba, where we don't have an embassy but are officially an Interest Section under Swiss diplomatic protection.

One reason we have so much trouble with Iran is that we have had no presence there for a long time, and thus have few experts who understand it well. We certainly have no day-to-day, official knowledge of how that country is operating. As Saberi notes, many Iranians are in fact very positive about Americans, and even about the United States. But how many Americans know that, since we have no one there officially to hear and report back?

Iran is a difficult country to understand, to communicate with, to talk with. That's all true. But saying we can't have ties until they change misunderstands why we have embassies, and is one part of why as a nation we understand so little about the forces affecting the world we live in.

WILLIAM DAVNIE, MINNEAPOLIS

Role of voters

Breeziness knows no party bounds

An April 25 letter writer lamented the fact that while knocking on doors for Tarryl Clark, he too often heard "I really haven't been paying attention."

Our society is not paying attention and does not take the time to investigate voting options prior to actually voting. Instead people rely on the 15- to 20-second sound bites heard on TV. Maybe many of our citizens are unable to concentrate any longer than that.

One story I like was when I asked one of my relatives why she voted for Mark Dayton for governor. Her response was, "Well, they always had nice department stores."

MIKE MCLean, Richfield

Role of a leader

Business and politics: The crucial difference

Many Romney supporters claim that a business background is critical for the presidency. But CEOs are accustomed to a much more autocratic environment. When a CEO says "jump," the minions say, "How high?" When the president makes a proposal, Congress not only may refuse to act, its members may fiercely criticize the proposal in public. How many businesspeople are ready for that?

JANET G. EKERN, ST. PAUL


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The Washington Post


April 26, 2012 Thursday
Correction Appended
Met 2 Edition


Behind the ads, faceless donors


BYLINE: Dan Eggen


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1237 words


Nearly all of the independent advertising being aired for the 2012 general-election campaign has come from interest groups that do not disclose their donors, suggesting that much of the political spending over the next six months will come from sources invisible to the public.

Politically active nonprofit groups that do not reveal their funding sources have spent $28.5 million on advertising related to the November presidential matchup, or about 90 percent of the total through Sunday, a Washington Post analysis shows.

Most of the ad spending has come in swing states from conservative groups that criticize President Obama's policies, the data show. Secretive groups have spent tens of millions more targeting congressional races, again mainly in support of Republicans.

The numbers signal a shifthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-money-is-funding-more-election-ads/2012/02/03/gIQAfTxEuQ_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com away from super PACs, which are required to disclose their donors to the Federal Election Commission and which have overwhelmed spending in the Republican primary contest. Instead, the battle between Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney appears likely to be dominated by a shadow campaign run by big-spending nonprofits that do not have to identify their financial backers.

Under tax and election laws, most nonprofits, including many that spend money to run ads during election season, are not required to publicly reveal their donors, unlike more purely political groups.

The pattern underscores the growing influence of corporations and wealthy individuals in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that made it easier to spend unlimited money on elections. The numbers also suggest that many well-off donors are increasingly opting for the confidentiality of nonprofits rather than allowing the public scrutiny that comes from giving to super PACs or candidates.

"I think there is a potential to see a tremendous amount of money flowing through these nonprofit groups," said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates greater disclosure for political organizations and candidates. "For an awful lot of donors, it's a very attractive way to give without leaving any kind of footprint."

Crossroads GPS, the largest of the independent pro-Republican groups, said it raised nearly $40 million from unidentified donors in the first three months of this year, compared with less than $10 million taken in by its affiliated super PAC, American Crossroads, which discloses contributors, according to documents and officials.

The Crossroads groups have run more than $12 million in anti-Obama ads this cycle, almost all of them paid for by the secretive nonprofit arm, according to data from Kantar Media/Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks ad spending. Recent tax records showed that 90 percent of the $76 million the nonprofit arm raised through 2011 came from unidentified donors who gave $1 million or more, including two who gave $10 million each.

Many of the spots aired by groups such as Crossroads GPS are considered "issue ads" because they do not specifically urge viewers to vote for a particular candidate. The strategy allows them to conform to Internal Revenue Service rules for "social welfare" groups, which do not have to disclose their donors as long as their "primary purpose" is not politics.

One Crossroads GPS spot currently running in Virginia, for example, castigates the president for high energy prices. "No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much," the narrator says. "Tell Obama: Stop blaming others and work to pass better energy policies."

The ad, despite its anti-Obama message, is not explicitly for or against any candidate and so is not considered election-related under FEC and IRS guidelines. That means the money spent to air the spot - about $204,000 in the Richmond, Charlottesville and Washington markets - will not count as part of the group's political budget, experts say.

"We are still very early in the cycle, with virtually all of last year and the first quarter dedicated to framing legislative and regulatory issues with conservative messaging," said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the Crossroads groups. "As we approach the elections, more of our expenditures will be political and election-focused."

The Post analysis included spending on ads since the start of the 2012 cycle that mentioned Obama or the general election, but not ads that were aired as part of the Republican primary contest.

In addition to spending by Crossroads, top expenditures on anti-Obama issue ads include $7 million from Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group with ties to oil billionaires Charles and David Koch; $3 million from the American Future Fund, a nonprofit conservative group based in Iowa; and at least $3.3 million from the American Energy Alliance, a group supported in part by the energy industry.

Liberal groups have spent little in comparison. The Environmental Defense Fund and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have each spent about $1.1 million on ads related to the presidential general election, the data show. Most of the money on the left, particularly from labor unions, is expected to be spent on grass-roots organizing rather than advertising.

Benjamin Cole, communications director for the American Energy Alliance, said the estimated $4 million that the group has spent on television, radio and Internet ads "is just a fraction of what we're expecting to spend" by November. He said the group is proud that it "fired the jump ball for the general election" with an ad running in 10 swing states that criticizes Obama's energy policies and warns of $9-a-gallon gasoline.

"Almost overnight it became Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on energy," Cole said. "There's no problem with that. We want the conversation about energy, and we're happy to keep that conversation going."

Nonetheless, Cole said, the group's aims are primarily educational and nonpartisan. He noted that the group has criticized Romney, giving him its "Dim Bulb Award" last week for saying in 2003 that coal energy "kills people."

Watchdog groups have long complained about a lack of disclosure by tax-exempt advocacy organizations, and Democrats have pushed for stronger requirements. Last month, a federal judge in Washington ordered the FEC to write tougher disclosure rules for nonprofits that run ads within 60 days of an election, but it's unclear whether the agency will act on the matter before November.

Much of the advocacy spending related to the presidential election will go undocumented until 2013, when interest groups file their annual reports with the IRS.

Super PACs also have come under fire for transparency because many donations to the groups are from entities that are hard to trace. Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC that has raised $52 million, said it would revise its FEC disclosures this week after news organizations questioned a $400,000 donation linked to a defunct company address.

Spokeswoman Brittany Gross said the listing was the result of a "clerical error." She said the filing will be updated to show a pair of $200,000 contributions from Gerald and Darlene Jordan, who were hosts of a recent fundraiser for Romney at their home in Palm Beach, Fla.

eggend@washpost.com

Staff writer T.W. Farnam contributed to this report.


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CORRECTION-DATE: April 28, 2012



CORRECTION: A chart with the continuation of an April 26 Page One article about campaign ad spending by nonprofit groups that do not reveal their donors incorrectly characterized the Environmental Defense Fund's ad spending as anti-Mitt Romney. It should have been labeled pro-Barack Obama.


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The Washington Times


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Inside the Beltway


BYLINE: By Jennifer Harper THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, NATION; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 1114 words


W WHEELS

The Secret Service already has gone over the rocky desert trail with sharp eyes and a fine-toothed comb, making way for former President George W. Bush, 24 wounded warriors and a slew of mountain bikes - all arriving Thursday in Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas.

It's time for the second annual "Warrior 100K" - a 100-kilometer (62 mile) three-day ride across rough terrain under big skies, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center for disabled veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The extended weekend will center on "riding and comradery" with Mr. Bush, an avid biker who likely wear will the same contestant number he wore last year: "43," naturally.

There will be some splendid catered meals along the way, two staged in a brand new park pavilion decorated in the signature "colors of the canyon," according to organizers, and another in the rustic American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum in Amarillo itself. The event has drawn much support from a wide ranging group of sponsors, including Trek bikes, American Airlines, Bell Helicopters and Jelly Belly jellybeans. See www.w100k.com for news and updates.

JAMMIN' WITH 'BAM

1,550: that's the number of news accounts that mentioned the phrases "The Preezy of the United Steezy," "Barack Ness Monster" and "POTUS with the mostest" after President Obama was introduced with such titles during a guest appearance Tuesday night on NBC's "Jimmy Fallon Show." Naturally, the Republican National Committee has already been inspired by Mr. Obama's appearance to produce a three-minute video entitled "A Tale of Two Leaders," showcasing the contrasting styles of both.

Meanwhile, how'd the "Preezy" play out in Hipsterville?

"Obama 'slow jams' a campaign ad ... What he did was deliver a campaign ad with a fairly standard script, painting himself as an ally of middle-class students, and Republicans as the playthings of billionaires" (Slate.com cultural bloggers David Haglund and L.V. Anderson).

"Treads thin line between cool and cringe," (Daily Telegraph music writer Lucy Jones).

"Maybe President Obama should slow jam all of his policy speeches,"(Hollywood Reporter correspondent Jordan Sakarin).

CHEERIO, MR. PRESIDENT

Memo to Republicans: Every iota of support counts among Democrats who will pursue votes and positive buzz wherever they can find it. The party will stage a weeklong official "Global Primary" in five cities throughout England and Scotland beginning Sunday. This is organized fare, and rife with Yankee town-hall touches like music and grand speeches.

"This is the only opportunity American citizens have to physically participate in the U.S. election outside the country and its territories. The Republican Party does not hold a primary for its global members," says Rob Carolina, chairman of Democrats Abroad UK, who urges loyal overseas Dems to get out the vote "to help us return President Obama to the White House."

JOE GROWS FANGS

The Democratic din grows louder Thursday. Vice President Joseph R. Biden ventures to the Brookings Institution to talk up the glories of White House foreign policy, not 24 hours after Sen. Marco Rubio appeared on that very same dais, holding forth on that very same topic. The Florida Republican had much to say about Republican prowess in global matters, perhaps fueling the dreams of those who envision a Romney-Rubio ticket.

But Mr. Biden also is using his moment at Brookings on Thursday for vigorous purpose. President Obama's re-election campaign did not mince words about it:

"The Vice President will contrast the administration's record with the empty rhetoric of Governor Mitt Romney, who continues to distort and mischaracterize the President's accomplishments on foreign policy and national security without offering policy alternatives of his own," the campaign announced in a preliminary salvo.

MARCO GROWS FANGS

"My purpose today was not to catalogue our interests in every corner of the planet. My purpose was to argue that the world is a better place because of American engagement in it, and it will continue to get better only if we continue to engage.

"I disagree with the way in which the current administration has chosen to engage. For while there are few global problems we can solve by ourselves, there are virtually no global problems that can be solved without us. In confronting the challenges of our time, there are more nations than ever capable of contributing, but there is still only one nation capable of leading."

The aforementioned Sen. Marco Rubio, during his speech before the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. See the 34-minute address here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hb31bEa0mg

FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS

"Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by 17 percentage points, 54 percent to 37 percent, among very religious voters in Gallup's latest five-day presidential election tracking average. Obama leads by 14 points, 54 percent to 40 percent, among the moderately religious, and by 31 points, 61 percent to 30 percent, among those who are nonreligious," says Gallup director Frank Newport, who released poll findings Wednesday identifying "religiousness" as a key factor in voter support (www.gallup.com).

"One confounding factor in these results is the reality that black Americans are highly religious and highly likely to be Protestants, while at the same time very likely to be Democrats. In the latest weekly election aggregate, for example, 48 percent of black voters are very religious and only 12 percent are nonreligious, but at the same time, 89 percent support Obama," Mr. Newport later adds.

"Thus, with nonwhites factored out of the analysis, Romney leads by 24 points among white Protestants, and by 41 points among very religious white Protestants. This latter group is the functional equivalent of the group of voters often called evangelicals."

POLL DU JOUR

* 49 percent of Americans say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns than to control gun ownership.

* 72 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats agree.

* 60 percent of men, 39 percent of women, 57 percent of whites and 35 percent of blacks agree.

* 43 percent overall oppose legal marriage among gays and lesbians.

* 68 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of independents and 31 percent of Democrats agree.

* 48 percent of men, 39 percent of women, 43 percent of whites and 49 percent of blacks agree.

* 56 percent of Protestants and 42 percent of Catholics also oppose legal marriage among gays and lesbians.

Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey of 3,008 U.S. adults, conducted April 4 to 15.

* Bike routes, churlish remarks, accolades to jharper@washingtontimes.com


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The White House Bulletin


April 26, 2012 Thursday


Obama Up Eight Points Over Romney In National Journal Poll


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 201 words


President Obama leads Mitt Romney 47%-39% among adults according to a Congressional Connection Poll released by National Journal and United Technologies on Thursday morning. The poll found broad discontent among the public with 80% believing that the two parties have been bickering and fighting more than usual this year, 46% saying that Congress has accomplished less than previous ones, and with 64% expressing "no confidence" or "not much confidence" that the US government will make progress over the next year on the most important issues facing the country. "The people who are cock-eyed optimists are very much in the minority," National Journal Daily editor Matthew Cooper said. Overall 13% approve of the job Congress is doing, with 77% disagreeing. Nevertheless the data shows slight mollification among the public in its discontent, with the numbers all having improved somewhat in recent months. Indeed, a slight plurality (33%) expressed a belief that more would get accomplished in Washington after the elections with divided government, with 28% saying total Democratic control would accomplish more and 25% favoring complete GOP control to accomplish more. -- Bulletin exclusive from U.S. News


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 26, 2012 Thursday 12:09 AM GMT


Former White House chief of staff talks about job


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 453 words


DATELINE: CHICAGO


Former White House chief of staff William Daley, speaking Wednesday at a Chicago public affairs breakfast, said the business sector thinks President Barack Obama is "like Marx or something" but that most Americans think the president has been too easy on the financial sector.

Daley, who became chief of staff after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel resigned, also spoke about his involvement in the decision to target Osama bin Laden, calling it "biggest moment of my life in a professional sense" but conceding that Obama had little hard evidence of bin Laden's whereabouts before ordering the attack that ultimately killed him.

Daley said Obama rolled the dice with the raid, contending no judge would issue a search warrant for bin Laden's home in Abbottabad, Pakistan, based on the evidence gathered by intelligence agencies.

"They would have looked at you and said, `bring me something real here,'" he said.

Obama tapped Daley as chief of staff in part because his experience in the business world would help him work with Republicans. The former J.P. Morgan Chase executive said he was surprised to find just how resolute Republicans were against any compromise which could create a success for Obama.

Daley, who quit the White House after a year, said the reaction to Obama by business people is like "he's destroyed the world and the financial services industry as we know it.

"Most of the public today believes the president has been too light on the financial service sector. Nobody's gone to jail. He didn't nationalize the banks," Daley said. "The president has a very difficult time with the business community. Most people in business and most people who are successful are Republican that's just a fact of life."

According to Daley, it is only natural that the lack of civility in society as a whole has brought, "nastiness, the meanness, the sort of crassness, coarseness" to politics. He added that the constant flow of information, some of it factual and some agenda-driven and erroneous, isn't helping.

"We have a very serious challenge ahead of us in this new world we're in of how you govern, of how you are deliberative, how the process can deal with major issues and deliberate and talk it through and debate it in a serious way over time when we're now moving to a society that's all about instantaneous action," he said.

Daley also said Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can run the country like a CEO runs a company.

"I laugh when I see this idea that somehow the `CEO' is going to come in and take control and drive, that's just not real," Daley said. "The president can go to war and doesn't really have to ask anybody's approval. But domestically ..."


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The Christian Science Monitor


April 27, 2012 Friday


Obama's cool factor: what Romney can do to counter it (+video);
Instead of just ignoring Obama cool, the Republicans are taking it on and arguing why he should be voted out. A 'super PAC' supporting the Romney campaign has produced a new video for this purpose.


BYLINE: Linda Feldmann Staff writer


LENGTH: 696 words


Republicans know that in a battle of "cool," Mitt Romney doesn't stand a chance against President Obama.

While Mr. Obama slow-jammed the news on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" - giving the show its highest viewership in two years - Mr. Romney's biggest cultural moment of the week was ... what? Sitting at a picnic table with Republican voters in Bethel Park, Pa., in his crisp white shirt and necktie, turning up his nose at the cookies? Turns out they were from a beloved local bakery. Oops.

Maybe that's not fair. After all, being cool isn't a prerequisite for the presidency, even with young voters. And certainly, Team Obama is playing up its advantage. It's not by chance that Obama's image mavens gave Rolling Stone magazine an interview with the president, landing him on the cover of the latest issue.

But instead of just ignoring Obama cool, the Republicans are hanging a lantern on it, saying, in effect, We get it, and here's why you should vote him out anyway.

That's the essence of a new video out Thursday by American Crossroads, the big conservative "super political-action committee" that's supporting the Romney campaign. The 45-second message is mostly a montage of cool Obama moments - appearing on Jimmy Fallon, singing Al Green, calling Kanye West an expletive. Then the music stops, and the harsh statistics appear: Half of recent college grads are either jobless or underemployed. Eighty-five percent of college grads are moving in with their parents, according to a study out last May. Student-loan debt just crossed the $1 trillion mark.

"We'll likely push a version of that through online advertising as the president is taking his campaign to college campuses across the country," says Jonathan Collegio, communications director of American Crossroads. "Americans elected a pop-culture icon for president in 2008, and in 2012 we're seeing the results of his economy."

The video is reminiscent of one the McCain campaign ran in 2008, highlighting Obama's global celebrity - and comparing him to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Says Democratic strategist Peter Fenn: "I ask my Republican friends, how well did that ad work out for you?"

Plus, doesn't a video that hits Obama for being cool just enhance the coolness?

"If at this point, a voter thinks Obama's coolness is more important than the fact they can't get a job, we're probably not going to sway those people," says Mr. Collegio. "And there are those people out there."

But, he and other Republicans point out, not only do polls show that plenty of young undecided voters are open to Romney, but they also show that young voters might not bother to turn out this time. Four years ago, Obama beat John McCain among 18- to 29-year-olds, 66 percent to 32 percent. A Gallup poll this week shows roughly the same margin between Obama and Romney, but only 56 percent of this cohort say they definitely plan to vote. That's lower than the other age groups.

And coolness does in fact matter when it comes to elections, especially when it's the presidency, Mr. Fenn says.

"Voting for president is the most personal vote you cast, because you really care about who's president," he says. "So you want to make sure there's a connection, that they're striking a responsive chord with you."

Is there a way to make Romney cool? Politico ran a piece recently suggesting the Obama campaign was "Draperizing" Mitt Romney - that is, trying to make him into a retro figure like Don Draper on the hit TV show "Mad Men." There's certainly a cool element to Draper, at least in the cut of his suits and jaunty angle of his hats.

But apparently Obama strategist David Axelrod had something else in mind. He recently joked that Romney "must watch 'Mad Men' and think it's the evening news," while also accusing him of holding views from a time when "bosses could dictate on women's health," Politico notes.

Collegio of American Crossroads suggests a redefinition of "cool" might be in order.

"I think for a broad swath of America, what's cool is having five great kids, making a fortune in the private sector, loving your wife, and having a great record as governor," he says. "Maybe there's a lot more substance there than style."


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CNN Wire


April 27, 2012 Friday 10:36 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3317 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Sarah Aarthun -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A suicide bombing in a Damascus neighborhood killed nine people Friday -- most of them government forces -- and further unraveled an already tenuous ceasefire, Syrian state media reported.

POL-Secret-Service (will update)

The Secret Service agent at the center of the Colombia prostitution scandal has been identified as Arthur Huntington, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Friday.

US-Tuscaloosa-Tornado-Anniversary (will update)

The pounding of hammers inside his home is probably the sweetest sound in the world to Tuscaloosa resident Gary Limmroth. It's the sound of progress. One year ago, he barely made it into his basement as a massive tornado with winds up to 200 mph picked up his home, churned it into pieces and threw it all over his Forest Lake neighborhood.

POL-EPA-Criticism

Facing an onslaught of condemnation by Congress, the White House and the EPA for controversial comments made in 2010, the head of the EPA's Dallas, Texas office was served notice Friday that Congress is preparing to call him to testify.

Texas-Border-Patrol-Shooting

A U.S. investigation of a controversial fatal shooting of a 15-year old Mexican youth by a U.S. Border Patrol agent has been closed without prosecution because of "insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal charges", the Justice Department announced Friday.

China-Guagua-Car

Taking on allegations that he leads a playboy lifestyle, on Tuesday the son of beleagured former Communist leader Bo Xilai denied rumors that he used to drive a Ferrari. But he was driving a Porsche when he received three traffic tickets over the past two years, according to an official with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

China-Activist-Escape (monitoring)

A prominent Chinese human rights activist has called for an investigation into corrupt and cruel officials after saying he escaped from house arrest in an eastern province and fled to Beijing.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

POL-Secret-Service

The Secret Service agent at the center of the Colombia prostitution scandal has been identified as Arthur Huntington, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Friday.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent Chinese human rights activist has called for an investigation into corrupt and cruel officials after saying he escaped from house arrest in an eastern province and fled to Beijing.

CNN SHOWCASE

US-Tuscaloosa-Tornado-Anniversary -- By Rich Phillips

The pounding of hammers inside his home is probably the sweetest sound in the world to Tuscaloosa resident Gary Limmroth. It's the sound of progress.One year ago, he barely made it into his basement as a massive tornado with winds up to 200 mph picked up his home, churned it into pieces and threw it all over his Forest Lake neighborhood. "It sucked the air out of the room, like someone trying to beat on the door violently to get in, and then 60 seconds later, it was the quietest quiet you never heard," he said. Limmroth emerged unscathed and watched as the mammoth storm continued its rampage through Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. The twister stayed on the ground for about six minutes, officials say. Fifty-three people were killed in the city that day.

SPORT-Janet-Evans-Comeback -- By Michael Martinez and Tim Clark

She was remembered in her last Olympics 16 years ago -- a near lifetime in an athlete's career -- as a diminutive figure whose size belied her big ambitions and ability to win Olympic gold. Janet Evans, at 5-foot-6 and 108 pounds, is now 40 years old, and just as Dara Torres made an extraordinary comeback at age 41 to be the oldest swimmer in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Evans is now seeking her own Act 2. Evans has qualified to participate in late June's trials to make the U.S. Olympic Team, and if she makes the cut, she will go on to compete in the London Games in July.

INTERNATIONAL

China-Oil-Spill

Months after agreeing to a $160 million settlement, ConocoPhillips and China announced that the energy giant will pay an additional $191 million in the wake of oil spills last year in north China's Bohai Bay.

China-Activist-Details

Chen Guangcheng's voice is unwavering. For a man who has endured four years in prison and then 18 more months under house arrest, he appears calm and resolute. Chen has posted a video online, detailing his extraordinary ordeal. The blind human rights activist is finally getting a chance to tell his story after a daring escape from his captors.

France-Politician-Uses-Offensive-Song

Jay-Z and Kanye West's recent hit "Niggas in Paris" is about them. They rap about being so phenomenally rich, about how they "ball so hard," buy Rolexes and cars, pop gold bottles with models in Paris nightclubs, that the rest of us slobs couldn't fathom their lives. It may seem like an odd choice for a campaign song for a politician trying to appeal to oppressed racial and ethnic minorities. But it's apparently working for -- or at least not hurting -- Francois Hollande.

Brazil-Embassy-Prostitution

A former prostitute plans to sue the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, alleging that members of its security team in December threw her from a van and ran over her, the woman's attorney said.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Friday that President Hugo Chavez is recovering well from cancer treatment and is in full control of all that is going on in the country.

Yemen-US-Strikes

The White House has approved plans by the Pentagon and the CIA to conduct strikes in Yemen against al Qaeda operatives even if U.S. officials do not know the identities of the individuals it's attacking, according to a U.S. official.

Israel-Requests-Demolition-Delay

The Israeli government asked the country's high court Friday for a delay in the scheduled demolition of an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost.

Syria-Unrest

A suicide bombing in a Damascus neighborhood killed nine people, Syrian state media said Friday. It was the second bomb blast of the day to rock the Syrian capital

Romania-Government-Collapse

Romania's government collapsed Friday after a censure motion filed by the opposition won approval in Parliament.

Ukraine-Blasts

A wave of bombings erupted in an eastern Ukrainian city, leaving 27 people injured Friday, the country's Emergencies Ministry said.

Denmark-Arrests

Three people were arrested in Copenhagen Friday on suspicion of planning a terror attack, Denmark's Security and Intelligence Service said.

Netherlands-Elections

Parliamentary elections will be held in the Netherlands on September 12, the government announced Friday.

France-Election-Campaign

French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande vowed Friday to crack down on illegal immigration, as he and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy battle to win over the public ahead of a second-round vote. Hollande, of the center-left Socialist party, will hold a rally in the central city of Limoges Friday evening, while Sarkozy addresses supporters in Dijon, to the east.

UK-Security-Situation

The man at the center of a security alert in central London Friday has been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.A search of the building on Tottenham Court Road is under way and no hostages have been identified, a spokesman said.

Sudans-Conflict

The spiraling conflict between the Sudans has exacerbated issues for tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees who are desperate for water and facing the threat of fatal diseases, an international aid organization says.

Pakistan-Politics-Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on Friday refused to step down following his conviction for contempt by the Supreme Court, saying that only parliament had the right to force him from office.

Bin-Laden-Advice

No sooner did Osama bin Laden get killed than his advice was being ignored by his adherents. That revelation is included in Peter Bergen's blockbuster article in Time magazine describing the al Qaeda leader's life in Abbottabad. Bergen, who is also a CNN national security analyst, has seen some of the documents seized by the U.S. Special Operations Forces during the bin Laden raid a year ago.

Britain-China-Heywood

Britain has denied that a British businessman whose death in a provincial Chinese city is at the heart of a huge political scandal in China was a spy working for the British government.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent blind Chinese activist has made a dramatic escape from house arrest in the province of Shandong and fled to Beijing, a friend and fellow activist said Friday.

Japan-US-Okinawa

Thousands of Marines and their families will be transferred off Okinawa under an agreement that will reduce the American military footprint in Japan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said late Thursday.

MONEY-Spain-Jobs-Growth

Spain's notoriously stagnant job market is at the root of its economic crisis, which is a serious problem that is expected to get worse before it gets better ... if it gets better. "The rate of job destruction proved to be very worrying," wrote Societe General analysts Michala Marcussen and Michel Martinez on Friday, after the Spanish government reported that its unemployment rate rocketed to a record high of 24.4% in the first quarter.

MONEY-Peoples-Daily-IPO

Propaganda doesn't pay? Actually it's pretty lucrative ... at least if you're a media outlet backed by the Chinese government.

MONEY-Nokia-Samsung

Nokia is now the world's second-largest cell phone company, ending a 14-year run at the top. Samsung took over the top spot, shipping 92 million cell phones in the first quarter, compared to the 83 million that Nokia shipped, according to IHS iSuppli. It was the first time since 1998, when Nokia surpassed Motorola, that Nokia was outpaced in cell phone shipments.

U.S.A.

Florida-Zimmerman-Money

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of wrongly killing Trayvon Martin, will not immediately have to turn over donations made to his website, a Florida judge said Friday.Zimmerman collected about $204,000 in donations through the website, but did not disclose the contributions during his bond hearing last week, according to his attorney, Mark O'Mara.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former campaign aide for John Edwards said in court Friday that he had been intimidated in his dealings with the former senator and two high-priced donors.

US-Kent-State-Shootings-Archives-Audio

The Justice Department has declined to reopen an investigation into the 1970 shootings at Kent State University that left four student protesters dead, after the agency found that enhanced audio recordings of the incident were inconclusive as to whether an order to fire was given.

POL-Secret-Service-Grassley

The White House has ignored a deadline to provide answers to a senior Senate Republican about the Secret Service prostitution scandal, an aide to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Friday.

US-NTSB-Gulf-Crash-Report

Pilot Peter Hertzak, a cosmetic surgeon, took off on a solo flight from Slidell Municipal Airport in Slidell, Louisiana, last Friday in his twin-engine Cessna 421C en route to Sarasota, Florida. Some three hours later, his plane descended in a fatal death spiral into the Gulf of Mexico. What happened in between still has federal investigators looking for clues.

US-Tigers-Outfielder-Arrest

Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested in Manhattan early Friday and charged with aggravated harassment after a dispute with another man, New York police said.

US-New-York-Space-Shuttle

The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet, swooped across the New York City skyline on Friday before touching down at the city's John F. Kennedy International Airport, bringing an end to its final flight.

POL-Obama-Video-Bin-Laden

Former President Bill Clinton praised President Barack Obama's decision making process in last year's military raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a new web video out Friday by Obama's re-election team. The campaign video also questions whether Republican challenger Mitt Romney would have made the same call as the president.

POL-Warren-Tax-Returns

Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's campaign released the last four years of her tax returns Friday, reporting income that peaked at nearly $981,000 in 2009.

POL-Tea-Party-Upgraded

While loud and raucous rallies are still a part of the tea party toolbox, the movement, which came to life over dissatisfaction with big government and anger over government bailouts and President Barack Obama's health care reform, is evolving.

POL-Politics-Faith

Is Washington a holy city? It might seem that way, with all the talk about religion and morality in the 2012 election. But all that God talk may be rubbing voters the wrong way.

POL-House-Student-Loans

President Barack Obama would veto a measure proposed by House Republicans to extend lower interest rates on federal student loans because it would take money from a health care fund that benefits women and children, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

POL-Scott-Brown-Tax-Returns

Republican Sen. Scott Brown's income more than doubled when he entered the Senate due in large part to a book advance he received after winning the Massachusetts special election, according to tax returns released Friday by his campaign.

POL-Pat-Boone-Lugar

Conservative crooner Pat Boone lent his voice and support to Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana via a radio ad on Friday in hopes of helping the six-term incumbent beat back a challenge from the right.

POL-Boehner-VP-Picks

House Speaker John Boehner named three Republicans as potential vice presidential picks for Mitt Romney, but said there is a "long list" of qualified candidates. The top Republican in Congress said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana fit his criteria that the pick be capable of serving as president.

MONEY-Ford-Earnings

Ford Motor's U.S. comeback continued in the first three months of 2012, but the economic crisis in Europe and weak sales ended up cutting the company's first-quarter profit.

MONEY-Flash-Sales

The phenomenon known as the flash sale is starting to flame out, forcing some of the bigger players in the industry to reinvent themselves. Daily deal and flash-sale websites broke new ground by offering steep discounts for a limited time only. But now shoppers are showing signs of fatigue after racing against the clock and being inundated with emails.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

A surge in gasoline prices earlier this year sparked talk of $5 a gallon by this summer, but prices at the pump have been ticking lower in April, and it appears they'll continue falling as the driving season approaches.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks moved higher Friday, as upbeat corporate results outweighed a weaker-than-expected report on first-quarter economic growth.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS and COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY-Gergen-Polarized-Politics

From FDR in the 1930s on, some have argued that parties should be polarized. We're now seeing consequences of Democrats as liberal party, GOP as conservative one, authors say.

US-NFL-Draft-Mr.-Irrelevant

The nation waits with bated breath. Who, they wonder, will the Indianapolis Colts take on draft day? Will it be Penn State's Derek Moye? Maybe University of Nevada corner Isaiah Frey? Marquis Maze of Alabama and Syracuse's Nick Provo could get the nod, as well. If you're confused, calling me an idiot or asking, "Didn't they already take Andrew Luck?" that's OK. Perhaps you don't understand what matters. Mr. Irrelevant matters. That's what former NFL wide receiver Paul Salata has been trying to get across to people for the past 37 years. Since 1976, Salata has hosted Irrelevant Week as a charity event in honor of the last player taken in the NFL draft. This year, the Colts' have the 253rd pick.

MONEY-Thebuzz

May begins next week. Or, as I like to call it, the 17th month of 2011. Sure, the calendar may say 2012. But with economic growth in the United States remaining painfully slow, Europe's debt crisis still at a boiling point and fears of a slowdown in China not going away, it's beginning to look eerily like last year.

POL-Rhetorical-Pornography

We've all heard it, since we were schoolkids knocking about on the playground: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me." A saying with good intent, to be sure, designed to steel young minds, and hearts, against the inevitable bruises that come with sharing childhood and adolescence with other children and adolescents. But did any of us ever believe it was true? Even today -- now that we're older, hopefully wiser, having experienced the heartaches of everyday life more fully than we may have as kids -- is it a statement we can stand behind? We don't think so.

Farming-Ancient-People

One of the outstanding mysteries of human history is how agriculture spread across Europe, replacing the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Did farmers migrate, bringing a culture of plant and animal domestication that took over? Or did local hunter-gatherer groups merely adopt ideas about those practices? A new study in the journal Science provides new insights. Researchers suggest that farmers and hunter-gatherers were genetically distinct groups that intermingled after the migration of the agriculturally savvy people.

TRAVEL-Hawaii-Travel-Tips

Looking to get to Hawaii without blowing your son's college fund? Want to experience the islands but not sure when to go? Here's how to avoid costly and exhausting mistakes during your Hawaiian vacation.

MED-soda-obesity

Pushing her meal cart into the hospital room, a research assistant hands out tall glasses of reddish-pink liquid, along with a gentle warning: "Remember, you guys have to finish all your Kool-Aid." One by one, young volunteers chug down their drinks, each carefully calibrated to contain a mix of water, flavoring and a precisely calibrated solution of high fructose corn syrup: 55% fructose, 45% glucose. The participants are part of an ongoing study run by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis. Volunteers agree to spend several weeks as lab rats: their food carefully measured, their bodies subjected to a steady dose of scans and blood tests. At first, each volunteer receives meals with no added sugars. But then, the sweetened drinks start showing up.

MED-Sugar-Substitutes

Sweet tooth? You're not alone. Sugary foods and beverages are delicious. But we've also learned they can be highly addictive and, too much of them, can take a serious toll on our health.

SPORT-Afghanistan-paralympian

Inside a sparkling new pool house off a dusty, bustling street in Afghanistan's capital, sits a young man with a dream. Malek Mohammad, an 18-year-old double amputee, has already overcome so many challenges in his young life, some might be tempted to think he requires no assistance whatsoever.

TECH-Google-Zerg-Rush

Feeling besieged by pesky little problems today? You might want to be careful with your Google searches. Users who look up the term "Zerg rush" Friday are finding the latest in a series of geeky Easter eggs planted by the search giant's engineers. The search produces a swarm of marauding "O's" which inevitably destroy virtually everything on the search-results page.

TRAVEL-Hawaii-Travel-Tips

Looking to get to Hawaii without blowing your son's college fund? Want to experience the islands but not sure when to go? Here are some do's and don'ts for your your Hawaiian vacation.

ENT-Love-Jones-Think-Like-A-Man

It's been 15 years since Darius and Nina fell in love after that pivotal poetry reading in Chicago, but fans of "Love Jones" are still talking about the pair's epic romance. A highbrow, dramatic love story between two young African-Americans, "Love Jones" grossed a mere $12 million at the domestic box office in 1997 but has an enduring cult following that can certainly be attributed to the film's authenticity.


LOAD-DATE: April 28, 2012


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CNN Wire


April 27, 2012 Friday 2:29 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1629 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Mark Bixler -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-Zimmerman-Money (11 a.m.)

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of wrongly killing Trayvon Martin, will not immediately have to turn over money donated to him for legal defense and living expenses, a Florida judge said Friday.

POL-Secret-Service (10:55 a.m.)

The Secret Service will bar agents from going to strip clubs or having foreigners in their hotel rooms in response to the alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia, said a legislator who spoke recently to agency Director Mark Sullivan.

POL-Student-Loans

The U.S. House will vote Friday on a measure to extend lower interest rates for federal student loans, with both parties agreeing on the goal of the legislation but differing over how to pay for it.

US-New-York-Space-Shuttle (will update)

The space shuttle Enterprise took off Friday morning, mounted atop a 747 for a flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The shuttle is flying from Dulles International Airport near Washington to New York, where it will fly past the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks as it heads to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A suicide bombing in a Damascus neighborhood killed nine and injured tens of people, Syrian state media said Friday. It was the second bomb blast to rock the Syrian capital Friday. The deadly attack came as a two-week-old peace deal continued to unravel.

Romania-Government-Collapse

Romania's government collapsed on Friday after the censure motion filled by the opposition has passed the Parliament's vote. It is the second time this year for Romania's government to crash, just three months after it was appointed.

POL-Obama-Education

President Barack Obama plans to unveil an initiative Friday seeking to prevent veterans from being taken advantage of by for-profit educational institutions. Obama is scheduled to speak at 12:45 p.m.

UK-Security-Situation (will update)

The man at the center of a security alert in central London Friday has been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.A search of the building on Tottenham Court Road is under way and no hostages have been identified, a spokesman said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

MONEY-Gdp-Economic-Growth

The American economy grew slower than predicted in the first quarter, as government spending cuts and weaker investment in commercial real estate offset a pickup in consumer spending.

CNN SHOWCASE

SPORT-Janet-Evans-Comeback -- By Michael Martinez and Tim Clark

She was remembered in her last Olympics 16 years ago -- a near lifetime in an athlete's career -- as a diminutive figure whose size belied her big ambitions and ability to win Olympic gold. Janet Evans, at 5-foot-6 and 108 pounds, is now 40 years old, and just as Dara Torres made an extraordinary comeback at age 41 to be the oldest swimmer in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Evans is now seeking her own Act 2. Evans has qualified to participate in late June's trials to make the U.S. Olympic Team, and if she makes the cut, she will go on to compete in the London Games in July.

INTERNATIONAL

Ukraine-Blasts

A wave of bombings erupted in an eastern Ukrainian city, leaving 27 people injured Friday, the country's Emergencies Ministry said.

Denmark-Arrests

Three people were arrested in Copenhagen Friday on suspicion of planning a terror attack, Denmark's Security and Intelligence Service said.

France-Election-Campaign

French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande vowed Friday to crack down on illegal immigration, as he and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy battle to win over the public ahead of a second-round vote. Hollande, of the center-left Socialist party, will hold a rally in the central city of Limoges Friday evening, while Sarkozy addresses supporters in Dijon, to the east.

UK-Security-Situation

The man at the center of a security alert in central London Friday has been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.A search of the building on Tottenham Court Road is under way and no hostages have been identified, a spokesman said.

SPORT-football-guardiola-barcelona-spain

He has created one of the most successful teams in football history, but Josep Guardiola will be standing down as Barcelona coach at the end of this season. His agent and brother confirmed to CNN that Guardiola would explain his reasons at a press conference later Friday.

Sudans-Conflict

The spiraling conflict between the Sudans has exacerbated issues for tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees who are desperate for water and facing the threat of fatal diseases, an international aid organization says.

Japan-US-Okinawa

Thousands of Marines and their families will be transferred off Okinawa under an agreement that will reduce the American military footprint in Japan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said late Thursday.

Pakistan-Politics-Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on Friday refused to step down following his conviction for contempt by the Supreme Court, saying that only parliament had the right to force him from office.

Britain-China-Heywood

Britain has denied that a British businessman whose death in a provincial Chinese city is at the heart of a huge political scandal in China was a spy working for the British government.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent blind Chinese activist has made a dramatic escape from house arrest in the province of Shandong and fled to Beijing, a friend and fellow activist said Friday.

Bin-Laden-Advice

No sooner did Osama bin Laden get killed than his advice was being ignored by his adherents. That revelation is included in Peter Bergen's blockbuster article in Time magazine describing the al Qaeda leader's life in Abbottabad. Bergen, who is also a CNN national security analyst, has seen some of the documents seized by the U.S. Special Operations Forces during the bin Laden raid a year ago.

U.S.A.

POL-Obama-Video-Bin-Laden

Former President Bill Clinton praised President Barack Obama's decision making process in last year's military raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a new web video out Friday by Obama's re-election team. The campaign video also questions whether Republican challenger Mitt Romney would have made the same call as the president.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

A surge in gasoline prices earlier this year sparked talk of $5 a gallon by this summer, but prices at the pump have been ticking lower in April, and it appears they'll continue falling as the driving season approaches.

MONEY-Gdp-Economic-Growth

The American economy grew slower than predicted in the first quarter, as government spending cuts and weaker investment in commercial real estate offset a pickup in consumer spending.

MONEY-Ford-Earnings

Ford Motor reported a sharp drop in first-quarter earnings Friday, as losses in Europe and Asia and a slight drop in sales hurt results.

US-New-York-Space-Shuttle

Space shuttle Enterprise will fly past the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks Friday as it heads to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

POL-Pat-Boone-Lugar

Conservative crooner Pat Boone lent his voice and support to Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana via a radio ad on Friday in hopes of helping the six-term incumbent beat back a challenge from the right.

MONEY-Amazon-Earnings

Amazon's been spending lots of money on expanding its operations, so analysts expected a huge drop in profit for the first quarter. And even though earnings did fall, they didn't decline nearly as much as analysts had feared. Amazon earned $130 million, or 28 cents per share for the quarter that ended March 31. That was a 35% decline from a year ago, but it was much better than the 7 cents per share forecasts from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS and COMMENTARY

POL-Rhetorical-Pornography

We've all heard it, since we were schoolkids knocking about on the playground: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me." A saying with good intent, to be sure, designed to steel young minds, and hearts, against the inevitable bruises that come with sharing childhood and adolescence with other children and adolescents. But did any of us ever believe it was true? Even today -- now that we're older, hopefully wiser, having experienced the heartaches of everyday life more fully than we may have as kids -- is it a statement we can stand behind? We don't think so.

TRAVEL-Hawaii-Travel-Tips

Looking to get to Hawaii without blowing your son's college fund? Want to experience the islands but not sure when to go? Here's how to avoid costly and exhausting mistakes during your Hawaiian vacation.

MED-soda-obesity

Pushing her meal cart into the hospital room, a research assistant hands out tall glasses of reddish-pink liquid, along with a gentle warning: "Remember, you guys have to finish all your Kool-Aid." One by one, young volunteers chug down their drinks, each carefully calibrated to contain a mix of water, flavoring and a precisely calibrated solution of high fructose corn syrup: 55% fructose, 45% glucose. The participants are part of an ongoing study run by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis. Volunteers agree to spend several weeks as lab rats: their food carefully measured, their bodies subjected to a steady dose of scans and blood tests. At first, each volunteer receives meals with no added sugars. But then, the sweetened drinks start showing up.

SPORT-Afghanistan-paralympian

Inside a sparkling new pool house off a dusty, bustling street in Afghanistan's capital, sits a young man with a dream. Malek Mohammad, an 18-year-old double amputee, has already overcome so many challenges in his young life, some might be tempted to think he requires no assistance whatsoever.


LOAD-DATE: April 28, 2012


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CNN Wire


April 27, 2012 Friday 7:07 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2372 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ed Payne -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

China-Activist-Escape (3:30 a.m.)

A prominent blind Chinese activist has made a dramatic escape from house arrest in the province of Shandong and fled to Beijing, a friend and fellow activist said Friday.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

A Syrian opposition group says it has documented hundreds of deaths since the U.N. peace plan monitors began their work last week.

Japan-US-Okinawa (will update)

Thousands of Marines and their families will be transferred off Okinawa under an agreement that will reduce the American military footprint in Japan, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said late Thursday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

CNN SHOWCASE

SPORT-Janet-Evans-Comeback -- By Michael Martinez and Tim Clark

She was remembered in her last Olympics 16 years ago -- a near lifetime in an athlete's career -- as a diminutive figure whose size belied her big ambitions and ability to win Olympic gold. Janet Evans, at 5-foot-6 and 108 pounds, is now 40 years old, and just as Dara Torres made an extraordinary comeback at age 41 to be the oldest swimmer in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Evans is now seeking her own Act 2. Evans has qualified to participate in late June's trials to make the U.S. Olympic Team, and if she makes the cut, she will go on to compete in the London Games in July.

UK-Royal-Kate-Corporate -- By Max Foster (With UK-Royal-Kate-Graduates)

The Duchess of Cambridge is one of the world's biggest, if not the biggest, stars right now. Twelve months on from her marriage to Prince William, she is credited with reinvigorating the British monarchy and arguably helping secure its future. It may look like Catherine, or Kate as she is popularly known, has breezed through her first year of official engagements, but the apparent ease belies a great deal of hard work and careful planning. St James's Palace, which looks after after the duke, duchess and Prince Harry, has deliberately taken a corporate approach to Kate's role. Aides equate her to a chief executive and regard themselves as advisers -- she calls the shots but they are there to help.

Africa-Taylor-Reaction -- By Damon van der Linde and Moni Basu

Jabati Mambu has lived all his adult life without his right hand. He was only 15 when rebels of the Revolutionary United Front swept through Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In their signature, sinister style, they hacked off Mambu's hand with a machete. Mambu, now 28 and a goalkeeper for Sierra Leone's amputee football (soccer) team, was one of thousands of victims who felt huge relief Thursday after an international tribunal convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor on 11 counts of aiding and abetting the rebels to carry out war crimes.

INTERNATIONAL

Britain-China-Heywood

Britain has denied that a British businessman whose death in a provincial Chinese city is at the heart of a huge political scandal in China was a spy working for the British government.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent blind Chinese activist has made a dramatic escape from house arrest in the province of Shandong and fled to Beijing, a friend and fellow activist said Friday.

Bin-Laden-Advice

No sooner did Osama bin Laden get killed than his advice was being ignored by his adherents. That revelation is included in Peter Bergen's blockbuster article in Time magazine describing the al Qaeda leader's life in Abbottabad. Bergen, who is also CNN's terrorism analyst, has seen some of the documents seized by the U.S. Special Operations Forces during the bin Laden raid a year ago.

SPORT-Afghanistan-paralympian

Inside a sparkling new pool house off a dusty, bustling street in Afghanistan's capital, sits a young man with a dream. Malek Mohammad, an 18-year-old double amputee, has already overcome so many challenges in his young life, some might be tempted to think he requires no assistance whatsoever.

Pakistan-Bin-Laden-Family

Fourteen members of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's family were being deported Thursday night to Saudi Arabia, Pakistani officials said.

Syria-Unrest

A Syrian opposition group says it has documented hundreds of deaths since the U.N. peace plan monitors began their work last week.

Syria-Q&A

For 13 months, violence has raged in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the opposition in a lopsided battle that has seen thousands killed amid a number of international attempts to broker a peace deal.

UK-Royal-Kate-Graduates

The Duchess of Cambridge has successfully graduated as a "fully fledged member" of Britain's monarchy after fulfilling all her objectives one year on from her marriage to Prince William, a senior royal source has told CNN.

Myanmar-Politics

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday that her party members' refusals to take their seats in parliament to protest the wording of the 2008 constitution were based on nothing more than a "technical" obstacle.

Iraq-Bombings

Four people died and another 11 were wounded in a pair of apparently coordinated bomb blasts Thursday in Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

SPORT-NHL-Racist-Tweets

As Joel Ward's Washington Capitals teammates swarmed their new hero after his playoff series-winning goal against the NHL's defending champions Wednesday night, more sinister emotions were swirling on social media.

UK-Phone-Hacking-Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch admitted Thursday there had been a "cover-up" of phone hacking at his flagship British tabloid newspaper and apologized for not paying more attention to a scandal that has convulsed his media empire and rocked the British political establishment.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

In a landmark ruling, an international tribunal found former Liberian President Charles Taylor guilty Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Blood-Diamonds

Much of the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor focused on the role played by so-called "conflict diamonds" in funding rebels in conflict areas. What are "conflict diamonds?"

Charles-Taylor-Profile

A lay Baptist preacher or a brutal warlord on trial in an international court: in Charles Taylor, the myth and the man, became inseparable.

Nigeria-Explosions

At least eight people were killed, including one suicide bomber, and dozens were wounded in three bomb blasts in central and northern Nigeria on Thursday, the Red Cross said.

SPORT-Football-Terry-Ferdinand-Chelsea

The English Premier League has decided to dispense with their traditional pre-match handshake before Sunday's clash between Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers due to the legal case involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.

SPORT-Football-Europa-Bilbao-Atletico

Fernando Llorente's dramatic last minute goal sealed an all-Spanish Europa League final as Athletic Bilbao booked a clash with Atletico Madrid in Bucharest.

U.S.A.

Florida-Zimmerman-Money

The Trayvon Martin family attorney says George Zimmerman should be back in jail because he failed to tell a judge he had $200,000 during a recent bond hearing.

New-York-Terror-Trial

A third man accused in a plot to bomb the New York subway system was committed to carrying out a suicide attack on U.S. soil, federal prosecutors said.

SPORT-MJ-Bobcats-Loss

With Thursday's 104-84 loss to the New York Knicks, Michael Jordan is now the owner of the worst NBA team in NBA history. The Charlotte Bobcats feat may look strange next to all the trophies that Jordan garnered during his playing career.

POL-Secret-Service-Scandal

The Secret Service continued to be rocked Thursday by allegations of its agents' transgressions, though one U.S. government official cautioned against assuming there are systemic problems or that they are not properly investigated.

SPORT-College-Football-Playoff

After years of resisting calls from fans, sports pundits and even President Barack Obama, key conference commissioners announced Thursday that they'd propose some variation of a college football playoff.

California-Marine-Wife-Dead

On the day one of two suspects in his wife's death was arraigned, a deployed Marine said Thursday he was devastated but wanted to ensure her death was not in vain.

Maine-Toddler-Missing

A forensics team at the Maine State Police lab is analyzing items found in Waterville that could be connected to the case of Maine toddler Ayla Reynolds, who went missing from her home in December, according to a spokesman for the Maine State Police.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

John Edwards' defense team hammered away at a former campaign aide on Thursday after he was quizzed about his motives and asked whether he made up stories about how Edwards allegedly concealed contributions from campaign donors.

Pennsylvania-Missing-Mystery

More than a year ago, Steve Carter was browsing online and came across a missing children's website. To his astonishment, after clicking through the pages, he found himself. What followed was a yearlong story of self-discovery.

POL-Cybersecurity-Vote

Ignoring a veto threat from the White House, the House passed legislation Thursday designed to protect communications networks from cyberattacks.

SPORT-Saints-Investigation

The general manager for the New Orleans Saints said Thursday he has never listened in on an opposing team's communications, or asked to have the capability. Allegations that he had the ability to eavesdrop on coaches for nearly three seasons were not true, Mickey Loomis told reporters. "I have a clear conscience."

US-Mexico-Crime-Guns

Nearly 70% of guns recovered from Mexican criminal activity during the past five years and traced by the U.S. government originated from sales in the United States, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

POL-EPA-Commments

The White House and the Environmental Protection Agency are distancing themselves from controversial remarks which surfaced this week by a regional administrator attacking the oil and gas industry.

US-Feinstein-Interview

It's true: one of the most powerful players in the world of U.S. espionage and intelligence wears ruby red nail polish. In her role as chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California is the gatekeeper for the country's most sensitive intelligence agencies. She is regularly briefed on evolving national security threats and keeps her ruby red-topped finger on the pulse of the most secret of missions. She's blunt, direct, stubborn, and not afraid to admit it.

Florida-Fatal-Crash-Report

A Florida highway patrolman who ordered the opening of an interstate highway, despite dense fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire, had not received any formal training on opening or closing roads and was not aware of the agency's relevant policy or procedures, according to an investigation into the deadly January crashes that left 11 people dead.

Indiana-In-Vitro-Lawsuit

A teacher at a Catholic school in Indiana is suing the diocese where she worked after being fired because the in vitro fertilization treatments she received were considered against church teachings.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Adelson-Gingrich-Future

For months now, his name has gone hand-in-hand with that of Newt Gingrich. But as the former House speaker prepares to leave the Republican nomination race next week, Sheldon Adelson has to decide what political causes -- and which candidates -- to support. Adelson's not wasting time. The Nevada billionaire and mogul and his wife, Miriam, are two of the hosts for a fundraiser on Friday for House Speaker John Boehner's re-election campaign.

POL-GOP-Strategy

For Republicans and certain presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the best defense appears to be a good offense on issues and themes being pushed by President Barack Obama and Democrats.

POL-Romney-SNL-Possibility

She is seen by some as a spouse who can soften the sometimes stiff demeanor of her husband, Mitt Romney. But Ann Romney isn't sure if her husband - a notorious prankster and jokester -- will deliver a few punch lines himself on "Saturday Night Live." If he appears on the famous Studio 8H stage, she says she'd go on camera, too.

POL-Romney-Campaign-Soviet

On the same day Vice President Joe Biden knocked Mitt Romney for having a "Cold War mindset," two of Romney's national security advisers made references to threats dating back to the Soviet Union era.

POL-Bachmann-Romney-Conservative

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has yet to formally endorse Mitt Romney's presidential bid, but she said Thursday that it's only a matter of time.

POL-Conservative-Ad-Energy

An independent conservative group launched its latest round of ads Thursday that are set to air in eight presidential battleground states backed by $6.1 million, according to the organization.

POL-Biden-Speech-New-York

Vice President Joe Biden took direct aim at presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a speech Thursday, hitting the candidate as having an outdated approach to foreign policy that was "fundamentally wrong."

FEATURES

CNNHeroes-Villard-Appolon-Haiti-Rape

Three days after a massive earthquake threw Haiti into chaos, Alvana was homeless, along with her two children. But her nightmare was just beginning. "I was gang-raped while I was sleeping in the middle of the street," she said. "And I got pregnant." Alvana did not know her attackers. Depressed and unsure of what to do next, she was directed by a friend to a clinic run by KOFAVIV, a Creole acronym that translates into the Commission of Women Victims for Victims. "By the time I got to them, my belly was already big," she said. "But they took care of me."

Farming-Ancient-People

One of the outstanding mysteries of human history is how agriculture spread across Europe, replacing the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Did farmers migrate, bringing a culture of plant and animal domestication that took over? Or did local hunter-gatherer groups merely adopt ideas about those practices?

COMMENTARY-Navarro-Hispanic-Romney

Modern technology has made campaigning much easier in some ways. It's now possible to raise millions in small donations through the Internet, host Facebook town halls and galvanize millions of supporters through Twitter. An ad can be released on YouTube and attract enough media coverage to make it worthwhile without spending a dime on TV time.


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April 27, 2012 Friday 2:29 AM EST


How Romney can win over Latino voters


BYLINE: By Ana Navarro, Special to CNN


LENGTH: 839 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist and commentator, served as national Hispanic co-chairwoman for Jon Huntsman's 2012 campaign. Follow her on Twitter @ananavarro.

(CNN) -- Modern technology has made campaigning much easier in some ways. It's now possible to raise millions in small donations through the Internet, host Facebook town halls and galvanize millions of supporters through Twitter. An ad can be released on YouTube and attract enough media coverage to make it worthwhile without spending a dime on TV time.

Technology is also a double-edged sword that's made campaigning more complicated. A candidate's every word can now be captured by modern technology and live in e-perpetuity. There is no such thing as wiping the slate clean after the primary. Candidates should be read their Miranda Rights before beginning a campaign. Anything they say can and will be used against them.

How can Mitt Romney contend with some of the things he said during the primary campaign which will come back to haunt him in the general election? He needs to gracefully pivot. Nowhere is this more true than in his outreach efforts with Hispanics.

Romney cannot Hispander (blatant pandering to Hispanics, usually involving mariachi music and merciless butchering of the Spanish language). He cannot flip-flop on immigration (again). He's fought the flip-flopper label for years, and neither the right that still doesn't entirely trust him nor the left that is salivating to defeat him will let him get away with a drastic change of position.

Romney desperately needs to improve his numbers with Latinos. Polls show Romney trailing by as much as an unbelievable 50 percentage points behind President Obama with Hispanic voters. In 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain won 31% of the Latino vote. It cost him states like Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Unless Romney gets close to 40% of the Latino vote, he can kiss the White House goodbye.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook.com/cnnopinion

Polls also show that immigration is not the most important issue for Latinos. Like other Americans, we are most concerned about the economy. Still, immigration does set a tone. If Latinos perceive a candidate as anti-immigrant, it can turn them off, period.

So, what's Romney to do? He can't erase the things he's said on immigration. Despite his campaign's efforts, they can't make supporters (or an adviser) like Kris Kobach disappear, and he is as radioactive as Kryptonite in the Latino community.

However, all's not lost. From now until Election Day, when Romney gets asked an immigration question, he needs to start and finish by reminding Latinos that Obama promised, without caveats, to get immigration reform passed in his first year in office.

For many Latinos, a person's word is sacred. Romney should unequivocally say that Obama broke his word and dramatically increased deportation rates, causing family separation. He should sound angry and indignant about it. Romney needs to go from playing defense to playing offense on immigration. Hispanics are disillusioned with Obama. He too is vulnerable on the issue but only if Romney exploits that weakness.

Romney has to remain staunchly anti-amnesty and pro-border security but at the same time sound sympathetic and understanding of the desperation of people who often risk their lives crossing a border so they can put food on their family's table. He needs to talk about the benefits of immigration and how the richness of our diversity has made us a stronger country.

If Romney can neutralize the immigration issue by moderating his tone, giving more nuanced answers and taking the offensive against Obama, then he can focus on other issues.

Hispanics are an aspirational people. We seek opportunities to provide a better life to our children. Romney should take every chance to remind Latinos that we have been disproportionately affected by the bad economy. As a group, Hispanics have suffered some of the highest unemployment, foreclosure and poverty rates. If Latinos are asked whether they are better off than four years ago, the answer is "No, señor."

Romney is also going to have to put the time and resources into Hispanic outreach. If he expects to make up the lost ground, Hispanics cannot be an afterthought.

His campaign needs to wake up and go to sleep every night thinking of the Latino vote. They'd be well served to embrace and deploy strong surrogates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Raul Labrador. They speak the language not only literally but culturally. Latinos want to be courted.

Obama has accepted speaking invitations to the NALEO and La Raza conferences. Romney needs to do the same, pronto, and he needs to make it count by delivering memorable speeches.

Come Election Day, I don't know whether Romney is going to do better with Hispanics than the polls indicate or if Obama is going to do worse. Romney needs a lot of both to happen if he wants to move into la Casa Blanca.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ana Navarro.


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The Frontrunner


April 27, 2012 Friday


Late Night Political Humor


SECTION: LAST LAUGHS


LENGTH: 933 words


Jay Leno:

"Mitt Romney swept all five primaries the other night. So it looks like he's the nominee. And in his acceptance speech, Mitt Romney told the American people, 'Just hold on a little longer.' Which is the same thing he used to tell his dog when he was tied to the roof of the car. 'Just hold on a little longer. We'll be there very soon. Just hang on, Seamus!'"

Jay Leno:

"Have you been watching this John Edwards trial? Oh my God, you talk about a fall from grace. I don't know what kind of president John Edwards would have been, but I'm pretty sure he would have gotten along really well with the Secret Service."

Jay Leno:

"Well, you know, in the wake of the Secret Service prostitution scandal, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are praising Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan for his swift action and thorough investigation. Both Republicans and Democrats agree he's doing a great job. Isn't that amazing? Who knew all it took to bring Republicans and Democrats back together were a couple of whores?"

Jay Leno:

"And a ten-year Marine Corps veteran who criticized President Obama on Facebook has been dishonorably discharged and will not receive his pension. The good news? He did get his own show on Fox News. So they worked something out."

Jay Leno:

"Well, here is an interesting story. A South African airline is running a promotion where if you have multiple wives, the fourth one can fly free. Finally, some good news for Newt Gingrich, huh?"

Jay Leno:

"Well, Newt Gingrich is going to announce next week that he is dropping out of the presidential race. Now, if you wonder why he's waiting, it's because it takes him that long to gather a crowd."

David Letterman:

"You folks know about the presidential race? It's very complicated. It started out there were like 38 possible Republican contenders. Now it's all Mitt Romney. It's all his for the taking. Newt Gingrich, listen to this. Listen to the wording of this. Newt Gingrich says that next week he will announce that he is dropping out of the race. Isn't that already the announcement? If you say next week I'll announce I'm dropping out of the race, what what's the point of having the announcement next week? Newt, have some hand sanitizer. Get a hold of yourself. Newt Gingrich out of the race. Thanks a lot, there goes my condo on the moon. When one of the potential candidates drops out of the race that benefits Mitt Romney. For example in this case Newt Gingrich drops out of the race and he will assign to Mitt Romney all of his chins."

Conan O'Brien:

"Presidential campaign in full swing now. Everybody's out there stomping, they have all hands on deck. In a speech today Vice President Joe Biden said the following, he said, 'I promise you the President has a big stick.' That's what he said. Now Joe Biden is banned from the congressional gym locker room."

Conan O'Brien:

"A new Republican ad came out that claims President Obama is now too focused on being cool. Yeah. President Obama hasn't responded to the ad because he's too busy snowboarding with the boy band One Direction."

Conan O'Brien:

"Some good news for Mitt Romney. Did you hear this yesterday? Texas Governor Rick Perry endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Yeah. Perry said he chose Romney because out of the one candidate left, he's the best."

Jimmy Fallon:

"A new poll found that Michelle Obama has a much higher approval rating than Barack Obama, which explains Barack's new slogan, 'Vote For Michelle Obama's Husband.'"

Jimmy Fallon:

"A Republican group just released a new ad campaign criticizing President Obama for being too cool. Which is why Romney has a new ad that's, like, 'I'm Mitt Romney and I love fanny packs.'"

Jimmy Fallon:

"While discussing the US policy on Iran today, Joe Biden said that President Obama quote, 'Has a big stick.' In related news, Joe Biden is now banned from the White House steam room. They don't even want him. Don't even want him coming by there anymore."

Jon Stewart:

"Tonight, we begin overseas where Australian Rupert Murdoch, finds himself still in a spot of trouble in Great Britain, simply because several of his newspapers hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians, a 13-year-old murder victim and the relatives of some killed in action British soldiers and allegedly bribed Scotland Yard detectives to help with the cover-up. I could go on but I know many of you are probably eating in the next 24 hours."

Stephen Colbert:

"James Carville says Mitt Romney stole one of his famous lines. I don't remember Romney saying, 'Hello, children. I live in your nightmares.'"

Stephen Colbert:

"Well, nation, the general election is in full swing. And it looks like the only voting bloc that matters, other than stay-at-home moms, socially conservative Hispanic dads and evangelical NASCAR uncles are the young people. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama had the kids in the palm of his hands. He was a historic candidate. He spoke their language, and he briefly toured with the Black Eyed Peas. But, Mr. Fresh-Faced Hopey-Changey of 2008 has now become Old Gray Haired Grandpa Who Didn't Close Gitmo. And the younglings are in play."

Jimmy Kimmel

: "According to a new ABC /'Washington Post' poll, both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are more popular than their husbands. Although at this point, asbestos is more popular than their husbands. But while only 56% of Americans have a positive view of the President, 69% have a favorable view of Mrs. Obama. Do you think they use these polls when they have a fight? 'Excuse me, the last time I checked, 69% of everyone is on my side. So maybe think about that while you go sleep on the couch.'"


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States News Service


April 27, 2012 Friday


U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ) STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DECISION TO POLITICIZE OSAMA BIN LADE


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 397 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC


The following information was released by the Republican National Committee:

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement on President Obama's decision to play politics with the one year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death:

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad. This is the same President who once criticized Hillary Clinton for invoking bin Laden 'to score political points.'

"This is the same President who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get reelected.

"No one disputes that the President deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy.

"The Obama campaign asks whether Mitt Romney would have made that decision. Of course they want to focus on this one tactical decision because the other decisions this President has made have harmed our national security.

"He turned his back on the people of Iran when they rose up to end their tyrannical, terrorist-supporting, Holocaust-denying government, giving them no assistance as they were crushed in the streets.

"He has repeatedly thrown our ally Israel under the bus and jeopardized our shared security interests.

"He tried to bring Khaled Sheikh Muhammed, the mastermind of 9/11, and other Al-Qaeda terrorists into the middle of New York City to stand trial in a civilian court.

"He disregarded the advice of his military commanders and pulled all of our troops out of Iraq, and Al-Qaeda is making a comeback there as a result.

"He disregarded the advice of his military commanders again by telling our enemies that we are leaving Afghanistan and then putting our mission and our troops at risk by short-changing our commanders on the ground.

"He watches passively while the Assad regime in Syria, Iran's closest ally, kills thousands of its own people in an unfair fight, and his response to this mass atrocity is to create an 'Atrocities Prevention Board.'

"With a record like that on national security, it is no wonder why President Obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right into a pathetic political act of self-congratulation."

###


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Tampa Bay Times


April 27, 2012 Friday
Politifact.com Edition


FACEBOOK POST SAYS ROMNEY'S TOP DONORS COME FROM WALL STREET, OBAMA'S FROM TECH AND ACADEMIA


BYLINE: LOUIS JACOBSON


SECTION: POLITIFACT


LENGTH: 809 words


Says Mitt Romney's top five donors are Wall Street firms, while Barack Obama's top five are technology companies and universities.

Facebook posts on Friday, April 27th, 2012 in a Facebook post

* * *

THE RULING: HALF TRUE

A reader recently sent us a Facebook post that put photographs of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama side by side to make a point about their biggest campaign donors.

The post is headlined, "Top 5 campaign contributors." For Romney, it lists, "1) Goldman Sachs, 2) JPMorgan Chase, 3) Morgan Stanley, 4) Credit Suisse Group (financial group headquartered in Zurich), 5) Citigroup."

For Obama, it lists, "1) Microsoft, 2) DLA Piper (legal group specializing in technology), 3) Google, 4) University of California, 5) Harvard University."

Presumably, the point of the post is that Romney is tied to Wall Street interests, whereas Obama is tied to the technology and academic sectors. (The post says, "The list speaks for itself we think.")

The undated post attributes the information to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan website that includes a campaign finance database. So that's where we went to verify the information.

Campaign finance rankings change as new donations come in and are recorded in the database, so the accuracy might depend on how recently the Facebook list was compiled.

It turns out that, as of April 27, 2012, OpenSecrets.org's "top contributors" lists closely matched the Facebook post for both candidates.

Here's Romney's top six:

1. Goldman Sachs ($564,580)

2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($400,675)

3. Bank of America ($364,850)

4. Morgan Stanley ($363,550)

5. Credit Suisse Group ($316,160)

6. Citigroup Inc ($286,015)

So, five of the six top "contributors" to Romney were identical on the two lists, and the new addition was Bank of America, another financial institution.

Here's Obama's top six:

1. Microsoft Corp. ($304,690)

2. DLA Piper ($302,527)

3. University of California ($243,486)

4. Sidley Austin LLP ($234,611)

5. Google Inc. ($191,719)

6. Harvard University ($177,408)

Once again, five of the six match, with the newcomer to the list -- Sidley Austin LLP -- a law and lobbying firm.

There are two problems with the lists, however.

The first is that it's not really accurate to call DLA Piper a "legal group specializing in technology." It's a global law firm that also does lobbying; its law and lobbying clients are widely scattered in various industries and sectors and it has 4,200 lawyers in 77 offices in 31 countries.

The firm does represent some technology clients, but in the past few years, it has also filed lobbying disclosure forms for its representation of energy companies, drugmakers, food companies, defense contractors, hotel chains and a grab bag of others, from the PGA Tour to General Cigar Holdings to Snowsports Industries America.

In fact, DLA Piper even signed up to lobby for several financial-industry firms of the type that the Facebook post seemingly criticizes Romney for representing. They include Discover Financial Services, Charles Schwab Corp. and the now-defunct Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers.

The second problem is broader. The Facebook post makes it sound like the groups listed for each candidate actually gave money to the campaign. But corporations are prohibited from making direct contributions to candidate committees such as Romney's and Obama's.

OpenSecrets.org makes the following note on the charts and marks it in red, italic type for emphasis: "The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families."

So what these top-contributors lists show is not that Google gave money to Obama, but that employees of Google gave money of their own volition, either directly or through a company-sponsored political action committee.

Our ruling

Even though the post may have been several months old by the time we checked it, the list of each candidate's top contributors was pretty accurate, although it doesn't quite match the latest version from OpenSecrets. But the Facebook post doesn't accurately describe what the list means. First, it incorrectly labels one of Obama's donors. Second, the companies and colleges did not donate to Obama and Romney; their employees or related PACs did, which is an important detail. On balance, we rate the post Half True.

* * *

About this statement:

Published: Friday, April 27th, 2012 at 2:52 p.m.

Subjects: Campaign Finance

Sources: Facebook post, "Top 5 campaign contributors," accessed April 27, 2012; OpenSecrets.org, Barack Obama's top contributors, accessed April 27, 2012; OpenSecrets.org, Mitt Romney's top contributors, accessed April 27, 2012; DLA Piper homepage; U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, main search page for lobbying disclosures, accessed April 27, 2012

Researched by: Louis Jacobson

Edited by: Bill Adair


LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTO (2) PHOTO (2): This list compares the top donors for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. How accurate is it?


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UPI


April 27, 2012 Friday 10:00 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 1428 words


House approves student loan measure

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved a Republican-backed bill Friday that would retain student loan rates another year by taking money from a preventive healthcare program.

The White House vowed to veto the measure, which it called in a statement "a politically motivated proposal and not the serious response that the problem facing America's college students deserves."

The bill would retain the 3.4 percent interest rate on the loans for one more year by cutting $5.9 billion from the preventive healthcare program created through healthcare reform, The Washington Post reported.

The low interest rate resulted from the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which reduced interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for the following four academic years to 3.4 percent, with the proviso the rates would revert to 6.8 percent July 1 this year.

Senate Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would pay to keep the interest rate from doubling by imposing new payroll taxes on so-called "S corporations" with three or fewer shareholders.

The Stafford student loans are taken out by nearly 8 million students each year.

During floor debate, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Democrats had picked a fight on something where there "is absolutely no fight."

"People want to politicize it because it's an election year, but my God, do we have to fight about everything?"

Boehner said President Barack Obama has proposed cutting the health fund for other purposes, The Hill reported.

"So to accuse us of wanting to gut women's health is absolutely not true," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is beneath us. This is beneath the dignity of this House, and the dignity of the public trust that we enjoy from our constituents."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the healthcare fund helps pay for immunization, health screening and other preventive maintenance, so cutting it to pay for maintain student loan interest rates "just would be wrong."

"Imagine if we're sitting around that kitchen table as a family â[#x20ac]¦ and we say as a family, in order for you to go to college, we're not going to be able to immunize your little brother or sister, we're not going to be able to have preventive care in terms of screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer â[#x20ac]¦ for your mom, or any other preventive care for men and women in our family," Pelosi said on the House floor.

The healthcare program, the Prevention and Public Health Fund, provides money to city and state governments to help prevent obesity and the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce tobacco use, train public health workers and modernize vaccines.

The Post said the Senate doesn't plan to vote on its version of the rate-extension bill until after it returns from a week-long recess May 8, setting the stage for debate on the issue as President Obama and Mitt Romney campaign.

Obama campaign touts bin Laden kill

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The assassination of Osama bin Laden -- arguably U.S. President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy credit -- Friday became official campaign fodder.

Just one day after Vice President Joe Biden said at a fundraising event had Republican Mitt Romney been president he would not have authorized bin Laden's killing, the Obama campaign released a Web video hammering the theme.

Last May 1, Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound, killing the terrorist leader.

In Thursday's campaign appearance, Biden said: "Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive. You have to ask yourself, if Governor Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan -- in reverse?"

The campaign video asks: "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" as former President Bill Clinton praises Obama.

Politico reported Obama gave an interview in the Situation Room to NBC to mark the one-year anniversary of al-Qaida leader bin Laden's assassination and deputy national security adviser John Brennan was to make the Sunday TV talk show circuit.

The Romney campaign accused the Obama camp of politicizing bin Laden's death.

In a statement circulated by the Republican National Committee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- the Republican presidential nominee in 208 -- accused Obama of exploiting the anniversary of Obama bin Laden's death to score political points, The Hill reported.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," McCain said.

Obama claims 'extraordinary progress'

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said in Washington Friday the nation has made "extraordinary progress" in recovering from the economic downturn.

Speaking to an audience at a fundraiser held at a private residence, the president said when he took office in 2009, the United States was enmeshed in "the worst economic crisis worldwide since the 1930s.," was engaged in two wars and faced the prospect of a decimated auto industry."

"And after three and a half years we're nowhere near where we need to be yet," he said. "But think about the extraordinary progress that we've been able to make.

"Over the last three months alone, 600,000 jobs created; 4 million jobs created over the last two years. We've been able to save an auto industry where GM is now the number-one automaker again in the world; saved probably a million jobs throughout the Midwest. Chrysler is back. And our auto industry is actually making better cars -- cars that are being sold all around the world."

Obama touted healthcare reform, education reform "the work that we've done not just to end the war in Iraq, but also to start transitioning our troops out of Afghanistan" as signs of "enormous progress."

"But we've got a lot more to do," the president said.

He told the audience of supporters he believes the American people "are on our side" on the major issues of the 2012 campaign.

"They believe what we believe," Obama said.

"But understandably, things are tough, and they've grown cynical, and they see the mess that goes on in Washington and there's a temptation at a certain point to just say, oh, a plague on both their houses; nothing is getting done," the president said.

"And so we're going to have to work harder this time than we did in '08," he said.

Lawmaker: No 'bad acts' for Secret Service

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said Secret Service agents can no longer take foreign nationals to hotel rooms and must avoid places of "bad acts."

Jackson Lee told CNN after speaking Thursday with Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan the new rules were meant to address the recent prostitution scandal in Colombia by an advance team of agents protecting U.S. President Barack Obama.

"If this is the culture, then they want to immediately put it to rest," Jackson Lee said.

"More importantly, we're going to be saying that no foreign national will be allowed in your room, it will be absolutely illegal in terms of your job for you to in essence attend or be associated with any place of bad acts, and then finally a professional development officer or personnel officer is going to go along on every trip that the agents take out of the country," she said.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, called Friday for a thorough investigation of the Secret Service.

Grassley, in an interview on CBS News, said the investigation should be carried out by the inspector general of the U.S. Homeland Security Department, The Hill reported.

Obama, after stories of agents partying with prostitutes on a trip to Colombia, said he trusts the Secret Service and Sullivan. However, new reports have come up of possible misconduct by agents on other presidential trips going back more than a decade.

"If it was just the 12 knuckleheads that were involved, as the president said, then I'd say [Sullivan has] no problems," Grassley said. "But if it goes much deeper, you know nothing happens, nothing's changed in Washington if heads don't roll."

Twelve Secret Service employees were pulled from duty following reports that some took prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, April 11, two days before Obama arrived for the Summit of the Americas.

The Pentagon said Thursday it added a 12th member of the military to the list of personnel under investigation. As many as 21 women were involved, the lawmakers say.

The Secret Service and the Pentagon are conducting parallel investigations.


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UPI


April 27, 2012 Friday 9:22 PM EST


Obama campaign touts bin Laden kill


LENGTH: 262 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, April 27


The assassination of Osama bin Laden -- arguably U.S. President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy credit -- Friday became official campaign fodder.

Just one day after Vice President Joe Biden said at a fundraising event had Republican Mitt Romney been president he would not have authorized bin Laden's killing, the Obama campaign released a Web video hammering the theme.

Last May 1, Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound, killing the terrorist leader.

In Thursday's campaign appearance, Biden said: "Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive. You have to ask yourself, if Governor Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan -- in reverse?"

The campaign video asks: "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" as former President Bill Clinton praises Obama.

Politico reported Obama gave an interview in the Situation Room to NBC to mark the one-year anniversary of al-Qaida leader bin Laden's assassination and deputy national security adviser John Brennan was to make the Sunday TV talk show circuit.

The Romney campaign accused the Obama camp of politicizing bin Laden's death.

In a statement circulated by the Republican National Committee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 -- accused Obama of exploiting the anniversary of Obama bin Laden's death to score political points, The Hill reported.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," McCain said.


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The White House Bulletin


April 27, 2012 Friday


Late Night Political Humor


SECTION: LAST LAUGHS


LENGTH: 665 words


Jay Leno:

"Mitt Romney swept all five primaries the other night. So it looks like he's the nominee. And in his acceptance speech, Mitt Romney told the American people, 'Just hold on a little longer.' Which is the same thing he used to tell his dog when he was tied to the roof of the car. 'Just hold on a little longer. We'll be there very soon. Just hang on, Seamus!'"

Jay Leno:

"Have you been watching this John Edwards trial? Oh my God, you talk about a fall from grace. I don't know what kind of president John Edwards would have been, but I'm pretty sure he would have gotten along really well with the Secret Service."

Jay Leno:

"Well, you know, in the wake of the Secret Service prostitution scandal, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are praising Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan for his swift action and thorough investigation. Both Republicans and Democrats agree he's doing a great job. Isn't that amazing? Who knew all it took to bring Republicans and Democrats back together were a couple of whores?"

Jay Leno:

"And a ten-year Marine Corps veteran who criticized President Obama on Facebook has been dishonorably discharged and will not receive his pension. The good news? He did get his own show on Fox News. So they worked something out."

Jay Leno:

"A South African airline is running a promotion where if you have multiple wives, the fourth one can fly free. Finally, some good news for Newt Gingrich, huh?"

Jay Leno:

"Well, Newt Gingrich is going to announce next week that he is dropping out of the presidential race. Now, if you wonder why he's waiting, it's because it takes him that long to gather a crowd."

David Letterman:

"Newt Gingrich says that next week he will announce that he is dropping out of the race. Isn't that already the announcement? If you say next week I'll announce I'm dropping out of the race, what what's the point of having the announcement next week?"

Conan O'Brien:

"In a speech today Vice President Joe Biden said the following, he said, 'I promise you the President has a big stick.' That's what he said. Now, Joe Biden is banned from the congressional gym locker room."

Conan O'Brien:

"A new Republican ad came out that claims President Obama is now too focused on being cool. Yeah. President Obama hasn't responded to the ad because he's too busy snowboarding with the boy band One Direction."

Conan O'Brien:

"Texas Governor Rick Perry endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Yeah. Perry said he chose Romney because out of the one candidate left, he's the best."

Jimmy Fallon:

"A new poll found that Michelle Obama has a much higher approval rating than Barack Obama, which explains Barack's new slogan, 'Vote For Michelle Obama's Husband.'"

Jimmy Fallon:

"While discussing the US policy on Iran today, Joe Biden said that President Obama quote, 'Has a big stick.' In related news, Joe Biden is now banned from the White House steam room."

Jon Stewart:

"Tonight, we begin overseas where Australian Rupert Murdoch, finds himself still in a spot of trouble in Great Britain, simply because several of his newspapers hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians, a 13-year-old murder victim and the relatives of some killed in action British soldiers and allegedly bribed Scotland Yard detectives to help with the cover-up. I could go on but I know many of you are probably eating in the next 24 hours."

Stephen Colbert:

"James Carville says Mitt Romney stole one of his famous lines. I don't remember Romney saying, 'Hello, children. I live in your nightmares.'"

Jimmy Kimmel

: "According to a new ABC/Washington Post poll, both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are more popular than their husbands. Although at this point, asbestos is more popular than their husbands. But while only 56% of Americans have a positive view of the President, 69% have a favorable view of Mrs. Obama. Do you think they use these polls when they have a fight? 'Excuse me, the last time I checked, 69% of everyone is on my side. So maybe think about that while you go sleep on the couch.'"


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The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)


April 28, 2012 Saturday
ALL EDITION


ARE BIG PUBLIC APOLOGIES OVERRATED? THEY CAN'T HEAL ALL WOUNDS


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Bill Maxwell; Pg. A6


LENGTH: 718 words


I sense that almost weekly an individual, organization, company or government somewhere in the United States publicly apologizes for doing wrong.

A few public apologies during just the past two weeks or so: Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apologized to Ann Romney for saying she had never "worked a day in her life." Richard Land, a Southern Baptist leader, said he erred in accusing President Barack Obama and other black leaders of exploiting Trayvon Martin's death for political gain. Acura, the luxury carmaker, apologized for seeking a "not too dark" black actor for an ad. And most notably, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged to Afghanistan that U.S. soldiers were wrong to have posed in 2010 for photographs with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents.

As an undergraduate studying American history, I became interested in the culture of apology, especially public ones to abused and marginalized minority groups. I wondered if we overestimate the power of such mea culpas.

Aaron Lazare, author of On Apology, defines "apology" as "an encounter between two parties in which one party, the offender, acknowledges responsibility for an offense or grievance and expresses regret or remorse to a second party, the aggrieved. Each party may be a person or a group or a larger group, such as a family, a business, an ethnic group, a race or a nation. The apology may be private or public, written or verbal and even, at times, nonverbal.

PRESIDENT REAGAN signed legislation in 1988 apologizing for the internment of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans following the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. The legislation said government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership." The government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to the victims and their heirs.

In 2010, Congress passed a bill apologizing to American Indians. The bill stated in part that the government apologizes "on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by the citizens of the United States." The bill also ask Americans "to move toward a brighter future where all the people of this land live reconciled as brothers and sisters, and harmoniously steward and protect this land together."

Several months after Obama became our first black president, Congress grudgingly approved a formal resolution apologizing for the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery" of black Americans. The legislation also apologized for Jim Crow, the separate-but-equal system that followed emancipation. Unlike the Japanese legislation, the bill for blacks did not include reparations, still a major issue for millions of blacks.

IN 1997, PRESIDENT Clinton apologized for the government's role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. From 1932 to 1972, 399 black sharecroppers in Alabama were denied treatment for syphilis by the U.S. Public Health Service. With survivors of the study and their families present, Clinton addressed the racial animus and mistrust the experiment caused. "We can look you in the eye," he said, "and finally say on behalf of the American people, what the United States government did was shameful, and I am sorry."

Have these apologies succeeded? Lazare writes that "many offenses are experienced as assaults on the offended party's self-respect or dignity, and so a successful apology must somehow restore these vital aspects of the self in order to heal."

But restoring the self-respect or dignity of the offended party is the first step. To be totally successful, apologies also must heal the damaged relationships between the aggrieved and the offender.

I do not know any Japanese and do not know how the apology affects them. I know that many American Indians dismiss the congressional apology as empty rhetoric. I know, too, that many African-Americans - despite the election of Obama - still feel debased and degraded by the legacy of slavery.

I cannot help but conclude that public apologies, even the sincerest, have not restored the self-respect and dignity of most victims of our atrocities. We overestimate the power of such apologies.

(The writer is a columnist for the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times.)

Scripps Howard News Service


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The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)


April 28, 2012 Saturday


New heart, same old Cheney


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 633 words


Sunday April 29, 2012

RICHMOND

How many of you stood up and cheered when you heard former Vice President Dick Cheney was getting a new heart? And did you have a party when the operation was successfully concluded? Personally, I was torn. I consider Dick Cheney an unscrupulous man, one who cares neither for the public good nor improving the lot of those who need help. He and President George Walker Bush lied to get us involved with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enriched the rich in this country while lower-casing the rest of us and saddling us with burdens making it tougher for the non-rich to just get by.

Many people were concerned that this 71-year-old with a history of five heart attacks was getting the heart because of his wealth and connections rather than waiting his turn on the national waiting list. It is an uncommon event when precedence is given to an older person rather than a younger one who might get many more years of service from it. But no one has come up with a smoking scalpel and there was no real public outcry, despite the multitude of stories surrounding the event.

So the operation proceeded successfully and Cheney withdrew into his convalescent period. It was then I started to think about Cheney even more than when he was publicizing the imaginary Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and espousing torture as a legal way of extracting information from Taliban captives. Even though they denied they were sinning, the Bush-Cheney cadre took steps to destroy any information that might be used against them. In some, they succeeded but in others they didn't.

There was Cheney lying in bed somewhere with doctors and nurses all around him while a temporary pump moved the blood through his veins and arteries, and then there was Cheney with a new heart wondering if it would hold up and whether the potent medications would keep his body from rejecting the interloper.

And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, only three weeks after his operation, Cheney showed up at the Republican state convention in Wyoming and spoke flawlessly for an hour and 15 minutes about how essential it was to back Mitt Romney and send Barack Obama packing.

n

Referring to Obama, Cheney said that he has been "an unmitigated disaster to the country." Referring to Rom ney, Cheney said he was going to do "a whale of a job" in bringing the nation back to where the Republicans could fix everything wrong and run it the way it should be run.

Cheney also provided a pep talk about use of waterboarding in interrogating prisoners.

"It produced a wealth of information," he said. "Don't let anybody tell you the enhanced interrogation didn't work. It did."

The crowd of 300 gave him a standing ovation. This has been his and Bush's advice on all their shenanigans in office. When questioned about them, their stock answer has been that this is all top secret and not suitable for the ears of the ordinary citizen. Some day the truth may come out about what this country really learned by inflicting torture, but right now we have to take their word for it.

One of the quarrels I have with President Obama is that he decided to let bygones be bygones and not make waves when he assumed the power of the presidency. "We must look forward," he said, "not back." So there we have Dick Cheney with his new heart, new strength and old determination. He is going to be ripping the Democrats and repeating his lies ad infinitum. We should have a law in this country where all the secret dealings of an administration must be revealed in a workable number of years. Republican, Demo crat or What-Have-You. We deserve the truth.

Because we are the ones who suffer from the lies while the perpetrators go about their merry ways, getting heart after heart after heart.

Milton Bass is a regular Eagle
contributor.


LOAD-DATE: May 1, 2012


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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CNN Wire


April 28, 2012 Saturday 10:57 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1943 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

UK-Heathrow-Delays

UK authorities faced questions Saturday over long queues for passport control at London's Heathrow Airport, where many international visitors are expected to arrive this summer for the Olympic Games.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Fresh violence in Syria left at least 13 people dead, opposition activists said Saturday, further crumbling a shaky cease-fire meant to end 13 months of unrest.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent human rights activist, whose 18-month house arrest in eastern China and news Friday of his dramatic escape have attracted worldwide attention, is in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, a close friend told CNN.

Washington-Bunker-Suspect (will update)

Authorities early Saturday waited out a Washington man wanted in the killings of his wife and daughter who is believed to be holed up in a fortified bunker near Seattle.

POL-White-House-Correspondents-Dinner

Journalists and political dignitaries alike gather Saturday for the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel will headline the light-hearted event.

FEA-Aging-Fashion-Style

Online, on the street and in ad campaigns, a growing contingent of older women are bucking youth-oriented beauty ideals and using style and fashion to tell the world that they're not fading

MED-Drug-Babies

Heart-wrenching cries echo through the halls of the neonatal intensive care unit at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Nearly half of the newborn babies in the hospital's NICU are suffering from prescription drug withdrawal. For over a year, the Knoxville hospital has been dealing with a dramatic increase in the number of newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, which is the withdrawal process a newborn baby goes through after in utero exposure to certain medications.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

POL-Panetta-Bin-Laden

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said there is no doubt the United States is safer as a result of a commando raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, the architect of al Qaeda. But he acknowledged that al Qaeda remains a threat, telling reporters there is no way to destroy the terror network responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks.

CNN SHOWCASE

SPORT-Janet-Evans-Comeback -- By Michael Martinez and Tim Clark

She was remembered in her last Olympics 16 years ago -- a near lifetime in an athlete's career -- as a diminutive figure whose size belied her big ambitions and ability to win Olympic gold. Janet Evans, at 5-foot-6 and 108 pounds, is now 40 years old, and just as Dara Torres made an extraordinary comeback at age 41 to be the oldest swimmer in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Evans is now seeking her own Act 2. Evans has qualified to participate in late June's trials to make the U.S. Olympic Team, and if she makes the cut, she will go on to compete in the London Games in July.

INTERNATIONAL

Ukraine-Former-Prime-Minister

A judge on Saturday postponed the tax evasion court hearing of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence following last year's conviction of abuse of authority. The judge's ruling follows reports that Tymoshenko was roughed up in prison.

Myanmar-Ashton-Visit

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday. Ashton is also expected to meet President Thein Sein during her three-day visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma. The trip, which follows a series of political reforms in Myanmar, marks the latest step in the country's international rehabilitation after decades of isolation.

Afghanistan-Attack

Two gunmen attacked a governor's compound in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two police officers, the interior ministry said. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Syria-Unrest

Fresh violence in Syria left at least 13 people dead, opposition activists said Saturday, further crumbling a shaky cease-fire meant to end 13 months of unrest.

China-Oil-Spill

Months after agreeing to a $160 million settlement, ConocoPhillips and China announced that the energy giant will pay an additional $191 million in the wake of oil spills last year in north China's Bohai Bay.

China-Activist-Escape

A prominent Chinese human rights activist has called for an investigation into corrupt and cruel officials after saying he escaped from house arrest in an eastern province and fled to Beijing.

China-Activist-Details

Chen Guangcheng's voice is unwavering. For a man who has endured four years in prison and then 18 more months under house arrest, he appears calm and resolute. Chen has posted a video online, detailing his extraordinary ordeal. The blind human rights activist is finally getting a chance to tell his story after a daring escape from his captors.

Al-Qaeda-Future

No one is writing al Qaeda's obituary yet. But one year after its leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. commandos, U.S. officials and experts say the terror network's core group holed up in Pakistan is hemorrhaging and could be in its final days.

France-Politician-Uses-Offensive-Song

Jay-Z and Kanye West's recent hit "Niggas in Paris" is about them. They rap about being so phenomenally rich, about how they "ball so hard," buy Rolexes and cars, pop gold bottles with models in Paris nightclubs, that the rest of us slobs couldn't fathom their lives. It may seem like an odd choice for a campaign song for a politician trying to appeal to oppressed racial and ethnic minorities. But it's apparently working for -- or at least not hurting -- Francois Hollande.

Brazil-Embassy-Prostitution

A former prostitute plans to sue the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, alleging that members of its security team in December threw her from a van and ran over her, the woman's attorney said.

Yemen-US-Strikes

The White House has approved plans by the Pentagon and the CIA to conduct strikes in Yemen against al Qaeda operatives even if U.S. officials do not know the identities of the individuals it's attacking, according to a U.S. official.

Syria-Nuland

In diplomacy, "fail" is a strong word. So when State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland uses it, attention must be paid.

Romania-Government-Collapse

Romania's government collapsed Friday after a censure motion filed by the opposition won approval in Parliament.

France-Election-Campaign

French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande vowed Friday to crack down on illegal immigration, as he and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy battle to win over the public ahead of a second-round vote. Hollande, of the center-left Socialist party, will hold a rally in the central city of Limoges Friday evening, while Sarkozy addresses supporters in Dijon, to the east.

Sudans-Conflict

The spiraling conflict between the Sudans has exacerbated issues for tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees who are desperate for water and facing the threat of fatal diseases, an international aid organization says.

Pakistan-Politics-Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on Friday refused to step down following his conviction for contempt by the Supreme Court, saying that only parliament had the right to force him from office.

MONEY-Peoples-Daily-IPO

Propaganda doesn't pay? Actually it's pretty lucrative ... at least if you're a media outlet backed by the Chinese government.

U.S.A.

POL-Secret-Service

The Secret Service agent at the center of the Colombia prostitution scandal has been identified as Arthur Huntington, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Friday.

POL-Weekly-Addresses

It's a weekend when Washington, for the most part, puts politics on the back burner in favor of laughs at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. But House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan had his elbows out for President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Senate, using the GOP weekly address to criticize both for inaction on a federal budget.

US-Cleanup-Day

On Saturday, at least 10,000 volunteers are expected to be called into action to clean up humanity's home -- planet Earth.

POL-Panetta-Bin-Laden

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said there is no question that the United States is safer as a result of a commando raid in Pakistan that left Osama bin Laden, the architect of al Qaeda, dead. But he acknowledged that al Qaeda remains a threat, telling reporters Friday there is no way to destroy the terror network responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Washington-Bunker-Suspect

A Washington state man wanted in the weekend killings of his wife and daughter was believed to be holed up Friday evening in a fortified bunker about 25 miles east of Seattle, authorities said.

Florida-Zimmerman-Money

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of wrongly killing Trayvon Martin, will not immediately have to turn over donations made to his website, a Florida judge said Friday. Zimmerman collected about $204,000 in donations through the website, but did not disclose the contributions during his bond hearing last week, according to his attorney, Mark O'Mara.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former campaign aide for John Edwards said in court Friday that he had been intimidated in his dealings with the former senator and two high-priced donors.

Texas-Border-Patrol-Shooting

A U.S. investigation of a controversial fatal shooting of a 15-year old Mexican youth by a U.S. Border Patrol agent has been closed without prosecution because of "insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal charges", the Justice Department announced Friday.

POL-EPA-Crucify

Facing an onslaught of condemnation for comments made in 2010, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency's office in Dallas, Texas, was notified Friday that Congress is preparing to call him to testify.

POL-Secret-Service-Grassley

The White House has ignored a deadline to provide answers to a senior Senate Republican about the Secret Service prostitution scandal, an aide to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Friday.

US-Tigers-Outfielder-Arrest

Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested in Manhattan early Friday and charged with aggravated harassment after a dispute with another man, New York police said.

POL-Obama-Video-Bin-Laden

Former President Bill Clinton praised President Barack Obama's decision making process in last year's military raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a new web video out Friday by Obama's re-election team. The campaign video also questions whether Republican challenger Mitt Romney would have made the same call as the president.

POL-McCain-Criticizes-Obama-Video

Sen. John McCain on Friday evening sharply rebuked a web video produced by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign that questioned whether presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have ordered the raid that culminated in the killing of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden.

POL-Tea-Party-Upgraded

While loud and raucous rallies are still a part of the tea party toolbox, the movement, which came to life over dissatisfaction with big government and anger over government bailouts and President Barack Obama's health care reform, is evolving.

POL-House-Student-Loans

President Barack Obama would veto a measure proposed by House Republicans to extend lower interest rates on federal student loans because it would take money from a health care fund that benefits women and children, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

MONEY-Gas-Prices

A surge in gasoline prices earlier this year sparked talk of $5 a gallon by this summer, but prices at the pump have been ticking lower in April, and it appears they'll continue falling as the driving season approaches.


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CNN Wire


April 28, 2012 Saturday 1:35 AM EST


McCain: Obama campaign video invoking bin Laden is 'pathetic'


BYLINE: By Gregory Wallace, CNN


LENGTH: 383 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain on Friday evening sharply rebuked a web video produced by President Barack Obama's re-election campaign that questioned whether presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have ordered the raid that culminated in the killing of terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," McCain said in a statement distributed by the Republican National Committee.

"This is the same president who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get reelected," he continued.

The video was posted Friday morning, just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the operation authorized by Obama.

McCain, who is a top surrogate for Romney and was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, said Obama deserves credit for ordering the operation, but characterizes the ad's political motives as "hypocritical."

The campaign video features former President Bill Clinton praising Obama for authorizing the raid and explaining the gravity of that choice. "The president is the decider-in-chief. Nobody can make that decision for you," Clinton said.

Text on the screen asks, "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" It further quotes the former Massachusetts governor saying during his 2008 presidential bid, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

Romney later backpedaled from the comment, which he made to The Associated Press, saying at a presidential debate, "We'll move everything to get him."

Hours before McCain, a spokeswoman for Romney's campaign likewise criticized the video.

"The killing of Osama bin Laden was a momentous day for all Americans and the world, and Governor Romney congratulated the military, our intelligence agencies, and the president. It's now sad to see the Obama campaign seek to use an event that unified our country to once again divide us, in order to try to distract voters' attention from the failures of his administration," press secretary Andrea Saul said.


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Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado)


April 28, 2012 Saturday


Obama plans 'situation room' strategy on anniversary of Osama bin Laden killing


BYLINE: Michael A. Memoli Tribune Washington Bureau


SECTION: NEWS


LENGTH: 708 words


WASHINGTON -- As the second anniversary of the signing of the health-care reform law neared last month, the White House tried to tamp down media interest in how, if at all, the milestone would be marked by President Barack Obama.

"The anniversary is not something that the president is going to have an event around, but it is quite clearly a major accomplishment for him and for the administration," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at the time.

The thinking is quite different with regard to a different anniversary -- the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as part of a high-risk military operation ordered by the president a year ago this week.

NBC News announced Friday that it had gained "unprecedented access" to the White House Situation Room, "the most secret and secure part" of the presidential compound, for an exclusive interview with the president that will air Wednesday.

The network also interviewed senior members of the national security team, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, for an hourlong primetime special that NBC says will offer "the definitive account of what took place leading up to and during the tension-filled hours of the mission targeting Osama bin Laden."

"Our viewers will hear details never before revealed and see the nerve center of the White House Situation Room in this special broadcast," said NBC News President Steve Capus.

Forget about the Rose Garden -- it seems part of a Situation Room Strategy to showcase Obama as commander in chief.

Biden did just that on Thursday. In a campaign speech on national security in New York, the man who once teased Rudy Giuliani for his heavy reliance on the "America's Mayor" image in his campaign narrative invoked bin Laden's name 12 times in a roughly 45-minute attack on GOP nominee Mitt Romney ("a noun, a verb, and bin Laden," one might say).

There seemed to be some clever stagecraft at play on Friday, too, as the president and first lady spoke at a military base in Georgia with dozens of uniformed personnel behind them. He was there to sign an executive order that the administration said will crack down on colleges that prey on military veterans with misleading information about financial aid, credits and programs.

Friday afternoon, White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked if the White House was politicizing the Situation Room.

 Obama has done a number of interviews in the past year about the bin Laden mission, Earnest said.

"I think the president has spoken frequently about how the lion's share of the credit for the success of that mission goes to our men and women in uniform, to the men and women in the intelligence community, who worked so hard to ensure that mission's success. And so what the president did yesterday and what he has done many times before over the course of the last year is talk about that mission and talk about the success of that mission," he said.

"There certainly is interest around the one-year anniversary, so I'd be surprised if nobody asked about it in the context of the one-year anniversary. I expect that all of you will be asking about it next week, as well," he told reporters traveling with the president to Georgia.

Republicans nonetheless denounced Obama for seeking political advantage.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of Sept. 11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," Sen. John McCain said in a statement issued by the Republican National Committee. "This is the same president who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get re-elected."

"No one disputes that the president deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy."

This is an undated file photo shows al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. A year after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks is essentially gone but its affiliates remain a threat to America, U.S. intelligence officials say.


LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: This is an undated file photo shows al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. A year after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks is essentially gone but its affiliates remain a threat to America, U.S. intelligence officials say.


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Monterey County Herald (California)


April 28, 2012 Saturday


Kathleen Parker: Obama's cool factor carries the day


BYLINE: The Monterey County Herald


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 667 words


I t was fun. It was odd. It was just a little bit ... unseemly.

Doubtless you've heard plenty by now of President Obama's slow jam, which, for all you drips out there, refers to an R&B ballad or down-tempo song. You, too, can find this on Wikipedia.

During a visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Obama and late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon pushed the president's plan to preserve low student-loan rates through a rhythmic rendering of his talking points set to music. Fallon, playing a one-man Greek chorus, interspersed commentary, such as: "Aw yeah, you should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy."

It was, shall we say, a tad unusual for a sitting president. Wannabes will do nearly anything, as we've observed. But this particular skit went beyond the usual horn-tooting a la Bill Clinton or even the awkward stand-up "Top Tens" many candidates, including Mitt Romney, have endured for the sake of the sacrosanct youth vote.

One could argue that Obama's Fallon appearance was quite well done, which it was for that sort of thing. The president played straight man and said or did nothing objectionable. He was, in a word, presidential, to the extent one can be under such circumstances. Even at the end when he said, "Oh yeah," it was ... cool.

Yet the effect was nearly narcotic, so strange that cognitive dissonance doesn't quite describe it. One had the uneasy feeling something wrong was happening. The lead grown-up isn't supposed to act that way.

On the other hand, as we who argue with ourselves like to say, if you can get kids to learn multiplication tables by setting them to rap, why not push student-loan relief with a little R&B? Maybe because you're the Preezy of the United Steezy?

That Obama is a cool drink is no one's revelation. He's the ice tinkling in the glass. He's Muhammad Ali to Romney's, well, Romney. It's hard to come up with a more quintessential un-cool guy than the presumptive Republican nominee. What can you do? There's no book for cool, though if there were, Romney would have memorized and distilled it to a PowerPoint presentation.

Then again, who really cares? Once you're beyond a certain age, cool becomes as attractive as a 60-year-old in jeggings. Young folks do get that you're not actually young or cool, nor do they really want you to be.

Some of us learned this lesson along that garden path called Parenthood. The cool parents might be fun for an overnight you can get away with more but it's nice to have a grown-up at home. Even the youth of America appreciate a grown-up in the White House. And though Obama is unfairly blessed with charm, pizazz and a natural athlete's grace, he does not benefit necessarily from playing well with comics. The line is extra fine between humorous and silly.

That Romney couldn't pull it off as well may be a surprise gift. He looked sadly uncomfortable while going through the paces with David Letterman, painfully reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman modeling scuba gear for his parents' cocktail party. Then again, that may have been the only way to play it. Serious adults don't do silly well.

The GOP is obviously mindful of the coolness gap and has issued a video ad in response to Obama's late-night foray titled "A Tale of Two Leaders." The ad juxtaposes Obama's slow jam with Romney's general election kickoff speech that is earnest and heartfelt. It doesn't hurt that Romney's voice at times could be mistaken for Ronald Reagan's. Implicit in the message (and the voice): Take your pick. Grown-up or cool dude?

In the meantime, Obama would do well to pay attention to another comedian whose gravitas may be greater than the president's among the late-night demographic. Said Comedy Central's Jon Stewart: "You're the president. You don't have to do this (expletive) anymore."

As for Romney, his safest bet is being proudly nerdy. As the cool know too well, nerds usually win in the end.

Kathleen Parker's email address iskathleenparker@washpost.com .


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The New York Times


April 28, 2012 Saturday
Late Edition - Final


Opponents Pounce as Obama Trumpets the Killing of Bin Laden


BYLINE: By PETER BAKER and MICHAEL D. SHEAR; Scott Shane contributed reporting.


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 13


LENGTH: 1096 words


WASHINGTON -- Presidents running for re-election typically boast of programs they created, people they helped or laws they signed. They talk about rising test scores or falling deficits or expanding job rolls. President Obama is increasingly taking the unusual route of bragging about how he killed a man.

To be sure, that man was Osama bin Laden, and he is not mourned among either the president's supporters or detractors. But in the days leading up to the first anniversary of the raid that finally caught up to the Qaeda mastermind, Mr. Obama has made a concerted, if to some indecorous, effort to trumpet the killing as perhaps the central accomplishment of his presidency.

Mr. Obama has used the rarefied setting of the Situation Room to give an interview about how he made the decision to send in Special Operations forces. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. gave a speech saying the re-election slogan would be ''Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.'' The president's campaign released a Web video showing former President Bill Clinton praising Mr. Obama's fortitude, as it questioned whether Mitt Romney would have made the same decision.

Other presidents have boasted of their toughness, of course, notably Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, who campaigned for re-election in 2004 on a record of having deposed Saddam Hussein in Iraq, while his vice president, Dick Cheney, warned that electing John Kerry could lead to a terrorist attack. But few presidents have talked about the killing of an individual enemy in such an expansive way.

No doubt, the raid on a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a year ago Tuesday is a more favorable story for the president politically than the latest report showing slowing economic growth. With the general election effectively under way, it is part of an effort by both sides to define Mr. Obama's presidency.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, Mr. Obama's Republican opponent four years ago, lashed out at the Web video, saying the president was turning ''the one decision he got right into a pathetic, political act of self-congratulation.'' He added, ''Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad.''

Heading into a weekend in which Mr. Obama will appear with the comedian Jimmy Kimmel before a star-studded crowd at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Mr. Romney and his allies once again tried to turn Mr. Obama's own celebrity against him.

A Web video released this week by American Crossroads, a Republican ''super PAC,'' made the case that the president's focus on image had preoccupied him from more important issues, mocking his mingling with the stars, including his ''slow-jamming the news'' with Jimmy Fallon on ''Late Night'' this week.

''Four years ago, America elected the biggest celebrity in the world, and Americans got one cool president,'' the video says amid grim images and statistics on out-of-work recent college graduates. ''But after four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?''

The Romney team amplified the message on Friday in a memorandum from the campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, arguing that Mr. Obama was counting on ''his winning TV persona'' for re-election. ''This election will be decided by adults casting their ballots in their precincts, not teenagers texting votes from in front of their television sets,'' Mr. Rhoades wrote. ''That apparently frightens the president and his advisers.''

The contrast between the two campaign videos could not be starker. Set to ominous music and narrated by Mr. Clinton, the Bin Laden video describes the life-or-death stakes that confronted Mr. Obama and shows him standing silhouetted in front of an Oval Office window, shouldering the burdens of a nation.

The ad then presents Mr. Romney as if he were the one not ready to lead, saying, ''Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?''

Claiming public credit for national security victories has long been a balancing act for presidents. Mr. Bush was criticized when a Republican ad showed pictures of ground zero.

Mr. Obama has been finding ways of talking about the Bin Laden raid for months. When a reporter asked in December about charges that he was appeasing the nation's enemies, Mr. Obama offered a strikingly blunt retort. ''Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top Al Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement,'' he said. ''Or whoever's left out there about that.''

He then cited his leadership in the Bin Laden raid both in the opening passages of his State of the Union address in January and again in the closing sections, always making sure to credit the military and intelligence agencies. But the focus has intensified with the approach of the anniversary. On Thursday, he gave an interview to Brian Williams of NBC News in the Situation Room.

Tony Fratto, a deputy press secretary under Mr. Bush, said that it was ''unseemly'' to use the room for such a purpose. ''I don't believe it ever would have occurred to us to conduct an interview in the Situation Room,'' he said, ''and don't believe we would have considered it appropriate.''

Joshua Earnest, Mr. Obama's deputy press secretary, said the White House was responding to news media requests. ''There certainly is interest around the one-year anniversary, so I'd be surprised if nobody asked about it in the context of the one-year anniversary,'' he said.

Martha Joynt Kumar, a Towson University specialist in presidential communication, said it was not surprising that Mr. Obama would use the Situation Room to argue his case. ''When they are running for re-election, presidents favor discussions of their successes,'' she said. ''The killing of Bin Laden is a natural item for President Obama to highlight.''

The anniversary has rekindled some of the longstanding debates about the methods that Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama have used to combat terrorism. Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., a former top Central Intelligence Agency official, defended the harsh interrogations of prisoners under Mr. Bush by contrasting them with Mr. Obama's use of drones to kill suspected terrorists.

''How could it be more ethical to kill people rather than capture them?'' he asked in a segment taped for Sunday's episode of ''60 Minutes'' on CBS.

An official familiar with a still-incomplete investigation by the Democratic staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the evidence did not support Mr. Rodriguez's assertion that the rough methods, widely condemned as torture, were necessary.


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


LOAD-DATE: April 28, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: PHOTO: President Obama and other officials in the Situation Room on the day of the raid against Osama bin Laden. The president has been criticized for giving an interview to NBC in the room. (PHOTOGRAPH BY PETE SOUZA/THE WHITE HOUSE)


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The New York Post


April 28, 2012 Saturday


Obama bin gloatin' Turns Osama strike into political rah-rah ad


BYLINE: Geoff Earle


SECTION: All Editions; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 417 words


WASHINGTON - President Obama has an explosive new unofficial campaign slogan: I killed bin Laden, and Mitt Romney might not have.

A new campaign ad out yesterday features Bill Clinton reflecting on the toughest call Obama has had to make by ordering the raid to take out bin Laden, in effect using the strike for political advantage.

"Nobody can make that decision for you," Clinton says in the ad. "Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there, and it hadn't been bin Laden. Suppose they'd been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for him . . . He took the harder, and more honorable path."

A graphic then poses the question: "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?"

The ad also dredges up a 2007 quote from Romney saying, "It's not worth spending billions of dollars moving heaven and earth just trying to catch one person."

The Obama ad was released a day after the pro-Romney super PAC American Crossroads released its own video, blasting the president for trying to impress young voters by acting cool rather than creating jobs.

The Republican ad ridicules Obama as a celebrity, making hay out of Obama's appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," and picking up an attack from John McCain's 2008 campaign.

The Web ad, called "Cool," shows Obama in shades and 3-D glasses, downing a beer, singing Al Green at the Apollo Theater, and hobnobbing with Fallon - all to a hip-hop soundtrack.

Romney ally and 2008 GOP presidential foe Sen. McCain called the Obama campaign ad a "pathetic political act of self-congratulation."

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," McCain said.

Also yesterday, Obama was interviewed by NBC's Brian Williams in the White House situation room in a segment to air on May 2, the anniversary of the killing of bin Laden.

---

Romney ad released April 26

Subject: Our 'celebrity' president

* After 4 years of a celebrity president is your life any better?

* 1 in 2 recent college grads are jobless or underemployed

Obama ad released April 27

Subject: Osama bin Laden

* 'Suppose they'd been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for [President Obama] He took the harder, and more honorable path.' - Bill Clinton

* 'It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.' - Mitt Romney (R) Presidential Candidate Associated Press April 26


LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2012


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San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)


April 28, 2012 Saturday


Robert Rector: Negative ads screening on your computer


BYLINE: By Robert Rector


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 759 words


GET ready for a spectacle like no other.

It won't be long before you can break out the nachos, ice down a couple of beers, turn on the TV and watch a media event on which an estimated $9.8 billion will be spent. Just this year.

We're not talking about the Olympics. We're not talking about basketball or hockey or baseball.

We're talking about political ads, which are about to be unleashed on an innocent and unsuspecting population in a sort of legitimized form of electronic brainwashing.

It will be shock without the awe.

The fact is, most people really don't like political advertising. It's a steady diet of claims and counterclaims, appeals, distortions, attacks and just plain dirt repeated over and over.

You can cover your eyes, plug your ears, try to look away. But you can't hide.

In fact, according to a story in the New York Times, Mitt Romney's campaign thinks it has found a way to get its ads in front of the increasing number of voters who are not watching traditional television: Find these people online, and show them the ads there.

"The Romney campaign and a team of online behavior analysts have spent 18 months . . . sifting through data on the browsing habits of tens of millions of computer users as the campaign builds a richly detailed cache of potential supporters," the Times reported.

The Obama campaign is most aggressive in trying to reach voters online, so far spending more on Internet advertising than on television, radio and telemarketing combined, according to the Washington Post. Click on an Obama for President ad and it will follow wherever your Internet search will carry you.

It is indeed a brave new world. But while the method might be different, the madness remains the same. He who slings the most mud usually wins.

So I got to wondering recently: Does this stuff really work? Do Americans really cast their ballot on who has the slickest commercials or nastiest attack ads?

Isn't the media covering the presidential contest 24/7? Won't there be presidential candidate debates? Isn't it essentially the same message we had four years ago? And four years before that? Tax and spend nanny state liberals versus government slashing conservatives who coddle the rich and impose their moral views on others?

We're not idiots. Why do we need to be inundated with billions of dollars in attack ads that play fast and lose with the facts? A valid question. Also, depending on whom you ask, an overly simplistic one.

According to academics, it simply comes down to this: negative information is more memorable than positive. Ruthann Weaver Laiscy, a University of Georgia professor, writing for CNN, put it this way:

"I often use an analogy of running water from my garden hose. If I stand at the top of a smooth concrete driveway and turn on the water, it flows quickly, directly, and fairly seamlessly to the bottom. This is much how a positive message goes through the brain.

"If I take my same hose and stand at the top of a grassy hill and turn it on, the water travels more slowly than on the concrete hill, it picks up some loose dirt, and inevitably some of it gets `stuck' in grass along the way.

"Negative information, too, travels more slowly because of its enhanced complexity. It benefits from the negativity bias, and inevitably some of that negative information gets `stuck' in our minds, even if we don't like the ad or agree with its contents."

Let's see if I understand. So when I see my wife, instead of saying, "you look nice tonight," I say, "you look like you've put on a few pounds," I can expect that message to remain with her for a long, long, time?

You bet. Apply that to political hit pieces and you get the picture.

But it doesn't always work that way.

In the 2008 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole attempted an attack ad on Democratic challenger Kay Hagan by tying her to atheists.

Dole's campaign released an ad questioning Hagan's religion and it included a voice saying "There is no God!" over a picture of Kay Hagan's face. The voice was not Hagan's but the ad implied that it was.

Initially, it was thought the ad would work as that old time religion has historically been a very important issue to voters in the South.

But Hagan responded forcefully with an ad saying that she was a Sunday school teacher and was a deeply religious person.

Hagan's small lead in polls doubled and she won the race by a nine-point margin.

The lesson? Be careful who and how you smear.

robert.rector@sgvn.com

Robert Rector is a former editor with the Pasadena Star-News and Los Angeles Times.


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The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)


April 28, 2012 Saturday
The Virginian-Pilot Edition


Seeking the limelight


SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. B7


LENGTH: 706 words


SARAH PALIN has nothing on Bob McDonnell. Apparently, he can see an alternate universe from his house.

This week, McDonnell's political action committee - Opportunity Virginia - launched a 10-day series of TV ads touting the Old Dominion's economic recovery. You see it, right?

Well, more specifically, it's Bob for Jobs' economic recovery - and most certainly not Barack Obama's economic recovery.

Some folks are speculating that the $400,000 ad campaign is less about Virginia and more about McDonnell. Specifically, that it's aimed at bolstering his image as a bold, results-oriented fellow who'd make a fine campaign companion for bold, results-oriented Mitt Romney.

Perish the thought, the governor's folks say. It's so totally unrelated. "This ad is running in South Boston (Va.), not Boston," his communications director, Tucker Martin, told The Associated Press. "Sometimes, a positive ad is just a positive ad."

Yes, and sometimes a duck is just a duck.

McDonnell is clearly running for something. Lately, it's been his political life, courtesy of his less restrained GOP colleagues, who spent much of the General Assembly session introducing America to the virtues of transvaginal wands and gun-buying sprees.

There's none of that in the TV commercial, of course. Smiling face after smiling face appears on camera telling us what a great place Virginia is to do business.

Sure enough, it is. If you look closely, you can see a couple of guys in the background counting money from the Midtown-Downtown tunnel job. I don't read lips well, but it appears one has an Australian accent, the other Swedish.

McDonnell is, as advertised, bold. Transportation is unabashedly highlighted in the ad, with one smiling face declaring that Virginia has just made the largest investment in transportation in a generation.

Two or three generations, actually, if you count the state's commitment to toll everyone's great-grandchildren as they travel between Portsmouth and Norfolk.

But take solace: Imagine the horror of the Romney team as they wade through the Elizabeth River Crossings contract when vetting McDonnell for the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

A 13.5 percent yearly return on investment, a 3.5 percent yearly increase in tolls and an agreement to pay the contractors if the state builds something that takes traffic from the tunnels? For 58 years?

VP? Pshaw. Put this guy in charge of finding government excess. He'll flop right into it.

But the big political news in Virginia this week, of course, wasn't McDonnell's smiley ad. It wasn't even the news that former congressman Virgil Goode won the Constitution Party's nomination for president - of the United States!

The substantive news was Tareq Salahi's announcement that he intends to run for the GOP nomination for governor, bringing yet more comic relief to the contest between Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.

Salahi's chief qualification is that he and his now-estranged wife Michaele were once White House insiders. That is, they crashed a party there in 2009, much to the chagrin of the now-highly chagrinable Secret Service.

The couple surfaced again later when hubby reported his wife had been kidnapped. Turned out she had run off with a guitarist with Journey. (Arguably, a worse fate.)

Salahi also briefly made news when he briefly planned to sell his wife's underwear - with part of the proceeds thoughtfully designated for charity.

This week, Cuccinelli's office filed a lawsuit against Salahi, accusing him of ripping off people who'd paid to take tours of his winery in Fauquier County. This suit is especially notable for Cuccinelli because it appears the alleged scam had nothing to do with alleged global warming.

Also remarkable is the fact that Salahi didn't choose to run for the Democratic Party nomination, given that its bench is about as deep as the Constitution Party's.

Naturally, there are people who contend Salahi is just trying to get back at Cuccinelli. Actually, Salahi is one of them.

But let's not overplay cause-and-effect here.

Sometimes a positive ad is just a positive ad. And sometimes a run for the limelight is just a run for the limelight.

Daryl Lease is an editorial writer for The VIrginian-Pilot. Email: daryl.lease@pilotonline.com


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The Washington Post


April 28, 2012 Saturday
Met 2 Edition


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A02


LENGTH: 243 words


l Two credits were left off images with an article about the home of landscape architect Richard Arentz in this weekend's Magazine, which was printed in advance. A schematic of the property was adapted from an original design by Arentz Landscape Architects LLC, and a photograph of Arentz was taken by Alexander Morozov of Photography By Alexander.

l A chart with the continuation of an April 26 Page One article about campaign ad spending by nonprofit groups that do not reveal their donors incorrectly characterized the Environmental Defense Fund's ad spending as anti-Mitt Romney. It should have been labeled pro-Barack Obama.

l A note at the top of the April 25 Metro section front, directing readers to a gallery of readers' photos at washingtonpost.com, incorrectly implied that the Capitals' hockey season would end that evening. In fact, the Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference quarterfinals on April 25, winning the series and extending their season.

The Washington Post is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can:

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The Washington Post


April 28, 2012 Saturday
Suburban Edition


Campaigns address young voters' issues


BYLINE: Rosalind S. Helderman;and Felicia Sonmez


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A04


LENGTH: 903 words


DATELINE: FORT STEWART, GA.


FORT STEWART, Ga. - President Obama, emphasizing his role as commander in chief, released a campaign video on Friday that heralds the administration's successfulattack on Osama bin Laden last year and questions whether Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney would have pursued the same course.

In the video, titled "One Chance," former president Bill Clinton praises the "decider-in-chief" for ordering the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden's compound. The one-year anniversary of the raid is next week.

"Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" the ad asks.

During the 2008 campaign, the video notes, Romney criticized Obama for promising to consider drone strikes in Pakistan and said of bin Laden: "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person."

The new message, seeking to exploit Obama's national security credentials, came as the president addressed thousands of uniformed members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

Obama also signed an executive order cracking down on for-profit colleges that prey on service members. At the same time, Romney met with students in Ohio to discuss college debt and warn that the United States is "on track to becoming Greece" - the latest sign that the general election is kicking off with a focus on the concerns of young voters.

The measure Obama signed is aimed at preventing schools from collecting tuition dollars from veterans without providing meaningful education in return.

Joined by first lady Michelle Obama, Obama told some 10,300 soldiers that for-profit schools swindle veterans, harassing them with repeated phone calls and e-mails and promising them job placement without delivering.

He told of one college recruiter who visited a barracks at Camp Lejeune and signed up troops suffering from brain injuries.

"That's appalling. That's disgraceful. That should never happen in America," he said.

The executive order, he said, will "make life a whole lot more secure for you and your families and our veterans and a whole lot tougher for those who try to prey on you."

The order directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to trademark the term "GI Bill," to make it easier for the government to crack down on for-profit groups that deceptively use the term to enroll veterans.

It will also require the 6,000 colleges that participate in the GI Bill to provide veterans a "Know Before You Owe" document that more transparently explains how much debt they will take on to complete their degree. It will make it easier for service members to register complaints and for implicated institutions to be kept off of military installations.

The Washington Post Co. operates for-profit schools through its Kaplan subsidiary.

Obama's action was praised by veterans groups, although the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities called it "deeply unfortunate," saying that it was already in talks with veterans organizations and lawmakers about the concerns.

Hours after Obama signed the executive order, Romney addressed a crowd of several hundred students and faculty members at Otterbein University, a small liberal arts college northeast of Columbus, Ohio. He delivered a 40-minute speech, flanked by about 50 students who listened respectfully - if not with overwhelming enthusiasm.

Romney charged that Obama has been responsible for "the most anemic and tepid recovery we've seen since Hoover" and told students that when they listen to candidates they should "consider not just the brilliance of their words but also the facts of their record and of what they've done."

"You will hear words from people running for office that sound great, but sometimes what people say is not a perfect example of what they're going to do," he said."Sometimes, appearances do not conform with the facts or reality or track records."

Romney counseled students to pay attention to the country's ballooning debt. "There is no doubt in my mind that if this president were to be reelected, we will ultimately face a Greece-like setting, where people will wonder whether they want to loan money to America, and loan money to America at low interest rates," he said.

Beforehand, Romney and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) huddled with seven students over burgers and soft drinks to talk about their post-college prospects.

Romney, who studied English as an undergraduate, appeared to warn students against pursuing an English degree without further graduate study. "As an English major, your options are - you'd better go to graduate school and find a job from there," he said.

In a related move, the Republican-led House on Friday adopted a GOP-authored plan to pay for lower student rates with money set aside for preventative health care programs in the federal health-care overhaul. The White House has pledged to veto the proposal, which is unlikely to be taken up by the Democratic-led Senate.

The dueling events came on the heels of an appearance this week by the president on Jimmy Fallon's late-night talk show as well as a three-state college-campus swing during which he urged Congress to pass a plan to freeze federal student loan rates. Romney on Monday joined Obama in throwing his weight behind the goal of freezing loan rates, although he has not specified how he would like to see the cost of the freeze offset.

heldermanr@washpost.com

sonmezf@washpost.com

Staff writer Steve Vogel contributed to this report. Sonmez reported from Ohio.


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Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin)


April 28, 2012 Saturday
ALL EDITION


YOUR VIEWS


SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A13


LENGTH: 768 words


Badger Flight supporters deserve much praise

I was one of the many World War II veterans on last Saturday's Badger Honor Flight. Without the most valuable help of all - the volunteers both in Madison and in Washington, D.C. - this day would have been impossible.

I want to thank Burdett Frasier, my Madison guardian, and Alexis MacDonald, my Washington guardian. Thanks also to Steve Schmidt of the Shoe Box for our caps, and to Arby's for the fine meal.

It's not possible to describe in words the World War II Memorial and other monuments we visited. The superlatives are endless. Every veteran should apply for the Badger Honor Flight.

The reception upon our return was stupendous. I estimate there were between 1,200 and 1,500 people. What terrific support!

Thanks again, Badger Honor Flight - I will always remember it.

- Willard E. Lund, Madison

Obama took most hits from 'liberal' media

In a recent Pew Research Center study it was revealed that President Barack Obama received more negative media coverage than Mitt Romney and all the other Republican candidates.

I hope that finally ends the myth of the mainstream liberal media.

- Patrick Flannery, Madison

Need bipartisan push for clean campaigns

We need a "truth in political elections" bill to prevent "mudslinging" political campaign advertising and to restore credibility to political campaigns.

Over the past several years, from campaigns for Supreme Court justices to governor and, just recently, during the presidential primary, we have witnessed a steady decline in "clean" campaigning. Smearing an opponent has taken precedence to building a candidate's positive image. We hit a new low when Republican presidential candidates ran attack ads against each other.

There are a number of ways clean campaigning could be restored, such as requiring Government Accountability Board pre-approval, forming a judiciary ad hoc committee or a bipartisan legislative committee to set standards, and having a state elections board charged with setting high standards for election advertising.

Between May 8 and June 5 we are likely to be subjected to many of these attack ads. These disgraceful, negative ads are a campaign tactic and should be disregarded. Let's work in a bipartisan way to restore decency to political campaigning in Wisconsin.

- Robert L. Bellman, Richland Center

Legislature fails on CWD

I found outdoor Patrick Durkin's Sunday column, "CWD is back: DNR seems ... resigned," curious. What does he expect the DNR's response to be?

Every recommendation the DNR has put forth on chronic wasting disease has been ridiculed and attacked by a hostile Legislature and hunting groups who possess little understanding of wildlife management. The time to do something about CWD was in 2002 when it was discovered. The proper response was to eradicate the disease as the DNR recommended.

Thank you, Legislature, for failing in yet another area due to ignorance and unwillingness to listen to the experts. The only good news is that now, when DNR recommendations agree with Republican political ideology, the Legislature calls them experts again - at least on mining and wetlands.

- Steve Janisch, Verona

Unwanted children worse

I was distressed to learn that Planned Parenthood has been forced to curtail its medication-induced abortion services. I came of age in an era before "the pill" and before abortion became legal in the United States. I personally knew four young women who became pregnant out of wedlock (all before I met them).

Two had their babies in secret and put them up for adoption, one kept her baby, and the fourth bounced a phonograph on her tummy until she spontaneously aborted. One came from an upper-middle class Republican family.

Abortion is preferable to unwanted children, and birth control is preferable to abortion.

- Joel W. Robbin, Madison

Walker deserves more time

The recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report indicates Wisconsin has a long way to go in its economic recovery. One positive sign is the unemployment rate decreasing significantly.

I hope the end of the recall season will incentivize Wisconsin businesses to begin expanding and increase hiring. What businesses fear most is uncertainty, and the endless recalls have definitely caused uncertainty.

Milwaukee under Tom Barrett is well above the state average in unemployment and continues to be one of the nation's poorest urban areas. Barrett said little when the recent job-creating mining bill was voted down.

Wisconsin needs to make economic strides. I hope voters will give Gov. Scott Walker longer than a year-and-a-half for his reforms to work.

- Tony Cataldo, Fitchburg


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


April 28, 2012 Saturday 3:32 PM GMT


In emails, Mass. Senate race takes harsher turn


BYLINE: By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 992 words


DATELINE: BOSTON


Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and his chief Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, have vowed to fight attack ads on television, radio and the Internet, but in their emailed appeals to supporters, the two routinely portray each other in the harshest light possible.

Brown and his campaign manager, Jim Barnett, have called Warren a "far-left ideologue," "ardent leftist ," "wealthy one-percenter," "rock-throwing street fighter" and "elitist hypocrite" who's running "a campaign based on self-righteousness and moral superiority."

Warren and her campaign manager, Mindy Myers, have also used tough rhetoric in their fundraising emails, describing Brown as "partisan a Republican as they come" and a politician who sides with "the right wing of his party, against the people of Massachusetts."

In part, the rougher tone reflects the partisan dynamics of political fundraising, where firing up one's base inevitably means taking shots at one's opponent.

But in Massachusetts, there's an added twist an unusual agreement struck by Brown and Warren to keep third party groups from running attack ads during the campaign.

That means if there's any mudslinging in the works, it will have to come directly from the candidates and their campaigns.

The nearly daily email missives show how Brown and Warren are trying to find ways to attack each other without tarnishing their own campaigns.

One of most recent sparring matches erupted over a fundraising appeal from Brown in which he casts the Massachusetts Senate race in the context of the presidential contest. Brown supports fellow Massachusetts Republican Mitt Romney.

"I know there are several other GOP campaigns to support, but this race is THE battleground for the United States Senate the only sure hedge to a potential second term for President Obama," Brown wrote.

Democrats, including Warren's campaign, were quick to note that Brown's message appeared to clash with his recent public efforts to find common ground with Obama.

When Obama called on Congress during his State of the Union speech this year to "send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress," Brown, who sponsored the bill, was quick to highlight the endorsement. Brown's office put out a press release that included a link to a video showing a brief exchange between Brown and Obama during which Brown urged Obama to push Majority Leader Harry Reid to release the bill and Obama said, "I'm going to tell him to get it done."

Brown also regularly boasts of being one of the most bipartisan senators in the Senate as he appeals to independent and conservative Democratic voters in Massachusetts, where Republicans account for just 11 percent of the electorate.

"On TV, Scott Brown says that he's an independent voice in the Senate. But that's not the message he sends to his campaign supporters," Myers said in a follow-up fundraising email to Warren supporters. "In fact, when the cameras aren't rolling, you see Scott Brown's true colors and he's as partisan a Republican as they come."

Despite his recent efforts to show solidarity with Obama, who remains popular in Massachusetts, Brown won his Senate seat by vowing to be the 41st vote again Obama's health care bill.

For Brown, a key to his re-election is maintaining his likeability among voters a likeability that could be threatened if he's forced to attack Warren as Election Day approaches.

It's not the first time Brown has tried to appeal to voters by eschewing the rougher edges of politics.

In the 2010 special election that netted him the Senate seat held for nearly half a century by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, Brown launched a television ad that faulted his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, for attacking him.

In the ad, Brown, dressed in a sweater and standing in his kitchen, addressed the camera.

"By now, you've probably seen the negative ads launched by Martha Coakley and her supporters," he said. "Their attack ads are wrong and go too far."

During that campaign, Brown was aided by outside groups that poured millions of dollars into ads attacking Coakley.

This election cycle neither Brown nor Warren can rely on outside groups for harder-edged ads.

This year, the two signed a pledge designed to ban attack ads by outside groups. Under the deal, whichever candidate benefits from a third party ad must write a check for half the value of the ad to a charity named by the other candidate.

It's a sharp contrast from other political contests in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case which has made it easier for corporations and wealthy donors to pour millions into campaigns.

Brown has already written two checks for more than $35,000 after outside groups ran ads on his behalf.

Warren's campaign taking a cue from Brown's 2010 ad recently sent a fundraising appeal accusing Brown of the same kind of attacks he accused Coakley of two years ago.

"He's labeling our supporters `insiders, celebrities, elites, occupiers, leftists ,'" Myers wrote in the e-mail. "We can't make Scott Brown stop calling you names, but we can continue to outraise him."

Myers was referring to a Brown fundraising letter in which Brown claims that he's the candidate under fire.

"This is why Washington insiders, celebrities, elites, occupiers and leftists are pouring money into their attack campaign against me," Brown wrote in the fundraising appeal.

For now, the fiery emails appear to be benefiting both campaigns. Each attack by one candidate inevitably inspires a campaign fundraising appeal by the opposing candidate.

The Senate race is on its way to being one of the most expensive in the country and the costliest in Massachusetts history.

Brown's campaign had nearly $15 million in his re-election account as of the end of March compared with the nearly $11 million in Warren's account. Warren, however, was able to raise more than twice as much as Brown in the first three months of the year.


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The Associated Press


April 29, 2012 Sunday 05:44 PM GMT


Analysis: Student loan agreement? Not so fast.


BYLINE: By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent


SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS


LENGTH: 781 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


In the political campaigns still taking shape, President Barack Obama, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and lawmakers of both parties say they want to protect college students from a sharp increase in interest rates on federally subsidized loans.

Agree, they might, and act they surely will. But first, they settled effortlessly into a rollicking good political brawl.

In less than 72 hours, what might have looked like a relatively simple matter mushroomed into a politically charged veto showdown that touched on the economy and health care, tax cuts and policies affecting women. Accusatory campaign commercials to follow, no doubt.

"This is beneath us. This is beneath the dignity of this House and the dignity of the public trust that we enjoy," protested House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio as he and Democrats both maneuvered for position.

Evidently not.

"It shouldn't be a Republican or a Democratic issue. This is an American issue," Obama said in North Carolina last week as he broached the topic of legislation in a move to gain support students in the fall election. He urged his listeners to tweet their lawmakers and urge them to block an increase in interest rates on federally subsidized loans issued beginning July 1.

There was partisan pop behind Obama's message, though.

Over two days of campaign-style appearances on college campuses, he quoted one unnamed Republican lawmaker as saying she had "very little tolerance for people who tell me they graduate with debt because there's no reason for that." Another GOP lawmaker likened student loans to "stage three cancer of socialism," he said. Both Republicans quickly said they had been quoted out of context.

Within a day, Romney told reporters he agreed on the need to prevent the rate increase, while conceding nothing to Obama in the search for political advantage. "I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students," he said, and cited "extraordinarily poor conditions in the job market" in a jab at the president's handling of the economy.

Congressional Democrats announced they would write legislation to prevent a doubling of the current 3.4 percent interest rate, and cover the $6 billion cost by requiring more wealthy individuals to pay Social Security and Medicare payroll tax.

It was a not-so-subtle reprise of a campaign perennial, the allegation that Republicans want to cut programs benefiting those who aren't rich to protect tax cuts for those who are.

"Let's be honest," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "The only reason Democrats have proposed this particular solution to the problem is to get Republicans to oppose it, to make us cast a vote they think will make us look bad to the voters they need to win the next election."

He then accused Democrats of wanting to pay for the legislation "by raiding Social Security and Medicare, and by making it even harder for small businesses to hire."

Democrats noted that the Republican-written budget included no provisions to block the increase in the interest rate. It was evidence, they added, that if the GOP had its way, the cost of borrowing would double soon. Two conservative groups, the Heritage Foundation and the Club for Growth, both opposed the change, but only about 30 GOP House members voted against it.

The Democratic charge brought a rebuttal from Boehner, who said at midweek that the Republican-controlled House would vote quickly to prevent the interest rate from rising. "The issue is not a partisan issue," he said, echoing Obama on one point. "No one here expected interest rates would go up in the fall."

Then he, too, put his thumb on the political scales.

The Republican bill would cover the $6 billion cost by slicing into a fund to cover preventive health care costs. That expanded the struggle to include one of the Republicans' own campaign planks the promise to repeal what they deride as "Obamacare," and failing that, to dismantle it piece by piece.

Charge gave way to counter-charge having little or nothing to do with student loans.

Democrats said the health care fund Republicans had targeted was evidence of a "war on women."

"Give me a break," protested Boehner on the House floor. Addressing Democrats, he said, "you may have already forgotten that several months ago you voted to cut $4 billion out of this fund to pay for the payroll tax cut."

By then, the White House weighed in with a veto threat, which House Republicans promptly ignored in passing its version of the measure on a near party-line vote of 215-195.

With that, Congress, its approval rating mired in the teens, went on a one-week vacation.

EDITOR'S NOTE David Espo covers politics and Congress for The Associated Press


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Buffalo News (New York)


April 29, 2012 Sunday
FINAL EDITION


Inside the 27th District 'toss-up'


BYLINE: By Bob McCarthy - NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER


SECTION: VIEWPOINTS; Pg. G3


LENGTH: 594 words


A few points and counterpoints underscoring the state of politics in Western New York:

* Point: In the big 27th District race between Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul and one of two Republican challengers -- Chris Collins or David Bellavia -- the Washington Post reports the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (the panel charged with electing more Democrats to the House) has reserved $32 million worth of ad time in about three dozen competitive districts.

The national Dems, however, did not reserve time in Hochul's Buffalo/Rochester market, now even more Republican than her current district as a result of reapportionment.

Counterpoint: Roll Call, the influential newspaper for Washington insiders, calls the race a "toss-up." The Rothenberg Political Report calls it a "pure toss-up."

Bottom line: "By the numbers, this district should lean Republican, but Hochul's likability and the potential GOP contenders make this a toss-up race for now," Roll Call said.

* Point: Democratic sources report that an early 2011 county executive poll, pitting then-County Clerk Hochul against then-County Executive Collins, showed Hochul beating Collins by double-digits.

Counterpoint: The poll included the heavily Democratic City of Buffalo and other Erie County towns not part of the new 27th Congressional District where Collins and Hochul may square off. And Collins forces are quick to note he garnered about 63 percent of the vote in those Erie County towns now part of the new district.

In one more strike against the congresswoman, studies show only 44 percent of voters in the new district favored President Obama in 2008.

Bottom line: Both sides expect a competitive race, no matter what the Washington types proclaim.

* Point: Collins says he will not raise funds for his primary contest against Bellavia, using his own money until the June 26 faceoff. He is expected to avoid television and concentrate on direct mail, social media and the "tele-town hall" method he used last week to hone in on 8,000 prime Republican voters.

Counterpoint: Bellavia reported a mere $11,000 raised so far.

Bottom line: Bellavia enjoys support from party organizations in outlying counties, but needs to raise dollars -- and soon. He must also heed the advice of senior Republicans who are counseling that he needs a real and experienced staff in place -- also soon.

* Point: State Independence Party leaders granted Republican Collins their often-influential line earlier this month.

Counterpoint: The Collins team never circulated Independence petitions, concentrating instead on the Republican and Conservative lines. As a result, Collins does not get the line.

Bottom line: Independence member Megan Lavin circulated and filed petitions, and will represent the party in November, barring any successful objections filed to her candidacy.

* Point: Hochul dropped a hint of possible campaign strategy a few days ago during a visit to The Buffalo News. She questioned the record of Collins the businessman and whether he cut jobs at his various companies.

Counterpoint: Collins has never shied away from his business record, and may echo Mitt Romney's expected theme of using business experience to become a "fixer" in Washington.

Bottom line: Stay tuned.

* Point: Switching to one other topic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will host a rescheduled fundraiser at the under-renovation Lafayette Hotel on Wednesday in what is billed as a major event. Indeed, ticket prices begin at $5,000.

Counterpoint: There is no counterpoint to a fundraiser with tickets starting at $5,000.

email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com


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CNN Wire


April 29, 2012 Sunday 11:47 PM EST


GOP says Obama playing politics with bin Laden anniversary


BYLINE: By Gabriella Schwarz, CNN


LENGTH: 1137 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Days before the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, top surrogates for President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took to the national stage to argue the politics of the attack.

Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs defended the campaign's use of the event in a recent Web video and in a speech from Vice President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, senior Romney adviser Ed Gillespie characterized the political steps surrounding the death as a "bridge too far."

Team Obama released a video on Friday, partially narrated by former President Bill Clinton, that praised the president's decision to order the killing of the al Qaeda chief one year from Tuesday and questioned whether Romney would have made the same choice. Biden similarly questioned the former Massachusetts governor in a campaign-style speech on Thursday.

Gibbs, the former White House press secretary, said the video was "not over the line" and criticized comments Romney made on the issue during his first White House bid as "foolish."

The video quotes Romney in 2007 during his first White House bid, saying, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Days later, he said, "We'll move everything to get him (bin Laden)."

"There's a difference in the roles they would play as commander in chief, and I certainly think that's fair game," Gibbs said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

During his second White House bid, Romney has repeatedly praised the president for launching the raid on bin Laden.

Gillespie, a former aide to former President George W. Bush and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said utilizing the raid for political purposes is one of the reasons Obama has "become one of the most divisive presidents in American history."

"He took something that was a unifying event for all Americans, and he's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan political attack," Gillespie said in a separate interview on the same NBC program. "I think most Americans will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign."

The campaign video received criticism from Republicans, including from 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. On Friday, he called the minute-long spot "a cheap political attack ad."

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan avoided the politics of the issue but did praise the president's decision-making skills surrounding bin Laden's death by U.S. Navy SEALs during a raid in Pakistan.

"I don't do politics," Brennan said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "I just know that President Obama, when the time came for him to make a momentous decision like that, he took the action that did bring bin Laden to justice."

Biden teed off what will likely remain a talking point from Team Obama through the election in a Thursday address that previewed a potential 2012 slogan.

"If you are looking for a bumper sticker to sum up how President Obama has handled what we inherited, it's pretty simple: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," Biden said during a speech at New York University, lines Gibbs echoed on Sunday.

The president will pick up the message with what the campaign has billed as the president's re-election kick-off on Saturday. Obama is expected to attend campaign rallies in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Virginia, two likely battleground states in the November election.

Biden will attend campaign events in Missouri and Indiana on Monday and in Washington on Thursday.

Obama rallied young voters on college campuses in North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado last week, calling for Congress to stop an increase in the interest rate for student loans in July.

Jim Messina, Obama campaign manager, said that Saturday will mark the end of the Republican "monologue."

"Now Romney has to put his record and his agenda up against the president's, and we look forward to that debate," Messina said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters.

Romney is expected to meet with former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday, a long-awaited rendezvous given that the former Pennsylvania senator has yet to endorse his party's presumptive nominee.

Santorum danced around the issue last week with CNN's Piers Morgan during his first televised interview since he suspended his candidacy on April 10.

He acknowledged Romney would be the "person that's going against Barack Obama," but said he was still "working through it" and discussing it with this wife, Karen.

Newt Gingrich is scheduled to announce the suspension of his campaign on Wednesday, at which point he will back Romney, sources told CNN.

Romney will spend much of the coming week fundraising, with events in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

He will also campaign Monday with Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, the latest potential vice presidential candidate to appear with the GOP frontrunner. The freshman senator was an early backer of Romney and appeared with him repeatedly on the stump ahead of her state's primary.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got the VP scrutiny treatment last week when he appeared with Romney in Pennsylvania. Many political observers see Rubio as the favorite for Romney's vice presidential pick, given his ties to the swing state of Florida, the Hispanic community (he is the son of Cuban immigrants) and members of the grassroots tea party movement.

Rubio was one of three potential candidates mentioned by House Speaker John Boehner in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Boehner said there is a "long list" of qualified candidates for the GOP ticket, including Rubio, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, all of whom fit his criteria that the pick be capable of serving as president.

"There are a lot of people that I like. But this is a personal choice for Gov. Romney, and I'm confident that he'll have a running mate that will be helpful to the ticket," Boehner told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. "I think the number one quality is: Are they capable of being president in the case of an emergency?"

Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor and RNC chairman, on Sunday downplayed the importance of the No. 2 pick.

Villaraigosa, a Mexican-American, said he wouldn't expect a Rubio pick to make a large difference with Hispanic voters.

"I don't expect that it's going to win you an election or win you an entire demographic. This is going to be fought on the issues," Villaraigosa said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"Can a vice presidential candidate just change the whole deck? No I don't think so," Barbour said on the CBS program. "The idea that you're going to reshuffle the deck would be very unusual in American history."


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CNN Wire


April 29, 2012 Sunday 2:30 PM EST


President Obama's humor goes to the 'dogs' during annual dinner


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 837 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The humor at the 98th annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner went to the dogs.

President Barack Obama poked fun Saturday at everything, from the Secret Service scandal to the lavish spending by the Government Services Administration, to the upcoming general election.

However, it was a spoof about Mitt Romney and his dog Seamus that highlighted the president's monologue.

The joke recalled a political ad released by the Newt Gingrich campaign that took aim at Romney for admitting he once put his family dog in a cage and perched it on the top of his car.

"I know everybody is predicting a nasty election, and thankfully, we've all agreed that families are off-limits," the president said. "Dogs, however, are apparently fair game."

The president's punch line: An ad by a phony Super PAC that featured Romney on Air Force One with a dog cage on top of the aircraft and promoted dog freedoms, while warning of Obama's policy of dog socialism.

"Under his leadership, man's best friend has been forced into automobiles. Imagine the European-style socialism that he has planned for the next four years," the spoof ad said.

The president even poked fun at himself over recent criticism by the Romney campaign about revelations in his book, "Dreams From My Father," where he revealed he was fed dog meat as a boy in Indonesia.

"That's pretty rough. But I can take it, because my stepfather always told me, it's a boy-eat-dog world out there," Obama said.

The president referred to former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's recent guest hosting on "Today," saying it "reminds me of an old saying -- What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious."

The dinner was Obama's fourth as president. It has been a ritual in Washington since 1920, when it was first held to boost communication between the press and the president.

Journalists and news organizations were well-represented at the affair, and they brought famous faces in tow.

Among those in attendance Saturday were Claire Danes, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Sigourney Weaver, Eva Longoria, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Rachel Zoe, Goldie Hawn and Josh Hutcherson.

The annual gala, also known as the "Nerd Prom," raises money for journalism scholarships.

While the dinner is notorious for its sometimes bawdy political humor, the president took a serious moment to recall the deaths of Anthony Shadid of The New York Times and Marie Colvin of the Times of London, "who made the ultimate sacrifice as they sought to shine a light on some of the most important stories of our time."

Shadid and Colvin died in February while covering the conflict in Syria.

Overall, Obama stayed true to the theme of the night -- humorous barbs. He joked about business tycoon Donald Trump, whom the president kidded at last year's dinner about pushing the president to release his long-form birth certificate.

"We gather during a historic anniversary. This weekend last year, we finally delivered justice to one of the world's most notorious individuals," Obama said to a packed ballroom at the Washington Hilton.

A photo of Trump was shown, rather than that of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Obama then went back even further in time.

"Four years ago, I was in a brutal primary battle with Hillary Clinton," Obama said. "Four years later, she won't stop drunk texting me from Cartagena," a reference to the city where Secret Service agents allegedly consorted with prostitutes.

The president also took aim at the scandal, itself: "I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew."

Obama, speaking before comedian Jimmy Kimmel, made light of a General Services Adminstration conference in Las Vegas that cost more than $800,000.

"Look at this party. We have men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first-class entertainment. I was relieved to hear it was not a GSA conference," Obama quipped.

He even chided Kimmel, star of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

"Jimmy got his start on the 'Man Show.' In Washington, that is what we call a congressional hearing on contraception."

Kimmel, who took the stage following the president's monologue, hit back.

"Remember when the country rallied around you in the hopes of a better tomorrow?" Kimmel asked. "That was hilarious."

Kimmel said there was a term for "guys like the president," and it wasn't two terms.

He said he told the Secret Service that for $800, he would stay away from jokes about the scandal.

"But they only offered $30," he said.

Nobody in the room was safe from Kimmel's barbs, which he fired at politicians, journalists, celebrities and corporate executives in attendance.

Kimmel praised Michelle Obama's work to combat obesity with her health initiative. The comedian then pointed out rotund New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the first lady.

"Look, it's Chris Christie. Get him," Kimmel said.

Kimmel then took aim at Gingrich's weight. But Kimmel's fat jokes fell, well, flat with the former House speaker.


LOAD-DATE: April 30, 2012


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Dayton Daily News (Ohio)


April 29, 2012 Sunday


Attack ads intensify presidential campaign;
Obama campaign invokes bin Laden in response to Rove's 'celebrity' ad.;
POLITICS


BYLINE: By Joe Garofolic


SECTION: NATION/WORLD; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 487 words


The presidential campaign has intensified after a super PAC linked to Republican strategist Karl Rove launched the season's first major brushback pitch - a 30-second ad mocking President Obama as "a celebrity president," a preview of one of the GOP's top attack lines.

Analysts said comparing the pop culture-conversant Obama and the more publicly stiff Mitt Romney, the presumed GOP nominee, may not produce the result Rove intended.

But the Obama campaign's response raised a new question: How should it handle the killing of Osama bin Laden?

The first major ad salvo of the campaign began Thursday with a new 30-second online ad produced by Rove's American Crossroads group, which is not affiliated with presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney's campaign.

It shows a montage of Obama's top pop culture turns, singing part of an Al Green song at a fundraiser and hamming it up this week on Jimmy Fallon's NBC late night show.

Then it asks: "After four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?" After that, in a direct attack on the youth vote constituency that Obama dominates, statistics on the high unemployment rate and student loan debt among young Americans flash on the screen.

The ad was intended to chip away at polls showing that while the race is a statistical dead heat so far, on a personal basis, voters consider Obama far more favorably than they do Romney.

But the Obama campaign, in a response that showed how seriously it considered the attack, fired back Friday with an ad featuring two of its most potent weapons.

The 1 ?-minute video ad stars one of the Obama campaign's top surrogates - former President Bill Clinton - who touts one of the signature accomplishments of Obama's term, the assassination of Sept. 11 mastermind bin Laden.

Obama got a bump in the polls - briefly - after bin Laden was killed nearly a year ago.

"He took the harder and the more honorable path," Clinton said in the ad, admiring Obama's deliberation during the top-secret mission. "And the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result."

The ad ends by questioning what Romney would have done in the same situation, noting that the former Massachusetts governor has vacillated in the past over whether time should be spent chasing bin Laden.

The use of bin Laden in an political ad incensed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," McCain said Friday.

"This is the same president who once criticized Hillary Clinton for invoking bin Laden 'to score political points.'

"This is the same president who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown.

"And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get reelected," added McCain, who has endorsed Romney.


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The New York Times


April 29, 2012 Sunday
Late Edition - Final


Much Fodder for Obama at White House Journalists' Event


BYLINE: By PETER BAKER


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 23


LENGTH: 575 words


WASHINGTON -- President Obama poked fun at himself, Congress, the Secret Service, the media and particularly his rival Mitt Romney on Saturday night, mocking his Republican opponent as a fuddy-duddy rich guy who travels with his dog in a cage strapped to the roof of the family car.

Delivering the traditionally comic remarks at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, the president seemed to enjoy needling Mr. Romney just days after the general election contest effectively got underway. The highlight was a spoof Romney ad showing the former governor at the door of Air Force One with a dog cage on top of the aircraft.

Families are off limits, Mr. Obama declared. ''Dogs, however, are apparently fair game,'' he said.

Mr. Obama pointed out that he was speaking in a cavernous hotel ballroom, or ''what Mitt Romney would call a little fixer-upper.'' He noted that he and Mr. Romney both have degrees from Harvard University, but the Republican has two. ''What a snob,'' Mr. Obama joked. And he said after his own appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show this week, Mr. Romney ''asked if he could get some equal time on 'The Merv Griffin Show.' ''

Appearing before the official entertainer of the evening, Jimmy Kimmel, Mr. Obama also took aim at a couple of other Republican critics. Noting the presence of Newt Gingrich, who plans to drop out of the Republican race next week, Mr. Obama called out, ''Newt there's still time, man!''

And he took aim at Sarah Palin, mocking her famous line from the 2008 convention as well as Republican criticism of him for eating dog meat while a boy in Indonesia. ''What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?'' Mr. Obama asked. ''A pit bull is delicious.'' (Even Michelle Obama looked askance at that one.)

He took a jab at Congress, thanking lawmakers who ''took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight.'' He teased Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was photographed dancing and drinking a beer at a club during a visit to Colombia. ''She won't stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena,'' the president said.

And of course, he ribbed his own security detail after the prostitution scandal involving the Secret Service on that same trip to Colombia, declaring that he had to leave early because ''I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew.''

Mr. Kimmel also went after the Secret Service during his routine. ''I do have a lot of jokes about the Secret Service,'' he said. ''You know, I told them for $800 I wouldn't tell them, but they only offered 30.''

The dinner has long since morphed from a gathering of journalists and their sources into a peculiar ritual marrying Washington, New York and Hollywood cultures and celebrities.

In addition to the president and the usual array of cabinet secretaries, senators, House members and television pundits, boldfaced names spotted at this year's dinner included George Clooney, Lindsay Lohan, Goldie Hawn, Claire Danes, Kim Kardashian, Diane Keaton and others.

Just last year, the dinner played a cameo role in the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. When he showed up at the dinner, Mr. Obama had just given the order for the helicopter incursion into Pakistan to burst into a compound where the Al Qaeda leader was suspected of living. But he smiled and joked his way through the dinner, and a ballroom full of journalists had no clue what was about to happen.


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The New York Post


April 29, 2012 Sunday


Desperate prez demeaning the office


BYLINE: MICHAEL GOODWIN


SECTION: All Editions; Pg. 9


LENGTH: 278 words


It is fashionable to be jaded about a presidential campaign, to complain there's nothing new and tune it out. Not this one. Watch it, or you'll miss the antics of an incumbent who has no scruples and no regard for the majesty of his office.

President Obama's team put out an ad praising him for sending in Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden and doubting whether Mitt Romney would have done it. To further exploit the one-year anniversary, he gave an interview to NBC in the Situation Room, from where he observed the raid. And The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Obama campaign has an enemies list, a group of Romney donors it singles out by name on a Web site while declaring some got rich "at the expense of so many Americans."

As outrageous as those breaches of decency are, they are merely the latest extension of Obama's polarizing presidency. His tenure threatened, he is growing desperate, almost pathologically so. And it's only April.

Where once it was rare for a politician or a commentator to accuse a president of lying, it happens routinely now. Obama's speeches are filled with distortions and fabrications. Even members of his own party don't trust him, regarding him as ruthlessly selfish. "An uncurious man," said one.

House Speaker John Boehner called the president's use of Air Force One for campaign events disguised as official business "pathetic" and added: "This is the biggest job in the world, and I've never seen a president make it smaller."

It is a train wreck for America, unfolding before our eyes. Sad to say, but it makes me nostalgic for the days of Bill Clinton, when it was only sex that shamed the Oval Office.


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


April 29, 2012 Sunday
State Edition


Governor hopes best defense is a good offense


BYLINE: Jeff E. Schapiro


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B-01


LENGTH: 795 words


Even when he's throwing a fit, Bob McDonnell is the model of hair-plastered, teeth-polished, scripted calm.

Determined to shift the narrative from the social issues that have trivialized him as a governor to the economic issues that validated him as a candidate, McDonnell is again in campaign mode. The Republican, signaling anew his availability for a vice presidential nomination that seems likely to elude him, this past week rolled out a 30-second television commercial focusing on the turnaround in the Virginia economy.

McDonnell apparently concluded he had no choice. Like Tareq Salahi, the White House party-crasher who figures running against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in the GOP gubernatorial primary beats losing a fraud case to him in state court, McDonnell is hoping that the best defense is a good offense.

Annoyingly, the free media -- news outlets and their websites -- have had a field day spotlighting McDonnell's complicity in the state's latest attack on abortion rights, an issue that puts him on the wrong side of public opinion and threatens to mobilize election-deciding independents against Republicans in the presidential preliminaries to next year's main event: the campaign for governor.

Fortunately, with paid media -- McDonnell's over-the-air and online advertisements -- he gets the first and last word on what he wants to discuss. No questions asked: none about the increased debt for financing roads; none about the federal spending that has helped bring down joblessness; none about the accounting tricks that contributed to budget surpluses.

Paid for with about $400,000 from McDonnell's political action committee -- itself a Hoover for five- and six-figure contributions from interests and individuals, some of whose PR problems make the governor's look like beanbag -- the commercial is bubbly talk by happy faces: his and those of seven business people reflecting the state's diverse economy.

Among them: the head of an online job-search firm in Henrico County that was an earlier backdrop for McDonnell's boosterism; the owner of a Henrico gifts-and-accessories shop who went to college with McDonnell's communications director, though they have not spoken for years; and a Richmond telecommunications lobbyist-cum-Democratic benefactor who was a trustee of the state's troubled computer superagency.

As Douglas Southall Freeman, editor of the old Richmond News Leader, intoned of Virginia, "Relations are more intimate here."

Freeman also was a famous historian who ennobled the Confederacy, writing of its lost cause -- a concept with which McDonnell may be familiar even 150 years after the Civil War.

Strategists in both parties argue that McDonnell blew his shot at the vice presidency after the embarrassment this winter over mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking abortions; that it fully exposed him for the culture warrior he struggles to conceal. But the ultrasound fight in the General Assembly is the latest data point in McDonnell's 20-year record on conservative articles of faith.

In other words, McDonnell has long been politically radioactive. It's just that the danger this presents to Republicans varies according to conditions.

In 2009, when McDonnell was elected governor in a landslide, his opposition to abortion, hostility to gay rights and fuller embrace of gun rights meant little to recession-enraged voters. The traditionally lower turnout -- roughly 45 percent -- magnified the voting strength of Republicans and leaners, and minimized fallout for McDonnell over his social views, crystallized in his now-infamous thesis as a law student at Pat Robertson-founded Regent University.

In 2012, as a presidential year, voter participation will peak. It may not match the 74 percent turnout of four years ago, when Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Virginia for the White House since 1964. But it will be considerably more robust than during a gubernatorial cycle.

The higher the turnout, the more moderate the electorate, particularly in a state where come-here's, many of them centrists, account for half of all voters. And the areas of Virginia where votes are abundant -- the Washington suburbs and Hampton Roads -- can become minefields for conservative Republicans. McDonnell is supposed to deliver swing state Virginia for Mitt Romney, not put it out of reach, as early polls suggest.

No wonder McDonnell wants to change the subject.

Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814. His column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Watch his video column Thursday on TimesDispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter.com, @RTDSchapiro. Listen to his analysis 8:33 a.m. Friday on WCVE (88.9 FM).

Copyright © 2012, The Richmond Times-Dispatch and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@timesdispatch.com


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States News Service


April 29, 2012 Sunday


REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION DINNER


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 1320 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


The following information was released by the White House:

Washington Hilton Hotel

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Good evening, everybody. Good evening. I could not be more thrilled to be here tonight -- (laughter) -- at the White House Correspondents Dinner. This is great crowd. Theyre already laughing. Its terrific.

Chuck Todd -- love you, brother. (Laughter.) Im delighted to see some of the cast members of Glee are here. (Laughter.) And Jimmy Kimmel, its an honor, man. (Laughter.) Whats so funny?

My fellow Americans, we gather during a historic anniversary. Last year at this time -- in fact, on this very weekend -- we finally delivered justice to one of the worlds most notorious individuals. (Applause.) Now, this year, we gather in the midst of a heated election season. And Axelrod tells me I should never miss a chance to reintroduce myself to the American people. So tonight, this is how Id like to begin: My name is Barack Obama. My mother was born in Kansas. My father was born in Kenya. And I was born, of course, in Hawaii. (Laughter and applause.)

In 2009, I took office in the face of some enormous challenges. Now, some have said I blame too many problems on my predecessor, but lets not forget thats a practice that was initiated by George W. Bush. (Laughter.) Since then, Congress and I have certainly had our differences; yet, Ive tried to be civil, to not take any cheap shots. And thats why I want to especially thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight. (Laughter.) Lets give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Despite many obstacles, much has changed during my time in office. Four years ago, I was locked in a brutal primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Four years later, she wont stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena. (Laughter.)

Four years ago, I was a Washington outsider. Four years later, Im at this dinner. Four years ago, I looked like this. Today, I look like this. (Laughter.) And four years from now, I will look like this. (Laughter and applause.) Thats not even funny. (Laughter.)

Anyway, its great to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent Hilton ballroom -- or what Mitt Romney would call a little fixer-upper. (Laughter and applause.) I mean, look at this party. Weve got men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first-class entertainment. I was just relieved to learn this was not a GSA conference. (Laughter.) Unbelievable. Not even the mind reader knew what they were thinking. (Laughter.)

Of course, the White House Correspondents Dinner is known as the prom of Washington D.C. -- a term coined by political reporters who clearly never had the chance to go to an actual prom. (Laughter.)

Our chaperone for the evening is Jimmy Kimmel -- (applause) -- who is perfect for the job since most of tonights audience is in his key demographic -- people who fall asleep during Nightline. (Laughter.) Jimmy got his start years ago on The Man Show. In Washington, thats what we call a congressional hearing on contraception. (Laughter and applause.)

And plenty of journalists are here tonight. I'd be remiss if I didnt congratulate the Huffington Post on their Pulitzer Prize. (Applause.) You deserve it, Arianna. There's no one else out there linking to the kinds of hard-hitting journalism that HuffPo is linking to every single day. (Laughter and applause.) Give them a round of applause. And you dont pay them -- it's a great business model. (Laughter.)

Even Sarah Palin is getting back into the game, guest hosting on The Today Show -- which reminds me of an old saying: What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious. (Laughter and applause.) A little soy sauce. (Laughter.)

Now, I know at this point many of you are expecting me to go after my likely opponent, Newt Gingrich. (Laughter.) Newt, there's still time, man. (Laughter.) But I'm not going to do that -- I'm not going to attack any of the Republican candidates. Take Mitt Romney -- he and I actually have a lot in common. We both think of our wives as our better halves, and polls show, to a alarmingly insulting extent, the American people agree. (Laughter.) We also both have degrees from Harvard; I have one, he has two. What a snob. (Laughter and applause.)

Of course, we've also had our differences. Recently, his campaign criticized me for slow jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon. In fact, I understand Governor Romney was so incensed he asked his staff if he could get some equal time on The Merv Griffin Show. (Laughter.) Still, I guess Governor Romney is feeling pretty good about things because he took a few hours off the other day to see The Hunger Games -- some of you have seen it. It's a movie about people who court wealthy sponsors and then brutally savage each other until only one contestant is left standing. I'm sure this was a really good change of pace for him. (Laughter.) I have not seen The Hunger Games; not enough class warfare for me. (Laughter.)

Of course, I know everybody is predicting a nasty election, and thankfully, we've all agreed that families are off limits. Dogs, however, are apparently fair game. (Laughter.) And while both campaigns have had some fun with this, the other day I saw a new ad from one of these outside groups that, frankly, I think crossed the line. I know Governor Romney says he has no control over what his super PACs do, but can we show the ad real quick? (Video is played.) (Applause.)

Thats pretty rough -- (laughter) -- but I can take it, because my stepfather always told me, it's a boy-eat-dog world out there. (Laughter.)

Now, if I do win a second term as President, let me just say something to all the -- (applause) -- let me just say something to all my conspiracy-oriented friends on the right who think I'm planning to unleash some secret agenda: You're absolutely right. (Laughter.) So allow me to close with a quick preview of the secret agenda you can expect in a second Obama administration.

In my first term, I sang Al Green; in my second term, I'm going with Young Jeezy. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: Yeah.

THE PRESIDENT: Michelle said, yeah. (Laughter.) I sing that to her sometimes. (Laughter.)

In my first term, we ended the war in Iraq; in my second term, I will win the war on Christmas. (Laughter.) In my first term, we repealed the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" -- (applause) -- wait, though; in my second term, we will replace it with a policy known as, it's raining men. (Laughter.) In my first term, we passed health care reform; in my second term, I guess I'll pass it again. (Applause.)

I do want to end tonight on a slightly more serious note -- whoever takes the oath of office next January will face some great challenges, but he will also inherit traditions that make us greater than the challenges we face. And one of those traditions is represented here tonight: a free press that isn't afraid to ask questions, to examine and to criticize. And in service of that mission, all of you make sacrifices.

Tonight, we remember journalists such as Anthony Shadid and Marie Colvin -- (applause) -- who made the ultimate sacrifice as they sought to shine a light on some of the most important stories of our time. So whether you are a blogger or a broadcaster, whether you take on powerful interests here at home or put yourself in harm's way overseas, I have the greatest respect and admiration for what you do. I know sometimes you like to give me a hard time -- and I certainly like to return the favor -- (laughter) -- but I never forget that our country depends on you. You help protect our freedom, our democracy, and our way of life.

And just to set the record straight, I really do enjoy attending these dinners. In fact, I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew. (Laughter.)

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.)

END

10:13 P.M. EDT


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The Tampa Tribune (Florida)


April 29, 2012 Sunday
FINAL EDITION


Obama campaign seeks area Hispanics' support


BYLINE: William March, March on Politics


SECTION: METRO; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 528 words


William March

March on Politics

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is focusing intensely on Florida and Tampa-area Hispanics.

On Wednesday, the campaign released a Florida Spanish-language ad featuring Tampa campaign volunteer Elena McCullough -- a retired U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant, mother of twoand veteran -- touting the administration's education record.

This week, it will hold a news conference with state Rep. Janet Cruz of Tampa at a local Hispanic-owned jewelry store.

The news conference will be about a new report on the effects of the administration's economic policies on Florida's Hispanics, according to a news release. It will be held Wednesday at Liry's Jewelry, owned by Liredia Caravajal.

The news release says Caravajal opened the business 23 years ago, when she was a Republican, but Caravajal backed Obama in 2008 and "is now benefitting from the President's tax cuts for small businesses."

Purple poll: Romney closes in on Obama

A poll focusing on swing states by the bipartisan political consulting firm Purple Strategies shows Mitt Romney narrowing the gap behind President Barack Obama, and moving up in voters' opinions.

The poll focuses on 12 swing states the firm says are likely to decide the election: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In those states, it says, Obama leads Romney 48percent to 44percent.

Romney's ratings hit a low in February of 27percent favorable, 57percent unfavorable, and have gone up to 38percent favorable, 48percent unfavorable.

In Florida, Romney led Obama 47percent to 45percent, and his favorability ratings were barely positive, 45percent to 44percent favorable-unfavorable.

In the other three states most likely to swing the election, the results were also statistical ties or close: In Ohio, Obama had 49percent and Romney 44percent; in Virginia, Obama 48percent and Romney 46percent; and in Colorado, 47percent each.

Purple Strategies, based in Alexandria, Va., and Houston, was founded by veteran political consultants, including Republican Alex Castellanos and Democrat Steve McMahon.

The overall sample for this poll, done April 19 to 23, was 1,705 likely voters, with an error margin of 2.4percentage points. State-level results had smaller samples and a 4.1percentage-point error margin.

LeMieux names'grass-roots team'

Senate candidate George LeMieux has released a list of names of his "grass-roots team," backers in all 67 counties, including Terry Castro, Vicki Maddox and Tina Pike in Hillsborough.

In Pinellas, LeMieux named Tony DiMatteo and Nancy Riley, and in Pasco, he named Roger Whidden.

Pike is one of the three representatives of the county on the governing board of the state Republican Party. Maddox and Castro are veteran GOP activists. DiMatteo was an early supporter of Marco Rubio against former Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2010 U.S. Senate primary.

Reporter William March has covered state and national politics since 1994. He can be reached at wmarch@tampatrib.com or (813)259-7761.

Copyright © 2012, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com


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The Associated Press


April 30, 2012 Monday 05:48 PM GMT


THE RACE: Gas price drop may offer political bonus


BYLINE: By TOM RAUM, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 344 words


You wouldn't know it from campaign rhetoric, but gasoline prices have been trending down.

Six months out, polls show the presidential race is very close and that the frail economy and jobs still top voter worry lists. Thus even a small drop in gas prices could generate big political ripples.

Generally, any slide in gas prices should benefit President Barack Obama more than presumptive GOP challenger Mitt Romney, and vice versa.

After flirting with $4 a gallon earlier this spring, the recent national average of $3.83 a gallon is down eight cents from a month ago

The drop hasn't registered politically yet. Each party is blaming the other for high pump prices.

Republicans fault Obama for policies they claim are restricting U.S. oil production and pushing up energy costs, including his blocking the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. They also say he's taking credit for production increases that owe much to his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. "No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much," says an ad by Crossroads GPS, a Republican super PAC.

Romney laments that gas prices just "go higher and higher" under the Democratic president.

Obama wants to give regulators more muscle to deter price manipulation by speculators, whom he says "can reap millions while millions of American families get the short end of the stick." He also blasts GOP opposition to ending tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

Gas prices are falling partly because slowing economic growth in the U.S. and China and ongoing debt woes in Europe are easing demand for petroleum products. Also, cars are more fuel efficient and Americans are driving less.

Gasoline on average is still 55 cents higher than it was on Jan. 1. But in politics as in economics, the trend can be the friend.

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012.


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The Associated Press


April 30, 2012 Monday 08:52 PM GMT


Romney says he would have ordered bin Laden killed


BYLINE: By STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 691 words


DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH, N.H.


Once a moment of national unity, the political battle over Osama bin Laden's death intensified Monday as presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought to minimize the role President Barack Obama has carved out for himself in killing the terrorist leader.

The president's re-election campaign has raised questions about Romney's willingness to assassinate the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Obama authorized the U.S. military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden's death after a decade in hiding one year ago this week.

Romney pushed back Monday, saying "of course" he would have made the same decision.

"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney said, referencing the former president in his answer to a reporter's question after a campaign appearance in New Hampshire.

Romney was scheduled to appear Tuesday in New York City with firefighters and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to help mark Wednesday's anniversary of bin Laden's death. Obama and his national security team will be featured in a NBC prime-time special Wednesday night that reconstructs the operation from inside the White House Situation Room.

Obama said Monday that the anniversary is a time for reflection, not celebration.

"I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here," he said at a White House news conference. "I think that people, the American people, rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens."

But Obama is using the successful military operation to help maximize a political narrative that portrays him as having the courage to make the tough calls his opponent might not.

Bin Laden was killed his compound in Abbottabod, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs after evading capture for nearly 10 years.

Obama sent in the U.S. forces with no assurance that bin Laden was at the site, leading to a heart-pounding scene in the Situation Room that was captured in one of the most famous photos of Obama's presidency.

But Romney and his advisers suggested Monday that the decision to order the raid was an easy one. In evoking Carter, however, Romney may have clouded his message.

Carter demonstrated how dangerous such decisions can be when he ordered an attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran. The 1980 mission ultimately embarrassed the nation, ending with the death of eight servicemen and the loss of several American helicopters. The hostage crisis lasted more than a year and helped deny Carter a second term.

On Sunday, Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said it was unclear whether Romney would have made the same decision as Obama.

"Look, just a few years ago, President Obama then a candidate said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we'd go in and get that high value target," Gibbs said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn't do such a thing. That he wouldn't move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden."

Obama's campaign last week released a video featuring former President Bill Clinton that seeks to reinforce Gibbs' doubts about what Romney would have done in that situation. "Which path would mitt Romney have taken?" the video asks.

Democrat Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, said the campaign ad went too far.

"I think it's one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. All that is perfectly legitimate," she said on CBS' "This Morning." "But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do."

Former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, a key Romney supporter who was chief of staff in the first Bush White House, said Obama is wrongly taking credit for bin Laden's killing. Sununu said the decision to strike was ultimately made by a Navy admiral.

"It's wrong in taking credit and it's wrong in implying that someone else would not have made the same decision," Sununu said before Romney addressed a crowd on Portsmouth Fish Pier. "There is no way that anyone sitting in that White House would not have at least done what he did."


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Chicago Daily Herald


April 30, 2012 Monday


Playing it cool in race for president


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 546 words


It was fun. It was odd. It was just a little bit ... unseemly.

Doubtless you've heard plenty by now of President Obama's slow jam, which, for all you drips out there, refers to an R&B ballad or down-tempo song. You, too, can find this on Wikipedia.

During a visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Obama and late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon pushed the president's plan to preserve low student-loan rates through a rhythmic rendering of his talking points set to music. Fallon, playing a one-man Greek chorus, interspersed commentary, such as: "Aw yeah, you should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy."

It was, shall we say, a tad unusual for a sitting president. Wannabes will do nearly anything, as we've observed. But this particular skit went beyond the usual horn-tooting a la Bill Clinton -- or even the awkward stand-up "Top Tens" many candidates, including Mitt Romney, have endured for the sake of the sacrosanct "youth vote."

One could argue that Obama's Fallon appearance was quite well done, which it was -- for that sort of thing. The president played straight man and said or did nothing objectionable. He was, in a word, presidential, to the extent one can be under such circumstances. Even at the end when he said, "Oh yeah," it was ... cool.

Yet the effect was nearly narcotic, so strange that cognitive dissonance doesn't quite describe it. One had the uneasy feeling that something wrong was happening. The lead grown-up isn't supposed to act that way.

That Obama is a cool drink is no one's revelation. Then again, who really cares? Once you're beyond a certain age, cool becomes as attractive as a 60-year-old in jeggings. Young folks do get that you're not actually young or cool, nor do they really want you to be.

Some of us learned this lesson along that garden path called Parenthood. The cool parents might be fun for an overnight -- you can get away with more -- but it's nice to have a grown-up at home. Even youth appreciate a grown-up in the White House. And though Obama is unfairly blessed with charm, pizazz and a natural athlete's grace, he does not benefit necessarily from playing well with comics. The line is extra fine between humorous and silly.

That Romney couldn't pull it off as well may be a surprise gift. He looked sadly uncomfortable while going through the paces with David Letterman. Then again, that may have been the only way to play it. Serious adults don't do silly well.

The GOP is obviously mindful of the coolness gap and has issued a video ad in response to Obama's late-night foray titled "A Tale of Two Leaders." The ad juxtaposes Obama's slow jam with Romney's general election kickoff speech that is both earnest and heartfelt. It does not hurt that Romney's voice at times could be mistaken for Ronald Reagan's. Implicit in the message (and the voice): Take your pick. Grown-up or cool dude?

The answer should be obvious except for the fact that many consider the president grown up enough. His play-alongs are just for fun, after all, though overplaying one's cool hand is risky as the very adult business of economic survival looms ever-more ominously.

As for Romney, his safest bet is being proudly nerdy. As the cool know too well, nerds usually win in the end.


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CNN Wire


April 30, 2012 Monday 10:34 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2932 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Pennsylvania Church Abuse Trial

One of the priests on trial in the landmark child sexual abuse and conspiracy case against two Philadelphia priests admitted that he allowed a 14-year-old to view pornography and sleep in the same bed with him during an overnight visit in 1996, according to testimony given to church investigators.

Tennessee-Flood-Lawsuit

The owner of Nasvhille's Opryland Hotel is suing federal agencies over the flooding that struck the city's downtown in 2010, arguing the damage was worsened by the agencies' actions during the flood.

China-US-Activist (will update)

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to depart Monday night for China, President Barack Obama was tight-lipped about the whereabouts of escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng and his potential impact on the discussions to be held this week in Beijing.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

The growing presence of U.N. monitors already has helped the situation in Syria, opposition activists said, though it hasn't completely stopped the bloodshed that has been a fact of life in the Middle Eastern nation for more than 13 months.

New-York-Terror-Trial (will update)

The jury is expected to begin deliberations Monday in the case of a man accused of trying to detonate a bomb in the New York subway system.

Venezuela-Chavez (will update)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday he will return to Havana to undergo more cancer treatment.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

CNN SHOWCASE

China-Forced-Abortions - By Ashley Hayes

When Ji Yeqing awakened, she was already in the recovery room. Chinese authorities had dragged her out of her home and down four flights of stairs, she said, restraining and beating her husband as he tried to come to her aid. They whisked her into a clinic, held her down on a bed and forced her to undergo an abortion. Her offense? Becoming pregnant with a second child, in violation of China's one-child policy. With a population of 1.34 billion, China's population is the largest on Earth. Some 13 million abortions a year are performed. While it's unknown how many are coerced, women and activists tell of suffering emotional and physical consequences from the procedures.

Al-Qaeda-Documents -- By Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister

An internal al Qaeda document reveals new details in the 2006 plot to bring down planes using liquid explosives, including the level of al Qaeda's technical expertise. U.S. authorities believe the document was written by Rashid Rauf, a British al Qaeda operative at the heart of the group's campaign to strike the UK. It sheds significant new light on the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners departing from Heathrow airport in 2006.

(Also see Al-Qaeda-Documents-London-Bombings and Al-Qaeda-Documents-Future)

INTERNATIONAL

Israel-Iran-US

If international efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program fail, any military action against Tehran should be led not by Israel, but by the United States, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said this week.

Syria-Unrest

The growing presence of U.N. monitors already has helped the situation in Syria, opposition activists said, though it hasn't completely stopped the bloodshed that has been a fact of life in the Middle Eastern nation for more than 13 months.

China-US-Activist

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to depart Monday night for China, President Barack Obama was tight-lipped about the whereabouts of escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng and his potential impact on the discussions to be held this week in Beijing.

China-Chen-Internet

A Chinese musician famous for playing a two-stringed fiddle, a 1994 Hollywood drama about two prison inmates, a United Airlines flight bound for Washington and CNN -- what do they have in common? If you try to search "Abing," "the Shawshank Redemption," "UA898" and "CNN" on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, you receive this terse message: "According to relevant laws and policies, results are not displayed." These terms have joined a fast-growing list of keywords blocked by Chinese censors as they try to prevent the public from obtaining news on a prominent human rights activist who recently escaped his more than 18 months of house arrest in eastern China.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday he will return to Havana to undergo more cancer treatment.

Egypt-Tensions

Egypt's ruling military council does not plan to reshuffle the nation's civilian government, a military source told CNN Monday, contradicting a leading lawmaker's assertion that a Cabinet overhaul was imminent.

Nigeria-Explosion

A suicide attack on Monday in northeastern Nigeria killed 11 people and wounded another 26, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross in Abuja told CNN.

Nepal-Attack

At least four people were killed in a bomb explosion near a political rally in southeastern Nepal Monday, authorities said.

India-Ferry

A ferry has sunk in a remote part of northeastern India, killing at least 40 people, a state government official said Monday.

SPORT-Olympics-London-2012-Chambers-Drugs

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has lost a court ruling that could lead to several high-profile athletes -- previously banned for doping offenses -- competing at London 2012.

MONEY-Automakers-Europe

Detroit's biggest problems aren't behind it. They're about 4,000 miles to the east. Just as a rebound in U.S. car sales and a lower cost structure have allowed the Big Three to overcome some of their problems and finally book some profits, Europe has become a major black hole sucking up hundreds of millions of their U.S. profits. Friday, Ford Motor reported what was perhaps its most profitable quarter ever for its North American operations. But overseas losses, especially in Europe, cut deeply into its earnings.

Myanmar-Politics-Oath

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday that she will take the oath of office for the country's parliament, apparently resolving an impasse that had been preventing her from taking her seat in the legislature.

Bahrain Activist

A court in Bahrain has quashed the life sentence of a prominent activist who has been on hunger strike, sending his case to the Supreme Court, the country's official news agency reported.

Peru-Pelican-Deaths

Authorities in Peru are investigating the death of over 538 pelicans, along with other birds, on the northern coast of the country, the Peruvian ministry of production said Sunday. The new environmental investigation comes on the heels of an incident earlier in April when 877 dolphins washed up dead on the same stretch of coast.

South-Korea-China

Four South Korean coast guards were wounded Monday while trying to apprehend Chinese sailors in Korean waters, a coast guard official said.

MONEY-Spain-Recession

Spain has fallen into its second recession since 2009 as its economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, according to a government report Monday.

Pakistan-Drone-Strike

Pakistan is condemning a suspected U.S. drone strike in one of its tribal regions that killed three people, raising questions about whether it will derail efforts between Islamabad and Washington to ease tensions over such attacks.

Pakistan-CIA-Victim-Family

The widow and mother-in-law of a man killed by a CIA contractor last year were found dead Monday in Lahore, Pakistan, police said.

Mali-AQIM-Kidnapping

The North Africa arm of al Qaeda is offering to release a British man abducted in Mali in exchange for Britain releasing accused terror fundraiser Abu Qatada, whom authorities describe as the spiritual guide of a 9/11 hijacker, according to a statement posted on a militant web site.

Australia-Titanic

An Australian mining magnate has commissioned a Chinese shipyard to build a replica of the ill-fated Titanic, complete in every detail but equipped with modern technology to prevent a repeat of the original's fateful maiden voyage 100 years ago.

SPORT-Golf-Donald-Ranking-Dufner-Zurich

England's Luke Donald reclaimed golf's No. 1 ranking from Rory McIlroy by finishing third at the Zurich Classic, but it could be the shortest of stays at the top.

SPORT-football-manchester-city-united-premier-league

City beat United in battle of Manchester.

U.S.A.

MONEY-Delta-Oil-Refinery

Delta Air Lines announced plans Monday to purchase an oil refinery outside of Philadelphia, a novel approach to reducing its fuel costs.

US-Drone-Attacks

The Obama administration publicly justified its use of unmanned drones to target suspected terrorists overseas for the first time Monday, with a top official saying the strikes are conducted "in full accordance with the law."

US-Japan

Affirming strong ties in a time of challenges, President Barack Obama and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday hailed an agreement to move U.S. Marines from Okinawa and expressed solidarity against North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

POL-Cartagena-Investigation

The U.S. Southern Command expects to finish questioning early this week 12 military members suspected of potential misconduct in Cartagena, Colombia during President Barack Obama's recent visit there, a Defense Department official said Monday.

Ohio-Animals-Return

The widow of a man who set free 56 exotic animals he owned before apparently committing suicide will get back the five animals that survived, Ohio agriculture officials said Monday.

ENT-Octomom-Future

Nadya Suleman says she is so determined to build a future for her 14 young children that she is now willing to act in a porn film, although she would not touch another "human's flesh."

US-One-World-Trade-Center

More than a decade after a terrorist attack brought down New York's twin towers, their under-construction replacement became the city's tallest building on Monday.

US-EPA-Crucify

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency's office in Dallas has resigned over comments he made in 2010 that became the focus of political condemnation last week.

Colorado-Siblings-Sentenced

A Colorado judge Monday handed down sentences ranging from 18 to 32 years in prison to a trio of siblings arrested after a multistate crime spree in 2011.

US-Airman-Car-Donation

Senior Airman Aaron Becker repairs medical equipment at a clinic for wounded soldiers at Andrews Air Force Base. Co-workers say he is always giving to others, but they also say Becker's a friend in need. A colleague recently submitted his name to a nonprofit military support group to help his family get around.

New-York-Terror-Trial

The jury is expected to begin deliberations Monday in the case of a man accused of trying to detonate a bomb in the New York subway system.

John-Edwards-Trial

John Edwards sternly reassured the wife of his then-campaign aide that using money from his wealthy benefactor to pay his mistress's expenses was legal, she testified Monday.

MONEY-Home-Ownership

Homeownership in the U.S. fell to its lowest rate in 15 years during the first quarter as more delinquent borrowers lost their homes to foreclosure, forcing many to rent.

MONEY-Occupy-May-Day

The Occupy movement is organizing a nationwide protest on Tuesday, asking Americans not to attend work or school on a day that's already a progressive holiday overseas.

MONEY-Income-Spending

Spending by U.S. consumers slowed in March, while income rose at a faster pace, the government said Monday.

MONEY-Microsoft-Nook

Microsoft is investing $300 million with bookseller Barnes & Noble for a 17.6% stake in its digital e-book reader the Nook.

MED-New-Erectile-Dysfunction-Drug-Stendra

Look out Viagra - there's a new erectile dysfunction drug in town. It's called Stendra (aka Avanafil) and it's newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration, making it the first ED drug to come out in almost 10 years.

POL-Florida-Redistricting-Approved

The Justice Department has approved all re-districting plans for the State of Florida.

ELECTION 2012

POL-Campaign-Wrap

President Barack Obama on Monday appeared to call out Mitt Romney over what he said about going after Osama bin Laden on the campaign trail four years ago, as opposed to on the eve of the first anniversary of the raid that killed the terrorist leader.

POL-Obama-Campaign-New-Video

The Obama campaign has released a seven minute video making the case for the president's re-election. The video reveals what appears to be a new Obama campaign motto: Forward.

POL-Obama-Bin-Laden-Statements

In an apparent swipe at Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama interjected his voice Monday into the back and forth between his re-election campaign and that of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, ahead of Tuesday's anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.

POL-Romney-Bin-Laden

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney asserted firmly Monday he would have given the order to kill Osama bin Laden if he were president, despite past comments in which he questioned the value of hunting down the former al Qaeda chief.

POL-Christie-Romney-Ticket

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday said Romney "might be able to convince" him to serve as his No. 2 on the Republican presidential ticket.

POL-Sununu-Romney-VP

The Romney campaign is considering about 20 names for the presumptive GOP candidate's vice presidential slot, said top campaign adviser and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu.

POL-Obama-Bill-Clinton-join-forces

If case you had any doubts, don't -- Bill Clinton's fully on board President Barack Obama's re-election effort.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY-bergen-bin-laden-document-trove

Bin Laden: Seized documents show delusional leader and micromanager.

COMMENTARY-frum-excerpt-patriots

Why a pundit wrote a novel.

TECH-barnes-noble-microsoft

News that Microsoft has sunk $300 million into a venture with Barnes & Noble sends a clear signal that the computing giant and the bookseller aim to shake up the e-book market with new ammo in their fight against Amazon and Apple. But whatever impact the move has on sales of B&N's Nook e-readers now, it's the future of the partnership that has truly disruptive potential.

TRAVEL-Phone-App-Profiling

Airline travelers who feel they've been harassed at airport check-ins by screeners now have a speedier outlet on which to complain right at their fingertips.

COMMENTARY-avlon-freedom-tower

The Freedom Tower, rising from ashes.

MED-Cancer-Drug-Video

Darlene Gant sat in her hospital bed, barely able to lift her head. She was writing letters to her 11-year-son for his upcoming birthday, his eventual high school and college graduations and even a future marriage. "Did you always know I loved you?" she wrote in a card meant for his 12th birthday. "Of all the things in my life I could have or should have done differently there's one thing I'd never change, having you as my son." Gant, 46, who is suffering from stage-four breast cancer, has been told she doesn't have long to live. She worried she wouldn't be around to see her son grow up despite a trial drug that could prolong her life.

FEA-New-Health-Foods

Beer lovers, rejoice. Whiskey drinkers, celebrate. Pork fat fans, this is your moment. All the things you thought were unhealthy can actually help you lose a ton of weight. Well, not exactly. This isn't an ad in the back pages of a sketchy magazine. All these things are still not good for you when you eat and drink them in large quantities. And don't stop eating your blueberries and strawberries if you want to boost your brainpower. Still, there's some surprising good health news for anyone who wants to wash down their lard-topped popcorn with a beer and a shot of whiskey.

MONEY-Oil-Imports

U.S. imports of what environmentalists are calling "dirty oil" are set to triple over the next decade, raising concerns over the environmental impact of extracting it and whether pipelines can safely transport this Canadian oil.

MONEY-Stay-At-Home-Dad

Before Jessica and Lance Somerfeld had their baby, they decided it would make the most financial sense for one of them to stay home to raise him. Since Lance made a fraction of Jessica's earnings, he was the obvious choice.

COMMENTARY-Gergen-Bin-Laden-Death

An aggressive public relations offensive by the White House, celebrating the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, is kicking up a hot political fuss. But are we arguing over the wrong question?

COMMENTARY-Kamarck-Secret-Service

Is the Colombia prostitution scandal rocking the Secret Service an isolated incident? Or is it evidence of a debauched organizational culture that permeates the entire agency when its agents are out of the country and don't think anyone is watching?

ENT-African-Queen-Bogart

The historic vessel which provided the setting for Humphrey Bogart's only Oscar-winning performance has been resurrected from the scrapheap by a movie-loving Florida couple.

MONEY-Small-Cells

The cell phone capacity problem is getting bigger by the day, but one potential solution has wireless carriers thinking smaller -- way smaller. As smartphone and tablet usage soars, the giant cell towers that mobile devices communicate with are getting overloaded. As a result, cell phone companies have begun to get behind the idea of "small cells": tiny antennas that you can hold in your hand.

MED-Autism-Brother-Allen-Family

Matthew Allen's 10 brothers and sisters have grown up helping their parents take care of him. Ranging in age from 2 to 27, they are his playmates, his protectors, his teachers and his advocates. They taught him to talk, but they speak for him when he doesn't have the words. And they all dread the possible phone call bearing the news that something awful has happened to him. Matt's a middle child; he's 16, and he has autism.


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CNN Wire


April 30, 2012 Monday 9:01 PM EST


Romney: 'Even Jimmy Carter' would have ordered bin Laden attack


BYLINE: From the CNN Political Unit


LENGTH: 1336 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Monday appeared to call out Mitt Romney over what he said about going after Osama bin Laden on the campaign trail four years ago, as opposed to on the eve of the first anniversary of the raid that killed the terrorist leader.

Asked about Romney's comments earlier in the day that the decision to go after bin Laden was a clear one and that "even Jimmy Carter would" have made the call, Obama referred to a difference between what Romney said during his 2008 presidential campaign and on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack.

"I assume that people meant what they said when they said it," Obama said during a joint appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. "That's been at least my practice. I said that I'd go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did. If there are others who said one thing and now suggest they'd do something else, I'd go ahead and let them explain."

Obama also appeared to take exception with a reporter's question that suggested there was excessive celebration around the anniversary of the al Qaeda leader's death, repeating a charge that Republicans have made.

"I hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place," Obama said. "I think that the American people likely remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens."

Romney's spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, responded in a statement that Obama was using the anniversary of bin Laden's death as "a cheap political ploy" that she said distorted Romney's policies on fighting terrorism.

"While the Obama administration has naively stated that 'the war on terror is over,' Gov. Romney has always understood we need a comprehensive plan to deal with the myriad threats America faces," Saul said.

U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011 during a raid in Pakistan.

The war of words around the bin Laden death anniversary started last week when Obama's campaign made it an issue in a Web ad that questioned whether Romney would make the same call in the Oval Office. Former President Bill Clinton narrates parts of the video, in which he praises Obama's decision to order the attack. It also points out Romney saying in 2007 that, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Days later, he said, "We'll move everything to get him (bin Laden)."

Asked by a reporter at an event Monday morning whether he would have made the call, Romney said "of course" he would have. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order."

Surrogates took up the argument over the bin Laden raid on the Sunday talk shows.

Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs defended the campaign, while senior Romney adviser Ed Gillespie characterized it as a "bridge too far."

Gibbs, the former White House press secretary, said the video was "not over the line" and criticized comments Romney made on the issue during his first White House bid as "foolish."

"There's a difference in the roles they would play as commander in chief, and I certainly think that's fair game," Gibbs said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Gillespie, a former aide to President George W. Bush and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said using the raid for political purposes is one of the reasons Obama has "become one of the most divisive presidents in American history."

"He took something that was a unifying event for all Americans, and he's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan political attack," Gillespie said in a separate interview on the same NBC program. "I think most Americans will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign."

Arizona Sen. John McCain, Obama's 2008 opponent, called the minute-long spot "a cheap political attack ad."

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan avoided politics and praised the president's decision-making skills on the talk shows and in an address Monday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"One year ago today, President Obama faced the scenario that he discussed here at the Wilson Center five years ago, and he did not hesitate to act," he said.

"The death of bin Laden was our most strategic blow yet against al Qaeda," Brennan said. "Credit for that success belongs to the courageous forces who carried out that mission, at extraordinary risk to their lives; to the many intelligence professionals who pieced together the clues that led to bin Laden's hideout; and to President Obama, who gave the order to go in."

Vice President Joe Biden previewed the theme in a Thursday campaign-style address.

"If you are looking for a bumper sticker to sum up how President Obama has handled what we inherited, it's pretty simple: Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive," he said during a speech at New York University.

Clinton appeared in a fundraiser with Obama on Sunday night, characterizing Romney as "an opponent who basically wants to do what they did before -- on steroids. Which will get you the same consequences you got before -- on steroids."

Obama will pick up the message with what the campaign has billed as his re-election kick-off Saturday. He is expected to attend campaign rallies in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Virginia, two likely battleground states in the November election.

He cited Ronald Reagan on Monday as he rallied building trade union members, trying to draw a distinction between the conservative icon and the Republican Party that the president is running against now.

"Ronald Reagan once said that rebuilding our infrastructure is common sense; an investment in tomorrow that we need to make today," Obama told the Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference. "Ronald Reagan said that -- that great socialist Ronald Reagan said that. Couldn't get through a Republican primary these days."

Biden will attend campaign events in Missouri and Indiana on Monday and in Washington on Thursday.

Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said that Saturday will mark the end of the Republican "monologue."

Romney's campaign, meanwhile, announced that its candidate will mark the anniversary of the bin Laden raid in an event with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was dubbed "America's mayor" for his response in the days after bin Laden's 9/11 attacks against the U.S.

Romney's Jimmy Carter comments came at an event in New Hampshire with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, another of those believed to be on Romney's vice president candidate search list. The freshman senator was an early backer of Romney's and appeared with him repeatedly on the stump ahead of her state's primary.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida got the VP scrutiny treatment last week when he appeared with Romney in Pennsylvania. Many political observers see Rubio as the favorite for Romney's vice presidential pick, given his ties to the swing state of Florida, the Hispanic community (he is the son of Cuban immigrants) and members of the grassroots tea party movement.

Rubio was one of three potential candidates mentioned by House Speaker John Boehner in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Boehner said there is a "long list" of qualified candidates for the GOP ticket, including Rubio, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, all of whom fit his criteria that the pick be capable of serving as president.

Romney will spend much of the coming week fundraising, with events in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He is expected to meet with former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday, a long-awaited rendezvous, given that the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania has yet to endorse his party's presumptive nominee.

Santorum danced around the issue last week with CNN's Piers Morgan during his first televised interview since he suspended his candidacy on April 10.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is expected to announce the suspension of his campaign Wednesday, at which point he will back Romney, sources told CNN.


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CNN Wire


April 30, 2012 Monday 2:56 PM EST


Crowley: Playing politics with bin Laden


BYLINE: By Candy Crowley, CNN Chief Political Correspondent


LENGTH: 523 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It was probably only a matter of time -- about 365 days, in fact -- before the death of Osama bin Laden got into the political groundwater of 2012.

In a campaign ad for President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton praises Obama for approving the risky raid into Pakistan and suggests Mitt Romney wouldn't have.

"He took the harder and more honorable path, and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result," Clinton says.

Which path, the silent screen asks, would Romney have taken? It quotes his criticism of candidate Obama's promise to strike inside Pakistan if needed to go after terrorists. It quotes Romney in 2007 questioning whether the pursuit of bin Laden was worth moving heaven and earth.

Where to begin in what can best be described as situational politics?

Seems like only four years ago the Obama campaign was outraged by an ad from the former president's wife, then-candidate Hillary Clinton, now the secretary of state.

She used a picture of bin Laden to question Obama's credentials.

The Obama campaign accused her of acting like President George W. Bush, trying to "invoke bin Laden to score political points."

Four years later, the Obama campaign has different rules.

"Look, there's a difference in the roles they would play as commander in chief, and I certainly think that's fair game," said Robert Gibbs, Obama campaign adviser and former White House spokesman, on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Playing the part of the aggrieved this time, the Romney campaign accused the president of turning a unifying event on its head.

"He's managed to turn it into a divisive, partisan political attack," said Ed Gillespie, a Romney adviser and former Republican National Committee chief. "I think most Americans will see it as the sign of a desperate campaign."

That's mild compared to the reaction from Obama's 2008 Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, who ran on his tough foreign policy credentials.

McCain called the spot "a cheap political attack ad" and "a pathetic political act of self-congratulation."

On Sunday, the White House offered up the president's counterterrorism adviser for a relatively rare round of morning political talk.

John Brennan arrived with high praise for his boss' steely nerves and nothing on the ad.

"First of all. I don't do politics. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican," Brennan told me.

It wasn't like this the night bin Laden was killed: not in public, where there was a bipartisan mood of justice being done; nor in the White House, where the president said there would be no spiking the football and where his immediate calls went to two people he thought most wanted to hear the news -- first to Bush, then to Clinton, who had both tried to kill bin Laden.

Obama is marking the anniversary by allowing NBC's Brian Williams a rare visit to the White House Situation Room to talk about the night of the raid for an interview to air Wednesday.

And Romney on Tuesday will mark the anniversary with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, known as "America's mayor" in the day's following bin Laden's 9/11 attacks.

Three hundred sixty-five days later, things are different.


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CNN Wire


April 30, 2012 Monday 11:58 AM EST


Is White House overselling impact of bin Laden's death?


BYLINE: By David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst


LENGTH: 781 words


DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN)


Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. He is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Follow him on Twitter.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- An aggressive public relations offensive by the White House, celebrating the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, is kicking up a hot political fuss. But are we arguing over the wrong question?

With their eyes clearly locked on the November elections, President Barack Obama and his team are going all out to dramatize his decision-making and success in taking out America's most wanted.

What they're doing: Opening up the White House situation room for a presidential interview with NBC, running a television ad by former President Bill Clinton, feeding stories to authors and journalists, encouraging surrogate attacks on Mitt Romney's courage, even a catchy campaign slogan from Joe Biden -- "Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."

In mock innocence, the White House says they are only responding to news media requests. Yeah, sure.

Is this White House exploitation for political purposes indecorous and unbecoming, as Republicans claim? Of course it is.

President George H.W. Bush set the standard for exemplary conduct when he refused to dance on the Soviet grave after its empire collapsed and directed credit toward the U.S. military when they chased Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.

But more often than not, a president looking toward re-election has gone too far the other way, milking foreign adventures for votes and Republicans have been as guilty as Democrats.

One of my vivid memories from early White House days was the way we choreographed Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972, and especially his triumphant return, so that his helicopter from Andrews Air Force Base landed on the Capitol lawn and he then strode into the House chamber to report to a joint session of Congress. It was boffo television, and he won re-election in a landslide not long after.

Or think of that "Top Gun" performance by President George W. Bush in 2003 as he landed on an aircraft carrier, stepped out in a flight jacket, and spoke to a prime time audience about Iraq -- with that "Mission Accomplished" banner just behind him. Even in my wildest dreams in the White House, I never dreamed of using an aircraft carrier as a prop. Not long after, Bush, too, won re-election. (It was not lost on the son that dad's approach hadn't won over voters for re-election.)

So even though Obama's critics have a valid point about his current PR offensive, they shouldn't beat him up. The public is a good judge of when a president and his team overplay their hands.

Indeed, it would be far better for Republicans to acknowledge that the president, his advisers and especially the CIA and the Navy SEALs handled bin Laden superbly. Because they did. This was a moment that richly deserves public praise.

If they would acknowledge that achievement, his critics would then have the credibility to raise the more important and serious question: whether the killing of bin Laden and the gradual crushing of al Qaeda as a serious threat to the U.S. has been as transformative as the White House would lead us to believe.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and at Facebook/CNNOpinion

No one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is hanging up "Mission Accomplished" banners, but with elections a half year away, the White House wants us to know that we have a warrior commander in chief at the helm nailing our enemies.

Unfortunately, it isn't that simple.

Serious observers are arguing that in the aftermath of bin Laden's death, the world may actually have become more dangerous. In Sunday's Washington Post, columnist David Ignatius persuasively makes the case that we got our man but, as bin Laden hoped, other militant Islamists are now gaining political strength in key countries such as Egypt and Syria.

In an excellent essay in Time on bin Laden's elimination, Kennedy School scholar Graham Allison argues that as we now focus on Iran producing its first bomb in the coming 12 months, an increasingly unreliable Pakistan could produce 12 in the same time span.

"So as we applaud extraordinary performance in this operation," concludes Allison, "we are left contemplating a discovery that means we are likely to soon face even more daunting challenges in the days and months ahead."

In a political campaign filled with too many diversions, these are the challenges we should be arguing about on the bin Laden anniversary.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Gergen.


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The Frontrunner


April 30, 2012 Monday


Obama Campaign Ad, Aides Tout Bin Laden Raid


SECTION: LEADING THE NEWS


LENGTH: 1607 words


The anniversary of the successful raid on Osama bin Laden's compound generated a great deal of positive network television coverage for the Administration Sunday. Both NBC Nightly News and ABC World News aired portions of the new Obama campaign ad featuring Bill Clinton praising the President's decision to approve the mission last year. NBC also previewed clips from an interview with the President on the raid that will be shown later this week.

NBC Nightly News (4/29, story 3, 2:45, Alexander, 8.37M) reported that former President Bill Clinton is "appearing in [a] new ad touting the President's decision to order the killing of Osama bin Laden one year ago this week." Clinton: "He took the harder and the more honorable path." According to NBC, the ad "has angered Mitt Romney supporters who blame President Obama for using the raid as a political weapon." Romney adviser Ed Gillespie: "He took something that was a unifying event for all Americans. An event that Governor Romney congratulated him and the military and the intelligence analysts in our government for completing the mission in terms of killing Osama bin Laden. And he's managed to turn it into a divisive partisan political attack." However, NBC reported that "Obama campaign advisers argue the successful campaign to hunt down the Al Qaeda leader is fair game." Robert Gibbs: "Mitt Romney said...he wouldn't move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden."

On ABC World News (4/29, story 6, 1:50, 8.2M) David Muir said the President is "fighting to keep his job" and so "not surprisingly, team Obama [is] pointing to" the bin Laden raid. Muir reported that Mitt Romney said, "a couple of years back," that "we shouldn't be spending billions to catch one person, referring to bin Laden." ABC's Rick Klein added, "While Mitt Romney's folks are saying that this is inappropriate politicizing a moment of national unity, the Obama campaign doesn't care at all." Clinton was shown saying, "Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there and it hadn't been Bin Laden. Suppose they had been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for him but he reasoned, 'I cannot in good conscience do nothing.'"

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on ABC's This Week (4/29, Stephanopoulos), "I don't do politics. I don't do the campaign. ... All that I know is that the President made the decision when he was given the opportunity to take a gutsy decision, to carry out that raid with our Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The President made that decision. I think the American people are very appreciative and supportive of that decision."

Kenneth Vogel, in a post for Politico (4/29, 25K), reports that during an appearance on NBC's Meet The Press (4/29, Gregory), Robert Gibbs "defended the suggestion by the president's reelection campaign that...Mitt Romney might not have ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan." Gibbs said, "Look, just a few years ago, President Obama ? then a candidate ? said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we'd go in and get that high value target. Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn't do such a thing. That he wouldn't move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden."

The Financial Times (4/30, Politi, Subscription Publication, 448K) reports Gibbs said, "This is the politics of brave decision-making. That is what commander-in- chief is all about."

Vogel, in another post for Politico (4/29, 25K), reported that former RNC chair Gillespie, also on NBC's Meet The Press (4/29, Gregory), said "suggestions by Barack Obama's reelection team that Mitt Romney might not have acted to kill Osama bin Laden are 'a bridge too far' and 'a sign of a desperate campaign.'" Gillespie is quoted as saying, "This is one of the reasons President Obama has become one of the most divisive presidents in American history. He took something that was a unifying event for all Americans -- an event that Gov. Romney congratulated him and the military and the intelligence analysts in our government for completing the mission in terms of killing Osama bin Laden -- and he's managed to turn it into a divisive partisan political attack."

According to the Washington Times (4/30, Wolfgang, 77K), the Obama campaign "has rolled out a strategy to paint the Democratic incumbent as the stronger candidate on foreign policy issues, particularly when it comes to dealing with Islamic extremists. His latest campaign ad features former President Bill Clinton praising Mr. Obama for making the difficult decision to order Navy SEALs into bin Laden's compound."

Obama Discusses Monitoring Last Year's Raid In NBC Interview.

NBC Nightly News (4/29, story 4, 1:25, Holt, 8.37M) reported, "President Obama and members of his national security team are speaking out about the [bin Laden] raid in exclusive interviews with Brian Williams for this week's 'Rock Center.' The President reflects on the tense moments and that now iconic photo snapped inside the White House Situation Room." Obama: "This is -- if I not mistaken, this picture was taken right as the helicopter was having some problems. But you may not remember -- that's what it feels like. Because I remember Hillary putting her hand over her mouth at that point. There's silence at this point inside the room."

Brennan: Al Qaeda Threat Has Been "Degraded Significantly."

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on ABC's This Week (4/29, Stephanopoulos), "Their capability has been degraded significantly. We have taken off the battlefield the founding leader as well as other leading operatives. We have degraded their infrastructure, their capability to train, their capability to deploy operatives. So their capability has been degraded."

Similarly, on Fox News Sunday (4/29, Wallace), Brennan "We have degraded the organization significantly over the past decade and over the past several years in particular as we have taken off of the battlefield of the founding leader. ... We're going to destroy it, but that's going to continue to require us to maintain this pressure on Al Qaeda, whether it'd be in Pakistan, or Pakistan, as well as in Yemen. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula presents a serious threat to us."

Analysts Conclude Bin Laden's Death Did Not Eliminate Threat From Al Qaeda.

USA Today (4/30, Michaels, 1.78M) reports "intelligence experts" believe that "the death of Osama bin Laden...was a setback to al-Qaeda, but the Islamic terror organization remains a potent threat around the world. ... 'It's on the defensive, but it's far from defeated,' said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer now at the Brookings Institution." Reuel Marc Gerecht, "a former CIA official and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies," adds, "I don't think his death fundamentally affects the future of jihadist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Author Seth Jones, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corp, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (4/30, Jones, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) titled, "Al Qaeda Is Far From Defeated," makes a similar case, highlighting al Qaeda's growth in North Africa and the Mideast.

David Ignatius said on CBS' Face The Nation (4/29, Wallace), "In terms of ideas, as I travel the Arab world and read about what's happened there in this amazing year of uprising and awakening, I'm struck by how many of the people, who have risen, owe their Muslim ideology to people who bin Laden himself looked to. They're some of the same roots."

Bin Laden Raid's Inherent Risks Detailed.

In Time (5/7, 3.38M), Graham Allison writes that in weighing whether to launch the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound last year, President Obama "arrived at the choice that promised the highest reward but also carried the highest risks." Even then, "his advisers' bets about whether the Pacer," the nickname analysts used for the figure who walked the courtyard of the bin Laden compound, "was OBL ranged from" then-CIA Director Leon Panetta "at 80%" to CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell "at 60% to Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, at 40%, with" Defense Secretary Gates and Vice President Biden "well below that." Allison also says after "intense review of the materials seized in the raid, the brute fact is that not a shred of evidence has been found to suggest anyone in the Pakistani military and intelligence hierarchy knew of bin Laden's whereabouts."

Bin Laden Saw CBS As "Close To Being Unbiased."

Time (5/7, 3.38M) runs an excerpt from Peter Bergen's new book, "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - from 9/11 to Abbottabad." Bergen says bin Laden "proposed reaching out to the correspondents of both al-Jazeera English and al-Jazeera Arabic and wondered if he could get a hearing on an American TV network: 'We should also look for an American channel that can be close to being unbiased such as CBS.'"

Zawahiri Remains Focus Of US Antiterror Efforts.

Newsweek (4/30, Yousafzai, Moreau, Klaidman, 1.53M) reports, "A year after the death of Osama bin Laden, American special operators are training their sights on his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former Egyptian Army surgeon widely regarded as the mastermind of major attacks against Americans and other targets." According to Newsweek, "Zawahiri's safety was the main subject of conversation when several senior al Qaeda operatives and a handful of other militants sat down for a dinner meeting in North Waziristan six months ago, according to a well-placed Taliban source." However, he is also "under increasing pressure now to carry out a fresh act of headline-grabbing mayhem."


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The Frontrunner


April 30, 2012 Monday


Headlines From Today's Front Pages


SECTION: THE BIG PICTURE


LENGTH: 622 words


Los Angeles Times: Romney's Fight Against Gay Marriage Meteor Hunters Strike Pay Dirt After Ordeal A 'Crazy Gift' Another Sailing Disaster Strikes Letters Stopped, Their Bond Survived

Wall Street Journal: Escape Tangles Ties Between US, China No Easy Cure For Diabetic Children UAW Freezes Rival Out Of Rebound

New York Times: Big Purses, Sore Horses, And Death In Vast Jungle, US Is Aiding Hunt For Kony Experts Believe Iran Conflict Is Less Likely Dissident's Fate At Issue In Talks Of US And China Ryan's Rise From Follower To GOP Trailblazer A Scandal Starts To Hem In Murdoch's Empire

Washington Post: Public Job Cuts Tested Obama's Strategy For US Troops, Hunt For Kony Is No 'Easy Slog' From DC's Streets To The Kennedy Center Wisconsin Democrats Split Over Best Choice To Beat Walker CIA Drone Strikes In Pakistan Resumed

Financial Times: Banks Seek To Put Pressure On Small Rivals Spain In Talks Over 'Bad Bank' Scheme Food Inflation Feared As Soya Prices Soar

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Areas To Be Tested For Lead No Out-Of-State Insurers Offer Plans In Georgia With Help Of Girl's Mom, Canton Tries To Recover Sweeping Changes To Hit Schools

Houston Chronicle: Safe Borders At What Price? Prosecution's Goal: Paint Him As A Liar 'Diabesity' In Teens Resists Treatment In Election Year, Heat's On Energy

Washington Times: No Road Too Dangerous Re-Election Strategists Resurrect Bin Laden 'Humane' New Name Of Game For Fast Food Chechen Women In Mortal Fear As President Backs Honor Killings FDA May Let Patients Buy Drugs Without Prescriptions

Story Lineup From Last Night's Network News: ABC: New York-Car Accident, Missouri-Severe Weather, Economy-Apple Tax Rate, China-Human Rights Activist, UK-Olympic Security Measures, Politics-Bin Laden Ad, Politics-White House Correspondents' Dinner CBS: Health-Type 2 Pediatric Diabetes, Health-Pediatric Diabetes Analysis, China-Human Rights Activist, US-China Relations, New York Highway Accident, California-Yacht Accident, Economy-Job Market, Vocational Education, Syria-UN Observer Mission, Nigeria-Christians Attacked, Japan-Rebuilding Effort, Rodney King Riots-Anniversary NBC: New York-Highway Accident, Missouri-Severe Weather, Politics-Bin Laden Ad, Obama Interview-Bin Laden Death, Politics-White House Correspondents' Dinner, China-Scandals, UK-Olympic Security, Health-Geriatric ERs, World Trade Center Construction, UK-Cambridge Wedding Anniversary

Story Lineup From This Morning's Radio News Broadcasts: ABC: Al-Queda Global Presence, New York-Bronx Zoo Car Crash, Unusual Weather-Agriculture Impact, Syria-UN Observer Mission CBS: New York-Bronx Zoo Car Crash, China-Human Rights Activist, Israel-New Elections, CIA-Waterboarding Interrogations, Health-Pediatric Type 2 Diabetes, Coast Guard-Yachting Accident NPR: New York-Bronx Zoo Car Crash, Coast Guard-Yachting Accident, Economy-Gas Prices, Economy-Ford Motor Profits, Economy-Small Business Hiring, Pakistan-Red Cross Worker Found Beheaded, Economy-Apple Tax Rate,

Story Lineup From This Morning's Network News: ABC: Chinese Rights Activist, Gas Prices Fall, Bronx Zoo Crash, Yachting Accident, Childhood Diabetes, Titanic Replica Planned, Obama-Bill Clinton Campaign, John Edwards Trial, World Trade Center, Hit-and-Run Tape CBS: Chinese Rights Activist, Bin Laden Death's Politics, Bronx Zoo Crash, John Edwards Trial, Yachting Accident, Trade Center Opens, Warlord Kony Sought, Meteor Hunt, SAM Missiles Olympic Security, Titanic Replica Planned, St. Louis Hailstorm, Hit-and-Run Tape NBC: Bronx Zoo Crash, Chinese Rights Activist, Trade Center Reopens, Yacht-Ship Collision, Apple Tax Avoidance, Gas Prices Ease, Woman Lost In Wilderness, Hit-and-Run Tape, John Edwards Trial, White House Correspondents' Dinner


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The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.)


April 30, 2012 Monday


Barack Obama is slow jamming the presidency


SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; A; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 735 words


WASHINGTONIt was fun. It was odd. It was just a little bit ... unseemly.Doubtless you've heard plenty by now of President Obama's slow jam, which, for all you drips out there, refers to an R&B ballad or down-tempo song. You, too, can find this on Wikipedia.During a visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Obama and late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon pushed the president's plan to preserve low student-loan rates through a rhythmic rendering of his talking points set to music.

Fallon, playing a one-man Greek chorus, interspersed commentary, such as: "Aw yeah, you should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy."It was, shall we say, a tad unusual for a sitting president. Wannabes will do nearly anything, as we've observed. But this particular skit went beyond the usual horn-tooting a la Bill Clinton - or even the awkward stand-up "Top Tens" many candidates, including Mitt Romney, have endured for the sake of the sacrosanct "youth vote."One could argue that Obama's Fallon appearance was quite well done, which it was - for that sort of thing. The president played straight man and said or did nothing objectionable. He was, in a word, presidential, to the extent one can be under such circumstances. Even at the end when he said, "Oh yeah," it was ... cool.Yet the effect was nearly narcotic, so strange that cognitive dissonance doesn't quite describe it. One had the uneasy feeling that something wrong was happening. The lead grown-up isn't supposed to act that way.On the other hand, as we who argue with ourselves like to say, if you can get kids to learn multiplication tables by setting them to rap, why not push student-loan relief with a little R&B? Maybe because you're the Preezy of the United Steezy?That Obama is a cool drink is no one's revelation. He's the ice tinkling in the glass. He's Muhammad Ali to Romney's, well, Romney. It's hard to come up with a more quintessential un-cool guy than the presumptive Republican nominee. What can you do? There's no book for cool, though if there were, Romney would have memorized and distilled it to a PowerPoint presentation.Then again, who really cares? Once you're beyond a certain age, cool becomes as attractive as a 60-year-old in jeggings. Young folks do get that you're not actually young or cool, nor do they really want you to be.Some of us learned this lesson along that garden path called Parenthood. The cool parents might be fun for an overnight - you can get away with more - but it's nice to have a grown-up at home. Even the youth of America appreciate a grown-up in the White House. And though Obama is unfairly blessed with charm, pizazz and a natural athlete's grace, he does not benefit necessarily from playing well with comics. The line is extra fine between humorous and silly.That Romney couldn't pull it off as well may be a surprise gift. He looked sadly uncomfortable while going through the paces with David Letterman, painfully reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman modeling scuba gear for his parents' cocktail party. Then again, that may have been the only way to play it. Serious adults don't do silly well.The GOP is obviously mindful of the coolness gap and has issued a video ad in response to Obama's late-night foray titled "A Tale of Two Leaders." The ad juxtaposes Obama's slow jam with Romney's general election kickoffsee jamming/page a7 speech that is both earnest and heartfelt. It does not hurt that Romney's voice at times could be mistaken for Ronald Reagan's. Implicit in the message (and the voice): Take your pick. Grown-up or cool dude?The answer should be obvious except for the fact that many consider the president grown up enough. His play-alongs are just for fun, after all, though overplaying one's cool hand is risky as the very adult business of economic survival looms ever-more ominously. A candidate's or an incumbent's popularity with the young will hardly assuage voter angst come November.In the meantime, Obama would do well to pay attention to another comedian whose gravitas may be greater than the president's among the late-night demographic. Said Comedy Central's Jon Stewart: "You're the president. You don't have to do this (expletive) anymore."As for Romney, his safest bet is being proudly nerdy. As the cool know too well, nerds usually win in the end. Kathleen Parker's email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com


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Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)


April 30, 2012 Monday


Nevadans get ready for onslaught of campaign ads


BYLINE: Laura Myers


SECTION: B; Pg. 2B


LENGTH: 1262 words


LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The spigot opened last week and more than $1 million in political ads from four big-moneyed groups began spilling onto the Nevada TV airwaves.

And there'll be millions of dollars more through the November elections.

Democratic- and Republican-aligned interests are fiercely fighting to win Nevada, one of at least half a dozen battlegrounds that will decide who wins the White House, Senate and House in 2012.

Priorities USA Action teamed with the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund on a 30-second TV ad in Nevada and Colorado to slam Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

"He's the $200 million man," said the ad. "And big oil's fingerprints are all over him."

The $200 million figure comes from reports that billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who support GOP causes, plan to contribute that much money to defeat President Barack Obama.

There's no direct Koch link to big oil companies, which are a favorite Democratic Party target this election year as energy firms score profits while gasoline prices rise to $4 a gallon or more. (Of course Republicans blame Obama, accusing him of inhibiting oil exploration in the United States.)

But the Koch brothers have donated big bucks to energy interests, and their corporation also has interests in everything from pipelines and oil refining to lumber, coal and pollution control.

The ad is running in Nevada and Colorado - two crucial states Obama needs to win a second time to win a second term - at a cost of $1 million, according to Priorities USA

"This is not a show buy," said Paul Begala, a senior adviser to Priorities USA who worked on former President Bill Clinton's campaigns. "You'll see this ad and the next and the next."

Begala called Nevada and Colorado "critical states" in the White House contest.

Here's the link to the anti-Romney ad: http://bit.ly/K7qsfO

¥ ¥ ¥

While Priorities USA is attacking Romney, Republican groups are going after Obama.

The American Future Fund is spending $2 million to air a 60-second TV ad slamming the president in eight battleground states: Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.

This spot hits close to home: It criticizes Obama for wasting taxpayer dollars, including more than $800,000 that the General Services Administration spent on a Henderson conference in 2010. Obama got rid of several GSA leaders over the scandal, but GOP lawmakers have opened investigations.

The ad also notes the solar energy company Solyndra went bankrupt, essentially wasting more than $535 million in Energy Department loan guarantees it got from the Obama administration.

"On Tax Day, did you ask yourself, how exactly does President Obama spend your tax dollars?" the ad narrator asks. "Billions in handouts to green energy companies like Solyndra, which went bankrupt. ... Now we learn that a federal agency spent nearly $1 million on their lavish Vegas conference complete with clowns and mind readers."

Zac Petkanas, a Democratic operative in Nevada, called the ad dishonest and misleading.

"The reality is that President Obama has cut billions of dollars in wasteful spending, proposed $4 trillion in deficit reduction and has cut taxes for every working American," Petkanas said.

Here's the link to the anti-Obama ad: http://bit.ly/Iez4RX

¥ ¥ ¥

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group founded with support from the Koch brothers, went up in Nevada and seven other states with a 60-second TV ad slamming Obama for "wasteful spending."

The total ad buy is $6.1 million, including $675,000 to air it in Las Vegas and Reno. The other battleground states are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.

The ad accuses Obama of pushing his "green energy ideology" while wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on tax credits that in some cases went to projects overseas, including China.

Adam Stryker, the Nevada state director for Americans for Prosperity, said this is the second TV ad the group has run in Nevada and the third nationwide so far this election cycle. The group plans radio spots, too. It also has hired four people to work in Southern Nevada and will hire two or three to work in Northern Nevada, as well, to do voter outreach, registration and other ground game duties.

"There are other conservative groups coming to Nevada, too," Stryker said.

Here's the link to the anti-Obama ad: http://bit.ly/IUHEq4

¥ ¥ ¥

Crossroads GPS, which was founded by GOP operative Karl Rove, launched TV ads focused on the U.S. Senate race in five states, including Nevada, Missouri, Virginia, Montana and North Dakota. The total ad buy is $1.2 million, including $320,000 for Nevada spots to run through May 5.

The target here is U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who is expected to win the Democratic nomination to challenge the appointed incumbent, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in the fall.

The narrator of the 30-second ad here says, "Nevada's in a hole" with the highest unemployment rate in the nation at about 12 percent as well as the worst housing crisis. The ad says Berkley has been "voting for tax hikes that would make it worse" and approving spending that's "pushed deficits sky high."

The Berkley campaign fired back, noting that Rove was former President George W. Bush's top political operative. It called the spot a "misleading attack ad meant to distract from Heller's record of supporting tax breaks for Wall Street corporations shipping American jobs overseas."

"Not surprisingly, the Karl Rove smear completely ignores Shelley Berkley's fight on behalf of Nevada's middle class to create jobs, including efforts to make Nevada the clean energy jobs capital of America, provide working families with tax relief and standing up to the big banks in order to protect families from losing their homes," the Berkley campaign said in a written statement.

Here's the link to the anti-Berkley ad: http://bit.ly/Ite3q4

¥ ¥ ¥

Although Rove is working hard to defeat the president in Nevada, he said last week that the Silver State now "leans Obama," according to recent polls that show the president ahead of Romney.

The assessment was part of the GOP guru's first Electoral College Map as the general election campaign gets under way with Romney heading toward wrapping up the GOP nomination.

Rove said Obama has a solid lead in 18 states for a total of 220 Electoral College votes out of the 270 necessary to win the election in November. Rove put 15 states in Romney's solid lead box for a total of 93 Electoral College votes at this point.

Rove said five states "lean Obama," - Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania - for a combined total of 64 Electoral College votes.

He said six states "lean Romney" - Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas - for a combined total of 79 Electoral College votes.

And he said six states are "toss-ups" - Iowa, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia - for a combined total of 82 Electoral College votes.

Rove cast the coming race as favoring Romney, of course. He said that all the lean Romney states in his assessment are generally safe GOP states, "while all of the 'lean-Obama' states will most likely move to the 'toss-up' or 'lean-Romney' column as the campaigns progress."

Most nonpartisan analysts say Nevada is a toss-up state, although Obama appears to have an edge. The early ad spending by outside GOP and Democratic groups suggest the battle will be close.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.

THE POLITICAL EYE

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The New York Post


April 30, 2012 Monday


Furor over O's Osama ad


BYLINE: Gerry Shields and


SECTION: All Editions; Pg. 15


LENGTH: 585 words


WASHINGTON - Former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will be dead for a year on Wednesday - but he's still causing a stir in the presidential race.

White House officials yesterday defended the release of a controversial campaign ad questioning whether Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have aggressively pursued and killed bin Laden.

In the Web ad, released Friday, former Commander-in-Chief Bill Clinton praises President Obama for his decision to take out the world's most infamous terrorist.

The ad also ridicules Romney, isolating a past quote that "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

The quote is taken from a 2007 interview with The Associated Press in which Romney said bin Laden was not the only threat in the war on terrorism.

"He's by no means the only leader," Romney said. "It's a very diverse group - Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood and, of course, different names throughout the world."

The Obama administration didn't back away from the ad yesterday.

"Osama bin Laden no longer walks this planet today because of that brave decision and the brave actions by our men and women in the military - and, quite frankly, Mitt Romney said it was a foolish thing to do a few years ago," Obama strategist Robert Gibbs said yesterday on "Meet The Press."

But Romney adviser Ed Gillespie argued that any president would have made the same call based on the intelligence that Obama had at the time.

"I can't envision, having served in the White House, any president having been told, 'We have him, he's here, you know, should we go in?' saying, 'No, we shouldn't,' " said Gillespie, a former adviser to George W. Bush.

In the ad, Clinton praises Obama for the risky Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden's Pakistan compound.

"He took the harder and more honorable path and one that produced, in my opinion, the best results," Clinton says.

Gillespie accused Obama of "spiking the ball" - showing that he is the most divisive president in US history by taking an incident of national pride and turning it into a "divisive, partisan political attack."

"It's a bridge too far, and I think the American people will see through it," Gillespie said.

Meanwhile, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said yesterday that the push to defeat al Qaeda isn't finished.

The focus is now on Yemen, where past attempts at terrorism - such as the 2009 underwear bomber - were hatched.

---

Wanted

These five al Qaeda leaders pose a clear and continuing threat of an attack within the United States, intelligence officials say:

* Ayman al-Zawahiri-The Egyptian cleric took over al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden's death last year. Presumed to be hiding in Pakistan.

* Abu Yahia al-Libi -The Libyanmilitant is now the group's de facto No. 2. He escaped from a high-security US prison in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2005.

* Mullah Mohammed Omar-Leader of the Taliban, he has sheltered al Qaeda during the Taliban rule and since. Thought to be hiding in Quetta, Pakistan.

* Nasser al-Wahishi-Commands the Yemeni affiliate al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group US counterterrorist officials warn is most capable of launching an attack on US soil.

* Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri-Chief bombmaker for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he was responsible for building the underwear bomb used to try to bring down a Detroit-bound jetliner on Christmas 2009.

gshields@nypost.com


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PR Newswire


April 30, 2012 Monday 11:09 AM EST


comScore Releases "The Digital Politico" Report Highlighting 5 Ways Digital Media is Shaping the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election;
Digital Advertising and Social Media Play Prominent Roles in Political Campaigns, Delivering Amplified Exposure and Facilitating Online Fundraising


LENGTH: 736 words


DATELINE: RESTON, Va., April 30, 2012


comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report analyzing the use of digital media in the 2012 U.S. presidential election to date. Entitled The Digital Politico: 5 Ways Digital Media is Shaping the 2012 Presidential Election, the report examines key trends shaping the current election cycle in areas such as social media, digital advertising, and paid search. To download a complimentary copy of the report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/DigitalPolitico.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)

"Digital media has emerged over the past few election cycles as a formidable platform for political campaigns, providing the ability to efficiently target campaign messages and reach key voting constituencies at a fraction of the cost of traditional media," said Andrew Lipsman, VP of Industry Analysis at comScore. "Political blogs, online advertising and online fundraising have helped shape the past few elections, but 2012 will almost certainly be remembered as the 'social media election' given how central Facebook and Twitter have become to the current digital battleground."

Key findings highlighted in the Digital Politico report include:

Digital Advertising Plays an Increasingly Prominent Role in Campaigns

While TV and radio ads still dominate campaign expenditures, digital advertising has grown in use with each succeeding campaign cycle. In the past six months, the Obama campaign has outpaced Republicans' digital display ad presence by a ratio of 10 to 1, leading with the highest share of voice in online display ad impressions (86 percent) in February compared to Republican candidates. Social Media Delivers Valuable Amplified Exposure for CampaignsThrough social media, some candidates' campaigns have been able to deliver earned media impressions that are similar in scale - and in some cases much larger - than the number of impressions delivered by their paid display ad campaigns. An analysis of Facebook earned impressions and total paid display ad impressions in January 2012 reveals that Ron Paul managed to more than double his paid media exposure with earned impressions, reflecting the efficiency of social media. In contrast, Mitt Romney received only half as many earned impressions as paid impressions while Rick Santorum almost matched his paid total. Social Media Facilitates Online FundraisingAn analysis of the donation rate among Barack Obama's total social audience on Facebook, which includes fans and their friends, compared to donors who were not among these segments showed that fans and friends donated at a rate 2.5 times that of the non-fans. However, despite their higher likelihood of giving, fans and friends of fans actually donated less per person on average than the other non-fan donor segment, reflecting their younger age profile. Political Sites & Blogs Reach Across Aisle, But Still Engage Partisan Visitors More HeavilyAn analysis of the political affiliation of visitors to selected political blogs and sites generally shows higher percentages of visitors who are aligned with the sites' political leanings. While these sites simultaneously attract visitors from both sides of the political spectrum, visitors who tended to side with the site's partisan leanings exhibited higher engagement in terms of share of time spent on the site. For instance, while TalkingPointsMemo.com shows a notable percentage of Republican visitors to the site, Democrats account for the vast majority of time spent on the site at 70 percent. Paid Search Use by Candidates Ramps Up Leading Into 2012While the leading Republican candidates did minimal paid search advertising throughout 2011, they ramped up their paid search activity significantly toward the end of the year and coming into 2012. In the last six months, more than 60 percent of click-throughs to BarackObama.com came from paid search ads - the highest among the candidates. Search engine click-throughs to RickSantorum.com were also driven by a similarly high percentage at 56 percent.

About comScore comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Follow us on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/comScore

SOURCE comScore, Inc.



CONTACT:Carmela Aquino of comScore, Inc., +1-703-438-2024, press@comscore.com


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Roll Call


April 30, 2012 Monday
Correction Appended


Green Voters Go on the Offensive


BYLINE: Eliza Newlin Carney


LENGTH: 792 words


When Democratic strategist Bill Burton went looking for a partner to help his super PAC launch a $1 million ad campaign announced last week, he had more than one reason to knock on the door of the League of Conservation Voters.

The 43-year-old environmental group has ramped up both its political spending and its lobbying activity this year. And Democrats, tired of playing defense in a recent series of debates on climate and energy policies, are trying to turn environmental issues to their advantage.

"One of the lessons learned from the failure to pass a comprehensive clean energy bill back in 2010 is that we need to be smarter and sharper and more focused in our legislative accountability work," LCV President Gene Karpinski said.

As GOP-friendly super PACs and nonprofits dramatically outraise their progressive counterparts, the LCV has responded aggressively. It was among the first Democratic-friendly groups to set up a super PAC of its own in 2010, spending $5.5 million in that cycle.

The group this year has already spent more than $4 million, about half of which went toward attacking Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) for voting to protect tax breaks for oil companies. Brown publicly denounced the ads and went on to sign a pact with his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, aimed at keeping outside groups from spending money in the race.

The LCV's $1 million ad campaign with Burton's Priorities USA Action, which backs President Barack Obama, takes a similar tack, assailing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for protecting the oil industry's "profits and billions in special tax breaks."

"Voters are particularly concerned about the fact that huge oil companies so badly want Mitt Romney to win this election," said Burton, a former Obama White House aide who is a senior strategist for Priorities USA Action. He said Romney's candidacy "has been tremendously motivating for voters who are animated by concerns about clean air and clean water."

Democrats are hoping their green base will mobilize, pointing to news reports that petroleum and chemical industry billionaires David and Charles Koch will steer $200 million to politically active conservative groups before the election.

Obama himself suggested in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine that the issue of climate change could resonate with voters this year, prompting a Washington Post editorial urging Obama to take action on that front.

But the ongoing recession has pushed environmental concerns to the back burner, political experts say. Democrats have taken a beating over rising gas prices and the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which some labor unions support.

"It's going to be really hard for the Democrats to mount an effective pro-environment stance when it's very easy to make the case that environmental regulations damage the economy," said Michelle Pautz, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Dayton.

A recent Gallup poll found that voters favor economic growth over protecting the environment, 49 percent to 41 percent. That's a smaller margin than last year, according to Gallup, when the economy trumped environmental protection by 18 points. But it's a reversal from polls before the economic downturn: One 2007 survey found that voters prioritized the environment over the economy 55 percent to 37 percent.

Still, the LCV's bid to raise its profile has caught the attention of Democratic leaders. The group spent upward of $300,000 on ads favorable to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who has faced a barrage of broadcast attacks by GOP-friendly groups. The LCV is focusing principally on Senate races in Montana, New Mexico and Virginia and has bundled more than $400,000 for candidates in this cycle, another record.

The activity includes promoting issues and policies in the hope of growing the group's grass-roots membership, which recently topped 500,000. The LCV also leverages its environmental scorecard and its affiliation with almost three dozen state leagues.

Not all Democrats are cheering, though. Last week the LCV trumpeted its role in helping oust incumbent Blue Dog Democrat Tim Holden (Pa.), who lost his primary to lawyer Matt Cartwright. The LCV wasn't the only outside group active in the race, but its $230,000 ad campaign aimed at Holden was the biggest of any other outside player.

The LCV's role toppling Holden ruffled some feathers among Democratic leaders. However, Karpinski noted it was not the first time his group intervened to help an upstart candidate.

In 2004, the LCV spent $400,000 to help a little-known Democrat win a Senate primary in Illinois - a candidate who now happens to occupy the White House. Said Karpinski with some satisfaction: "He remembers to this day."


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CORRECTION: 

The April 30 article "Green Voters Go on the Offensive" misstated the time frame during which the League of Conservation Voters spent $4 million on ads naming Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and other candidates. The spending was during 2011.


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Tampa Bay Times


April 30, 2012 Monday
Politifact.com Edition


OBAMA AD SAYS MITT ROMNEY'S VIEW ON KILLING BIN LADEN WAS 'IT'S NOT WORTH MOVING HEAVEN AND EARTH'


BYLINE: BECKY BOWERS


SECTION: POLITIFACT


LENGTH: 1446 words


Says Mitt Romney's comments indicated he would not have pursued Osama bin Laden.

Barack Obama on Friday, April 27th, 2012 in a Web ad

* * *

THE RULING: HALF TRUE

A Web ad from President Barack Obama's campaign about the death of Osama bin Laden asks, "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?"

The ad features former President Bill Clinton saying Obama "took the harder, and more honorable path," when he approved the May 2, 2011, strike that killed the terrorist mastermind.

By contrast, it portrays Romney as less committed to the effort to kill the al-Qaida leader. It says Romney once criticized Obama for "vowing to strike al-Qaida targets inside Pakistan if necessary."

Then it shows a clip of CNN's Wolf Blitzer quoting Romney as saying in April 2007, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

By using that quote, the ad indicates that Romney would not have pursued the al-Qaida leader. Indeed, that's how headlines described the April 27, 2012, ad.

A conservative blogger pounced on the ad's implication, saying it took Romney's "heaven and earth" quote out of context. (That charge was also levied back in 2007 about the Associated Press story that quoted Romney in the first place.) Fox News followed, saying "Obama campaign's bin Laden ad omits Romney clarification on key quote."

We wondered: Did the ad accurately characterize Romney's "heaven and earth" quote? Was he really lukewarm - or even opposed - to the effort to get bin Laden?

The AP interview

There's no dispute that Romney said about bin Laden, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

But was he saying he wouldn't pursue the terrorist?

The quote comes from an Associated Press story on April 26, 2007, about a Romney interview with reporter Liz Sidoti that covered a range of topics. Here's the related passage:

In the interview, Romney also:

Said the country would be safer by only "a small percentage" and would see "a very insignificant increase in safety" if al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught because another terrorist would rise to power. "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person," Romney said. Instead, he said he supports a broader strategy to defeat the Islamic jihad movement.

At the time, Democrats such as Obama were criticizing President George W. Bush for failing to find bin Laden. Republicans, in turn, were critical of Obama's focus on capturing or killing the terrorist leader.

A post from the conservative site Townhall.com in 2007 says it got a transcript from Romney's campaign at the time that shows he followed the "heaven and earth" line with the sentence: "It is worth fashioning and executing an effective strategy to defeat global, violent Jihad and I have a plan for doing that."

Later, he explains, "Global jihad ... involves millions of people and is going to require a far more comprehensive strategy than a targeted approach for bin Laden or a few of his associates."

Sidoti, now AP's political editor, couldn't confirm the accuracy of the transcript for us, and Romney's campaign didn't respond to our inquiry. Lucky for us, Romney himself had a chance to clarify his words just days after he spoke them, in a May 4, 2007, Republican presidential debate.

The moderator of the MSNBC debate, which featured nine Republicans, brought up Romney's "heaven and earth" quote, which rival Arizona Sen. John McCain had called "naive."

MODERATOR: "Gov. Romney, respond to the mentioned reference to you ... by Sen. McCain."

ROMNEY: "Thank you. Of course we get Osama bin Laden and track him wherever he has to go, and make sure he pays for the outrage he exacted upon America."

MODERATOR: "Can we move heaven and earth to do it?"

ROMNEY: "We'll move everything to get him. But I don't want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person - Osama bin Laden - because after we get him, there's going to be another and another. This is about Shia and Sunni. This is about Hezbollah and Hamas and al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a worldwide jihadist effort to try and cause the collapse of all moderate Islamic governments and replace them with a caliphate.

"They ultimately want to bring down the United States of America.

"This is a global effort we're going to have to lead to overcome this jihadist effort. It's more than Osama bin Laden.

"But he is going to pay, and he will die."

That suggests Romney was criticizing Democrats for focusing too much on the al-Qaida leader rather than the full organization and would have aggressively pursued bin Laden in the context of a larger antiterror strategy.

Still, Romney suggested just a few months later that he wouldn't do what Obama ultimately did - call for a secret, unilateral Navy SEALs strike inside Pakistan. In 2007, Obama had said that if he were elected president, he would be willing to launch strikes against al-Qaida targets in Pakistan with or without Pakistan's approval.

An Aug. 4, 2007, headline from Reuters - an article cited by Obama's ad - says, "Romney attacks Obama over Pakistan warning."

Romney called Obama's comments 'ill-timed' and 'ill-considered,'" Reuters reported, along with other news services.

"There is a war being waged by terrorists of different types and nature across the world," Romney said, according to Reuters. "We want, as a civilized world, to participate with other nations in this civilized effort to help those nations reject the extreme with them."

Romney "said U.S. troops 'shouldn't be sent all over the world.'"

Other Republicans (and Democrat Hillary Clinton) had the same complaint, with some going so far as to say Obama "wants to bomb Pakistan," a statement we rated Pants on Fire.

The Obama campaign, on the other hand, had issued a memo that the United States had deferred to the Pakistani president's judgment long enough, and that, "Barack Obama wants to turn the page," Reuters reported.

Our ruling

An Obama campaign ad suggested Mitt Romney wouldn't have agressively pursued Osama bin Laden by citing Romney's statement that, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

The Obama campaign is right that Romney used those words, but by cherry-picking them, it glosses over comments describing his broader approach. Romney said he wanted to pursue all of al-Qaida, not just its leaders.

The reporter quoting him in April 2007 said he instead "endorsed a broader strategy to defeat the Islamic jihad movement." And he said just over a week later that he would "get Osama bin Laden and track him wherever he has to go, and make sure he pays for the outrage he exacted upon America ... he is going to pay, and he will die."

Still, Romney was clear later that summer that he would prefer to participate with allies rather than take unilateral action to kill terrorists as Obama supported - and later did. The ad takes Romney's words out of context, but gets part of the story right. We rate it Half True.

* * *

About this statement:

Published: Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 12:14 p.m.

Subjects: Candidate Biography, Terrorism

Sources: Barack Obama, "One Chance," April 27, 2012 via YouTube; The Slatest, "Obama Campaign Suggests Romney Wouldn't Have Killed Bin Laden," April 27, 2012; Miami Herald's Naked Politics, "Obama video hints that Romney wouldn't have nabbed Bin Laden. Did Obama 'spike the football?'" April 27, 2012; Yahoo News' The Ticket, "Romney would not have killed bin Laden, implies new Obama campaign ad," April 27, 2012; Fox News, "Obama campaign's bin Laden ad omits Romney clarification on key quote," April 30, 2012; Reuters, "U.S. on guard for attacks ahead of bin Laden anniversary," April 26, 2012; Associated Press, "AP Interview: Romney says he's not the only one switching positions, rivals do it too," April 26, 2007, via Nexis; Reuters, "Romney attacks Obama over Pakistan warning," Aug. 4, 2007; Associated Press, "Romney targets Obama over Pakistan," Aug. 4, 2007, via Boston.com; Political Transcript Wire, "Republican Presidential Candidates Participate In A Debate Sponsored By MSNBC," May 4, 2007, via Nexis; Ace of Spaces HQ, "Mr. Cool Pretty Jazzed About His Gutsy Call," April 27, 2012; Weekly Standard, "Obama Campaign Trots Out Bin Laden, Spikes the Football (Updated: Romney Responds)," April 27, 2012; Townhall.com, "Mitt and Osama," May 2, 2007; Email interview with Liz Sidoti, political editor for the Associated Press, April 27, 2012; Email interview with Kara Carscaden, deputy press secretary for Obama campaign, April 27, 2012

Researched by: Becky Bowers

Edited by: Bill Adair


LOAD-DATE: May 1, 2012


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The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)


April 30, 2012 Monday
The Virginian-Pilot Edition


As comedian in chief, Obama zings on key


SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A2


LENGTH: 503 words


By Lesley Clark

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama poked fun at his Republican rivals Saturday night but didn't spare his own Secret Service or secretary of state or even his past indulgence of exotic cuisine as he spoke to a crowd of Hollywood stars, political power brokers and journalists.

Obama opened his bit at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association by exiting stage right to pretend that he'd been caught complaining with a hot mic in the men's room - a jibe at his overheard conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"What am I doing here?" his voice asked off stage. "I'm the president of the United States, and I'm opening for Jimmy Kimmel and telling knock-knock jokes to Kim Kardashian."

From the podium, Obama punched verbal jabs at his presumptive Republican challenger, Mitt Romney - including a two-for-one at Romney and the federal government's General Services Administration, recently rocked by a scandal over excessive spending on a conference in Las Vegas.

"It's great to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent Hilton ballroom - or what Mitt Romney would call a little fixer-upper," Obama said. "I mean, look at this party. We've got men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first-class entertainment. I was just relieved to learn this was not a GSA conference."

Obama took a few shots at himself, noting that he hadn't yet seen "The Hunger Games": "Not enough class warfare for me." And he aired a fake attack ad, delving into a campaign fracas involving dogs: Democrats have barked at Romney for once putting his family dog in a crate affixed to the roof of a car, and Republicans have made note of an admission in one of Obama's books that he ate dog meat as a child in Indonesia.

"What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?" Obama asked, referencing Sarah Palin's 2008 GOP convention speech. "A pit bull is delicious."

Obama noted that four years ago, he was engaged in a "brutal" primary with Hillary Clinton.

"Four years later, she won't stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena," he said, referencing photographs of Clinton clubbing in Colombia after the recent Summit of the Americas and a photo that has gone viral of her texting aboard a military plane.

He also delivered a barb at Congress, thanking its members "who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight." And he noted that the night's entertainer, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, had made his debut on "The Man Show."

"In Washington, that's what we call a congressional hearing on contraception," Obama said, a reference to an all-male House Republican panel convened during his push to require religious institutions to provide contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans for their employees.

Kimmel got in a few digs at Obama, joking that "there's a term for guys like President Barack Obama. Probably not two terms.

"Remember when the country rallied around you in hopes for a better tomorrow?" Kimmel said. "That was a good one."


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The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)


April 30, 2012 Monday
The Virginian-Pilot Edition


The 2012 presidential election is months away, but campaigns already are seeking your vote - and fighting for every one in Virginia. the hunt for your vote is on


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By Bill Bartel |

The Virginian-Pilot

As the presidential election takes shape in Virginia, you can run, but you can't hide. ¶

Supporters of President Barack Obama and expected Republican nominee Mitt Romney are coming after you and your vote - whether you like it or not.

Given that both campaigns are convinced the commonwealth is among a handful of must-win states needed to keep or take the White House, the political organizations have been learning everything they can about you.

Obama is set to officially kick off his campaign Saturday at rallies in Richmond and Ohio. And last week, the Republican National Committee declared Romney the GOP's "presumptive nominee" as he pivots from a party nomination fight to a national campaign.

But the battle for the hearts and minds of Virginia voters began more than a year ago and, in many ways, hasn't stopped since November 2008, when the state's voters were a critical factor in electing Obama. (Obama won the popular vote in Hampton Roads, carrying every city except Virginia Beach, where he lost to Sen. John McCain by 1,434 voters.)

Political operatives on both sides have been examining how often you vote, where you live, your occupation, your views on key issues and your personal interests. They're using closely held databases developed and continually updated through phone banks and other resources to find new supporters and to tailor their messages to fit your interests.

The national campaigns also tap into market research that helps them figure out your politics based on what you buy.

"Let me give you an example," said a GOP political strategist with national experience. "If you're a married woman with children and you bought a Bible in the last 13 months and you drive a minivan, you fit in a category. If you drive a hybrid and have a subscription to The New Republic or Time magazine, you fit in another category."

Tracking consumer activity to micro-target messages has long been a practice of businesses selling products, but it's becoming much more important to political campaigns.

"They can take it down to the street level," said the strategist.

Armed with such information, the campaigns and other groups will be coming at Hampton Roads voters - if they haven't already - with phone calls, mailings, emails, Twitter feeds, Facebook, television spots and old-fashioned door knocking. Both parties say they'll leave no stone unturned.

"We take every vote seriously, regardless of where they are," Dave Rexrode, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, said last week. "We're going into the bluest of blue precincts."

The national presidential campaigns say they are counting on Virginians to carry the day.

"Virginians recognize that President Obama is getting the job done," said Jennifer Kohl, the Obama campaign's state communications director. "In Hampton Roads, you see this through all the hard work he's done to take care of our veterans both here at home and abroad, along with their families, and through the countless Virginians benefiting from the immediate actions he took to get our economy back on track."

Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg begs to differ.

"For Mitt Romney, this race has always been about defeating President Obama and getting Americans back to work," Henneberg said. "We are confident that voters in Virginia and across the country are responding to Mitt Romney's pro-jobs message and will make Barack Obama a one-term president."

Observant television viewers know the ad wars in Hampton Roads have already begun. Obama for America paid for commercials in January and April that focused on energy or the economy.

Although Romney's campaign hasn't run television ads in the region in recent months, several well-funded super PACs that support the former Massachusetts governor or oppose Obama have begun what is expected to be a flow of ads that might turn into a torrent by November.

American Future Fund has underwritten ads attacking Obama's ties to Wall Street on all four of Hampton Roads' commercial network stations this spring. The same is true for anti-Obama TV ads that were purchased by American Energy Alliance and Americans For Prosperity. Both PACs have ties to billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, according to Politico.

Americans For Prosperity announced Thursday that it's spending $6 million for two weeks of new ads in Virginia and seven other states and is organizing "rallies and educational events" in Richmond, Charlottesville and Fairfax County.

American Crossroads, a super PAC overseen by former Bush administration adviser Karl Rove, also has inquired at WAVY-TV about buying ad time during NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics, station records show.

Independent PACs are forbidden by law to work with or confer with any candidate but, unlike the campaigns, they have no limits on donations.

A mid-March poll by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute determined that Obama was favored by 50 percent of Virginia registered voters compared with 42 percent who like Romney.

But with more than a half a year to go before Election Day, don't assume anyone has the edge, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor who has been analyzing Virginia elections for decades.

"I've listened to both sides. They tell me how they've got it locked. ... They don't," he said. "This is a true tossup."

He predicts that the key battlegrounds within the state in order of magnitude will be Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and college communities.

Rexrode contends that the GOP has an advantage because of the party's impressive gains in state and congressional races over the past three years.

In 2009, Bob McDonnell was elected governor, defeating Democrat Creigh Deeds by more than 340,000 votes.

A year later, GOP challengers defeated three Democratic congressmen, including Rep. Glenn Nye of Virginia Beach, who was beaten by Virginia Beach businessman Scott Rigell.

And last fall, the Republicans strengthened their majority in the House of Delegates and won effective control of the Senate, with half the seats and the tie-breaking vote in the hands of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican.

However, a key factor raises questions about the Republican dominance: At least a million Virginians who sat out all of those off-year elections are likely to show up this November.

During McDonnell's election and the successful GOP congressional campaigns, roughly 1.5 million fewer Virginia voters cast ballots than in the 2008 presidential election.

Voter participation was even smaller in last year's state legislative races. Less than one-third of the state's 5 million registered voters cast ballots.

To reach them this year, Obama's campaign is using the sophisticated Web-based outreach efforts that it pioneered four years ago mixed with on-the-ground networks of volunteers and campaign professionals. Obama's Virginia organization operates independently of the state Democratic Party but has close ties to it.

The campaign has opened 13 offices in the state, including one in Virginia Beach and another in Suffolk, with more to come. Four years ago, the campaign eventually had 50 offices in the state.

Romney's organization will use Virginia's existing GOP infrastructure. Technically, the Republican Party of Virginia is not working for him yet because Romney is still a few hundred delegates short of the 1,144 needed to win the party nomination, state party officials said.

In the meantime, the state GOP, which is also involved in U.S. Senate and House elections, is getting ready. It recently set up new offices in seven cities, including one on First Colonial Road in Virginia Beach in a building shared with Rigell's re-election campaign.

Republicans have harnessed many of the same social network tools employed so effectively by Democrats in the past. Sabato said Obama for America is still more advanced in many social networking activities than the GOP. "But I think Republicans are better at Twitter," he said.

As the weeks pass, activists on both sides expect passions to overflow in whatever media are used to attract voters.

Jason Miyares, an attorney and a GOP consultant who managed Rigell's successful 2010 campaign, gets agitated when he starts talking about what lies ahead. He argues that Obama's presidency has weakened the nation.

"Everything that we are hearing says that the Democrats are going to run the single most negative campaign in history. They will run negative ads attacking character," Miyares said. "We're not going to make an issue of Obama's character, but his policies."

State Sen. Louise Lucas warned about 100 people at an Obama campaign event to organize black voters last week at Norfolk State University that a tough fight is coming.

Obama "has been under heavy attack since day one. I have cried because of the way they've treated my president," the Portsmouth Democrat said. "Last time, it was about pride. This time, it's personal."

Bill Bartel, 757-446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com

"

the Obama campaign

President Barack Obama officially kicks off his campaign Saturday. He has 13 offices in the state, including one in Virginia Beach and another in Suffolk, with more to come.

the Romney campaign >>

Mitt Romney was declared the GOP's "presumptive nominee" last week, and he'll use the state party's infrastructure. The Virginia GOP has set up seven offices, including one in Virginia Beach.


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The Washington Post


April 30, 2012 Monday
Suburban Edition


Wis. Democrats split over best choice to beat Walker


BYLINE: Rachel Weiner


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1254 words


DATELINE: MADISON, WIS.


MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin Democrats organized the protests that gripped the state. They turned Gov. Scott Walker's plans to strip public unions of their collective bargaining rights into a national Democratic cause. They got the signatures they needed to force a recall election, and then some.

They are now just over a month away from the big showdown with Walker they have been craving for more than a year - but rather than excitement, there is growing fear within the party that they just might blow it.

The problem for Democrats is that before they get their shot against Walker, they have to get through a divisive primary between an establishment pick and a union favorite that is threatening to undercut their unified front against the Republican governor.

"We're nervous," said Julie Wells, who works with the grass-roots group United Wisconsin. Wells, a forklift operator from Fort Atkinson, filed the papers to recall Walker, and she was there when they were submitted. But now volunteers who promised to help aren't showing up. "We know that we can win this, but we're not seeing the level of participation we saw during the signature-gathering phase," she said.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who lost to Walker by six percentage points in 2010, is the establishment pick for the May 8 Democratic primary. He leads three other primary candidates by double digits, according to the latest polls. He has the support of most prominent elected officials in the state and, in a sign of his standing, Republicans have focused their attacks on him.

"The Republicans do not want me to emerge from this primary," Barrett told a crowd of 100 or so last week at a coffee shop in Waukesha. "They've made commercials about several candidates," he said, and "they're only running them against me."

"They view me as the strongest candidate," he said.

But most of the unions that first revolted against Walker's legislation have endorsed another candidate: former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk.

For many union leaders, Barrett is, if not as bad as Walker, not good enough, either. As mayor, he used the rule changes championed by Walker to take benefits away from city employees. While Falk committed to vetoing any budget that does not include collective bargaining, Barrett favors a more conciliatory special session of the legislature.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in particular, has aggressively attacked Barrett, at one point suggesting that he supported Walker's measures.

Falk argues that her candidacy better embodies Wisconsin's progressive tradition. "I have the support of this movement," Falk said from her campaign headquarters in Madison, not far from the Capitol steps where the protests began. "I have been here every step of the way."

Falk got into the race in November and was there when the petitions were delivered. Barrett didn't declare his candidacy until late March. Falk's most recent ad declares that "only one candidate" in the race "was there from the start."

Yet polls show Barrett is viewed more favorably than Falk and has higher name recognition. He has the support of prominent Democratic officials in the state, including Sen. Herb Kohl and former congressman David R. Obey, who said Wednesday that the Democratic infighting was a "suicide pact."

Walker has suggested that Barrett is the tougher candidate. The state Senate's GOP leader, Scott Fitzgerald, has suggested that some Republicans will vote for Falk in the open primary, in an effort to give Walker a weaker opponent.

"I thought it was premature" for the unions to back Falk, said Joyce Gonis Schmitz, a retired school social worker who attended Barrett's event in Waukesha. "That's reacting like an ADHD kid without meds. Let's be strategic here. Let's see who can beat Walker."

Falk's union supporters argue that the primary is good for the party in more ways than one. Not only is she "the stronger candidate and the better candidate," said Rich Abelson, executive director of Wisconsin's AFSCME District Council 48, but a divided primary means Walker cannot focus all his attacks on one person.

But Democrats in the state are not so sure. "The unions could go out in a blaze of glory and take Barrett down two or three points that we need in the general election," said a top official of the recall movement who has not taken sides in the primary and would speak only on the condition of anonymity.

While the Democrats can't quite unite, their opposition is both united and well funded.

"They set up this World Series event," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said last week at an event in Arizona, "and they didn't get the people that they wanted to run against Scott Walker. And so what they have are a couple people that have perfected the art of running for statewide elections and losing."

In addition to Walker, his lieutenant governor and four Republican state senators face recall elections on June 5. (Democrats are more bullish on taking back the state Senate, where they need only one victory.)

Money to support them has poured in from conservatives all over the country who see Walker as a hero standing up to big labor. When the last fundraising reports were filed in January, Walker had raised more than $12 million. Falk had raised less than $17,000. Barrett wasn't in the race yet. Since January, Barrett has raised $750,000 and Falk $1 million. Walker has yet to release his latest haul.

"Scott Walker will have more money than God," said Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman Graeme Zielinski.

Which is not to say that Democrats are without resources.

The Democratic Governors Association has sent $500,000 to Greater Wisconsin, an outside group that just launched its first ad, attacking Walker's jobs record.

Unions spent $12 million on the state Senate recalls last year and plan to spend at least that much this time. But Wisconsin For Falk, a union-backed political action committee, has already spent $4 million to boost its candidate - money that could have been used against Walker.

Recent news gave Democrats some ammunition. Wisconsin lost 4,500 jobs in March, mostly in the private sector, leaving Walker with little progress on his campaign promise to create 250,000 jobs. He repealed the state's Equal Pay Enforcement Act, added new abortion restrictions and mandated sex education that stresses abstinence over contraception - all measures that play into Democrats' national mantra of a Republican "war on women."

For all of the money and effort put into the recall effort, only 3 or 4 percent of voters are undecided about Walker and his policies. Republicans are as certain of Walker's courage and good sense as Democrats are of his perfidy.

As the primary campaign continues, polls show that independent voters are shifting to Walker. His approval ratings are higher than they were a year ago, although he's still below 50 percent.

"We've been waiting all this time, and now we get our day of reckoning," said Mahlon Mitchell, the president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin. He's challenging Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R). "If we win, its a huge win. It's huge."

And if they lose?

"There's no way to spin that."

weinerr@washpost.com

Read more on PostPolitics

Rising public job losses test Obama's strategy

Boehner: Obama picking fake fights

Obama wants to strike 'appropriate balance' on Chinese dissident, official says

White House reversal on child farm-labor rules draws fire

Monday Fix: Romney's road to presidency this fall looks narrow on electoral map


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The Washington Post


April 30, 2012 Monday
Suburban Edition


Obama seeking'balance' on rights


BYLINE: Karen DeYoung


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A07


LENGTH: 641 words


A senior White House official said Sunday that President Obama wants to strike an "appropriate balance" in dealing with a Chinese dissident who fled house arrest last week and reportedly is under protection in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Comments by John O. Brennan, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, were the closest the administration has come to confirming the whereabouts of dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng and the difficulty the situation poses for U.S. policymakers.

The president tries to "balance our commitment to human rights" with continuing "to carry out our relationships with key countries overseas," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday." "We're going to make sure that we do this in the appropriate way and that appropriate balance is struck."

Obama "has faced similar situations in the past in terms of this balancing requirement," Brennan said, and he "will do whatever he thinks is in the best interest of the United States as well as the individuals involved."

Both the U.S. and Chinese governments have studiously avoided confirming Chen's whereabouts, adhering to uniform "no information" comments.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said in a statement Sunday that he hopes the United States "will take every measure to ensure that Chen and his family members are protected from further persecution." He said U.S. policy toward China must address human rights violations. "Our country must play a strong role in urging reform in China and supporting those fighting for the freedoms we enjoy," he said.

The incident comes at a particularly dicey time for U.S.-China relations, on the heels of the appearance of a senior Chinese law enforcement official at the U.S. consulate in Chengdu with information that brought down a senior Communist Party boss, and on the eve of this week's visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner for high-level talks.

Kurt Campbell, the State Department's top diplomat for East Asia, appeared Sunday in Beijing on an unannounced trip, apparently to deal with the Chen situation in advance of Clinton's arrival. The State Department declined even to confirm Campbell's presence in the Chinese capital, although he was photographed at a Beijing hotel early Sunday.

Brennan made the rounds of three Sunday talk shows to mark the first anniversary of the U.S. Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Although the administration had indicated that U.S. security was on heightened vigilance against a terrorist attack to mark the date, Brennan said on ABC's "This Week": "At this time, we don't see any active plot that is underway."

Bin Laden's death "made a tremendous difference," he said. "It's taken away the founding leader of that organization who was . . . a symbol of al-Qaeda's sort of murderous agenda worldwide."

Although that and numerous other gains have been made against the organization, he said, "I don't look at it as a victory. I think . . . we have to destroy the organization. We have to take all of their operatives, their leaders, their training camps, take away their safe havens. And we're not going to rest."

Hosts on ABC, Fox and CNN's "State of the Union" tried to get Brennan to respond to an Obama campaign video suggesting that bin Laden might be alive today had Romney been president. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a Romney backer, called the ad "a shameless end-zone dance to help [Obama] get reelected."

Brennan repeatedly refused the bait. "I don't do politics," he told ABC. "I don't do the campaign. I am not a Democrat or Republican. I'm a counterterrorism adviser to the president. All I know is that the president made the decision when he was given the opportunity to take a gutsy decision. . . . We're safer today as a result."

deyoungk@washpost.com


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The Washington Times


April 30, 2012 Monday


Obama's re-election strategists resurrect bin Laden;
Republicans: It's 'shameless'


BYLINE: By Ben Wolfgang THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, PAGE ONE; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 794 words


Osama bin Laden is dead, but that won't stop the 9/11 mastermind from playing a role in the 2012 presidential election.

Nearly a year after U.S. forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan, President Obama's re-election team has rolled out a strategy to paint the Democratic incumbent as the stronger candidate on foreign policy issues, particularly when it comes to dealing with Islamic extremists.

His latest campaign ad features former President Bill Clinton praising Mr. Obama for making the difficult decision to order Navy SEALs into bin Laden's compound on May 2, 2011. It then asks whether Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney would have made the same choice.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden has taken that same line of attack to the campaign trail, seeking to cut into the GOP's traditional edge among voters on homeland security and defense matters.

"Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," the vice president said in a Thursday stump speech. "You have to ask yourself, had Gov. Romney been president, could he have used the same slogan in reverse?"

Republicans are beating back those talking points.

Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and Mr. Obama's challenger in the 2008 presidential race, called the Democrats' strategy "shameless" and blasted the campaign video as "a cheap political attack ad."

"This is the same president who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get re-elected," Mr. McCain said. "No one disputes that the president deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy."

Democrats, however, show no signs of letting up and appear intent on using the death of bin Laden as a political weapon in the months to come.

Former White House press secretary and current Obama campaign strategist Robert Gibbs said Sunday that the attacks on Mr. Romney are "certainly not over the line," and bluntly argued that the American people can legitimately doubt whether a President Romney would have ordered the bin Laden raid.

"I don't think it's clear that he would," Mr. Gibbs said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He criticized Barack Obama a few years ago when Barack Obama said [he would act] if we have actionable intelligence about a high-value target - and let's be clear, nobody was bigger, nobody was a more high-value target than Osama bin Laden."

Mr. Gibbs based his assertion on a 2007 Romney quote, in which he said, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person." Offered when he was a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination, Mr. Romney's words drew criticism from other GOP candidates.

He later backed away from his comments, explaining that while it was vitally important to capture or kill bin Laden, Americans should reject the notion that the fight against terrorism would end if the al Qaeda leader was taken out of play.

"After we get him, there's going to be another, and another," Mr. Romney said during a subsequent Republican primary debate.

Mr. Romney's supporters also took to the airwaves Sunday to blast Mr. Obama and his campaign team, alleging that they are using bin Laden's death, a triumphant moment for all Americans, as pure political fodder.

Romney adviser Ed Gillespie called the Obama ad "divisive," and said he thinks most Americans will view it "as a sign of a desperate campaign."

"I can't envision, having served in the White House, any president having been told 'we have him, he's here, should we go in,' saying, 'no we shouldn't,'" Mr. Gillespie said. "This is an attack on something that might have not happened. It's a bridge too far."

Appearing on several Sunday shows, White House Chief Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan flatly refused to answer questions about whether the Obama video unfairly capitalizes on bin Laden's death for political gain, while at the same time casting Mr. Romney as weak in the war on terrorism.

"I don't do politics. I don't do the campaign. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. All I know is the president made the decision when he was given the opportunity to carry out that raid," he said on ABC's "This Week." "I think the American people are clearly very appreciative and supportive of that decision. We're safer today as a result."

Mr. Brennan said the Obama administration does not plan to release any images from the bin Laden raid. "What we don't want to do is put out anything that is going to unnecessarily incite emotions on this issue," Mr. Brennan said on Fox News. "We believe that it's unnecessary to put something like that out."


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The White House Bulletin


April 30, 2012 Monday


Huffington Blasts Obama Ad Questioning If Romney Would Have Ordered Bin Laden Raid


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 168 words


On "CBS This Morning," Arianna Huffington criticized as "despicable" the Obama campaign ad released on the Internet that questions whether GOP opponent Mitt Romney is decisive enough to order the Seal Team 6 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Huffington said, "I don't think there should be an ad about that. I think it's one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job (with television specials). All that is perfectly legitimate. But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do." Huffington said this sort of political use of tough issues of war and peace are "what makes politicians and political leaders act irrationally when it comes to matters of war because they're so afraid to be called wimps, that they make decisions which are incredible destructive for the country. I'm sure the president would not have escalated in Afghanistan if he was not as concerned, as Democrats are, that Republicans are going to use not escalating against him in a campaign."


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The Associated Press


May 1, 2012 Tuesday 05:24 PM GMT


Obama ad accuses Romney of outsourcing US jobs


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 163 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama's re-election campaign released a new ad Tuesday accusing Republican Mitt Romney of outsourcing jobs and slamming him for keeping money in foreign bank accounts.

The ad says Romney "shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China" when he led the investment firm Bain Capital. And it says Romney "outsourced state jobs to a call center in India" when he was governor of Massachusetts.

The campaign was spending about $780,000 to place the ad in markets in Virginia, Ohio and Iowa, according to a Republican strategist monitoring the purchase of advertising time. Obama's camp only described the ad placement as "a significant buy."

Virginia, Ohio and Iowa are three crucial swing states in November's election.

The Obama ad is partially in response to a spot released last week by the conservative political group Americans for Prosperity. That ad suggested money from Obama's $814 billion economic stimulus package went to overseas green-energy companies.


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The Associated Press


May 1, 2012 Tuesday 09:17 PM GMT


AdWatch: Obama ad says Romney sent jobs overseas


BYLINE: By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 694 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


TITLE: "Swiss Bank Account"

LENGTH: 30 seconds.

AIRING: In the battleground states of Virginia, Ohio and Iowa.

KEY IMAGES: The ad opens with the words, "Over the top, erroneous, out of context" and shows images of a wind farm with the words, "Big oil's new attack ad," a reference to a recent ad by a conservative group charging that money from the 2009 economic stimulus package went to overseas green-energy companies.

Obama is then pictured next to a U.S. map that shows domestic clean energy projects financed by the Energy Department. The ad says Obama helped create jobs in America, not overseas.

Next is a photo of presumptive Republican election rival Mitt Romney alongside a world map, saying that as a corporate chief executive he shipped jobs to Mexico and China. As Massachusetts governor, Romney "outsourced state jobs to a call center in India," the ad says, as a picture of the Taj Mahal flashes by.

The ad then displays a shuttered warehouse and accuses Romney of seeking tax breaks for companies that want to ship jobs overseas, concluding, "It's just what you expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account."

ANALYSIS: The ad by Obama's presidential campaign is intended to defend the president's record on clean energy, a continuing focus of GOP attacks, and to portray Romney as a corporate raider who helps companies create jobs overseas.

Americans for Prosperity, founded by the billionaire oil industry brothers Charles and David Koch, spent more $6 million this year on ads criticizing Obama over Solyndra, a California-based solar energy company that went bankrupt despite a $528 million federal loan.

More recently, the group said that Obama, through the economic stimulus law, helped foreign companies that moved jobs overseas, including some that make wind turbines or electric cars. Independent analysts have said that while some foreign-based companies received loans or tax credits under the stimulus law, the companies have U.S. subsidiaries that benefitted from federal aid.

While the ad highlights the Energy Department's clean energy program, it fails to mention several high-profile failures, including Solyndra and Beacon Power Corp., a Massachusetts energy storage company that also went bankrupt after receiving a federal loan. The government lost $567 million from those two loans alone.

The ad's focus on outsourcing underscores a key Obama tactic: Assailing Romney's work in Massachusetts and as head of the investment firm Bain Capital to raise doubts about how he would guide an economy still rebounding from a deep recession.

The ad's claim that Romney, as Bain CEO, shipped jobs overseas is accurate but somewhat misleading. By its nature, venture capitalism often results in lost jobs because profitability and efficiency are crucial to investors, not how many people are on the payroll. Bain Capital profited in cases where U.S. employment went both up and down

Under Romney, Bain Capital earned a reputation for turning around struggling companies and establishing well-known brands such as Domino's Pizza and the Staples office supply retailer. But that success came at a cost. A review by The Associated Press shows that Bain wrung profits out of many companies it took over by slashing costs and trimming the work force. Some of the companies that Bain took over while Romney was leading it ended up shipping jobs overseas.

The ad's largely negative tone underscores the Obama campaign's attempt to define Romney as a wealthy businessman out of touch with average Americans.

As Massachusetts' governor Romney vetoed a 2004 bill that would have barred vendors doing business with the state from sending jobs overseas. He was quoted in news stories at the time as saying the Democrat-written plan was hastily crafted and would drive away some businesses while failing to create jobs at home.

Romney reported in a recent financial disclosure that he had a Swiss bank account, which he closed in 2010. Romney advisers say the investments were reported on tax returns and were a not a vehicle to avoid taxes.

Associated Press writer Andrew Miga contributed to this report.

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC


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CNN Wire


May 1, 2012 Tuesday 11:04 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2533 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Phil Gast - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Afghanistan-Obama (will update)

President Barack Obama thanked U.S. troops for their service and signed an agreement on cooperating with Afghanistan on an unannounced trip there Tuesday, the first anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan. Obama on Wednesday will discuss the continued drawdown of U.S. troops in that country, committing to pull 23,000 out by the end of summer and stick to the 2014 deadline to turn security fully over to the Afghan government, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

POL-Obama-Reax (will update)

A roundup of reactions to President Barack Obama's visit to Afghanistan, where he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed an agreement on future ties.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (may update)

The wife of a former top aide to former presidential candidate John Edwards defended in testimony Tuesday having shot video in September 2008 of the house and possessions of Edwards' pregnant mistress.

China-Chen-Hometown (by Steven Jiang)

As our car moved closer to this tiny village in eastern China, the local driver became visibly nervous, looking around for any signs of trouble. In the rear-view mirror, an unmarked black sedan appeared out of nowhere, trailing us as we drove past the main entrance to Dongshigu Village. In February and December of last year, we came here to visit Chen Guangcheng, a prominent Chinese human rights activist under house arrest, after he recounted in a video posted online the brutal abuse he and his family suffered from local officials during confinement. We came here again to find Chen's family -- but couldn't even get close.

Venezuela-Chavez-Succession

Uncertainty rules in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez battles a cancer some believe has turned fatal. As Chavez shuttles between Venezuela and Cuba, where he is receiving treatment for a type of cancer he has declined to identify, speculation grows whether he'll be in shape to campaign for the Oct. 7 presidential election. Or if he will even be alive by then. With no clear successor in line analysts see political and military leaders and others with an eye on power quietly maneuvering to take over, improve their lot or simply stay out of prison.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Afghanistan-Strategic-Agreement

President Barack Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement that outlines cooperation between their countries after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces in 2014.

POL-White-House-Afghanistan-Politics

The White House strongly denied Tuesday that President Barack Obama's surprise trip to Afghanistan was executed for political motives, saying the visit was more than a year in the making.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his tabloid News of the World reported Tuesday.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN.

CNN SHOWCASE

UK-Spy-Mystery-Death - By Laura Smith-Spark

It reads like something from a spy novel. An MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent is found dead at his home, his naked body padlocked inside a large red holdall stowed in the bathtub. There is no sign of a break-in or of force having been used against him. The man's internet history betrays an interest in sex games and bondage. But DNA traces suggest other people may have been in his apartment. The mysterious 2010 death of Gareth Williams, who worked for Britain's foreign intelligence service, is a riddle that has gripped the nation. And at the heart of the mystery is a key question: could Williams have zipped himself into the bag as part of a bizarre sexual fantasy? Or was the Cambridge-educated maths whizz placed there by what his family have suggested are killers versed in the "dark arts" of espionage?

China-Chen-Profile - By Michael Pearson

Long before Chen Guangcheng became internationally known as a human rights crusader, villagers near his home knew him as the man to go to for troubles with local authorities. Despite having little formal legal education, Chen began advocating on behalf of villagers in 1996 at the age of 25, according to China Human Rights Defenders, a China-based human rights group. Chen has been at the center of a burgeoning international impasse since his dramatic escape last week from the guards who kept him under house arrest in a small village in eastern China. Fellow activists say he made his way to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he remains as the United States and China try to sort out the future for Chen, who has sought to call attention to the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China. Yet he never sought out to be a rabble-rouser, said New York University law professor Jerome Cohen, who first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004. "You got the feeling you were in the presence of some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something," Cohen said. "He had this gentle but steely moral force."

INTERNATIONAL

Israel-Detention-Policy

Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli military Tuesday as protests over a controversial Israeli detention policy persisted ahead of a related court hearing.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama 

President Barack Obama thanked U.S. troops for their service and signed an agreement on cooperating with Afghanistan on an unannounced trip there Tuesday, the first anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan.

Afghanistan-Strategic-Agreement

President Barack Obama and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement that outlines cooperation between their countries after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces in 2014.

Venezuela-Chavez-Succession

Uncertainty rules in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez battles a cancer some believe has turned fatal. As Chavez shuttles between Venezuela and Cuba, where he is receiving treatment for a type of cancer he has declined to identify, speculation grows whether he'll be in shape to campaign for the Oct. 7 presidential election. Or if he will even be alive by then. With no clear successor in line analysts see political and military leaders and others with an eye on power quietly maneuvering to take over, improve their lot or simply stay out of prison.

Sudan-Conflict

Thousands of people trying to return to South Sudan from Sudan have been stranded for months at the Kosti way station and are running out of "means of support," a United Nations official said Tuesday.

Syria-Unrest

Both the Syrian government and opposition forces are violating a cease-fire and the regime continues to deploy heavy weapons in cities, the chief U.N. peacekeeper said Tuesday.

Syria-UN-Monitors

The U.N. monitoring mission in Syria -- the latest in an long series of diplomatic attempts to stop the carnage -- has come across recent obstacles that some say undermine the whole peace-seeking process. Who are these monitors, and what are the odds that their work will actually forge a path to peace?

Gaza-Violence

Israeli forces and Palestinian militants exchanged fire Tuesday in Gaza, according to officials from both groups.

Colombia-Rebels-Kidnapping

Colombia's largest rebel group reportedly claimed on Tuesday to holding French journalist Romeo Langlois, who disappeared over the weekend, and described him as a "prisoner of war."

UK-Phone-Hacking

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his tabloid News of the World reported Tuesday.

France-Election

Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said Tuesday she is not endorsing either President Nicolas Sarkozy or front-running challenger Francois Hollande, both of whom are courting far-right voters on the immigration issue ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

U.S.A.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Sanford city officials have chosen a former Colorado police chief as an interim replacement for the top cop who stepped aside during the furor over February's killing of an unarmed teen.

Florida-Stand-Your-Ground

A task force set up to examine Florida's "stand your ground" law after the Trayvon Martin shooting met for the first time Tuesday, but its leader said the panel's job goes beyond the Martin case.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN.

New-York-Terror-Trial

A Bosnian immigrant accused of plotting to bomb New York's subway system as an "al Qaeda terrorist" has been found guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

Ohio-Bridge-Arrests

A mohawk-wearing anarchist nicknamed "Cyco" was among five men arrested after allegedly conspiring to blow up a bridge about 15 miles south of Cleveland, the FBI said Tuesday.

POL-Secret-Service

The acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security is investigating the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia, in addition to four congressional committees as well as internal reviews by the agency, the military and the White House.

Luggage-Mine-Casings

A New Jersey woman traveling to an explosives demonstration in California was stopped at Newark Liberty International Airport after land mine casings were found in her luggage, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday.

MONEY-Occupy-May-Day

Occupy May Day went global on Tuesday, as demonstrations stretched from California to New York and from Europe to the Caribbean.

MONEY-Chesapeake

Aubrey McClendon, the embattled chief executive of natural gas company Chesapeake Energy, will relinquish his title as chairman of the board, the company said Tuesday.

MONEY-Princeton-Review

Princeton Review, the company behind the test prep books, is being sued by the U.S. government for allegedly bilking a federal program for underprivileged children.

Texas-Baby-Bucket-List

The 6-month-old girl whose parents created a "bucket list" blog for their daughter after doctors said she would not live past age 2 died Monday, her father said.

MED-Facebook-Organ-Donors

On average, 18 people in the United States die each day waiting for an organ transplant. Billionaire Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg wants to change that. He announced Tuesday that the social networking site wants to "help solve the crisis" by allowing users to volunteer as potential organ donors in the United States and the United Kingdom.

DSK-Civil-Suit

A New York judge Tuesday rejected claims by former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn that a civil lawsuit against him should be dismissed because he was protected by diplomatic immunity.

POL-White-House-Afghanistan-Politics

The White House strongly denied Tuesday that President Barack Obama's surprise trip to Afghanistan was executed for political motives, saying the visit was more than a year in the making.

POL-McCain-Obama-Afghanistan

Sen. John McCain, who earlier this week leveled harsh criticism at President Barack Obama for what he said was the politicization of the killing of Osama bin Laden, said Tuesday he did not believe the president's trip to Afghanistan was a political move.

POL-Romney-OBL-Politics

While standing outside Engine Company 24, which lost 11 firefighters on September 11, Mitt Romney reiterated Tuesday he would also have ordered the mission to kill Osama bin Laden but criticized President Barack Obama for politicizing his role on its one-year anniversary.

POL-Romney-Adviser-Resigns

Richard Grenell, who joined Mitt Romney's team as a foreign policy adviser less than two weeks ago, has left the campaign, a spokesman for the likely Republican presidential nominee confirmed Tuesday.

POL-Bachus-Cleared

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has been cleared of allegations that he used his position to engage in insider trading and improperly profit from the 2008 market meltdown.

POL-McDonnell-Bin-Laden

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican and potential running mate for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's decision to pursue and kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was "gutsy."

POL-Ad-Romney-Bank-Account

The latest television ad by the Obama campaign paints Mitt Romney as a man who outsourced jobs, tried to hide a Swiss bank account, and enjoys a common cause with big oil interests.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY-Terrorism-Risk-Remains

As the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death passes, the U.S. is in danger of slipping back into pre-9/11 complacency.

ENT-Oscars-Dolby-Theatre

The Hollywood home of the Academy Awards show has a new name to replace the one it lost when Eastman Kodak Co. filed for bankruptcy in January. The former Kodak Theatre is now the Dolby Theatre, thanks to a 20-year naming rights contract with Dolby Laboratories, a company known for its movie sound systems.

ENT-MTV-Movie-Awards-Nominees

MTV has announced the nominees for this year's MTV Movie Awards, and, like best movie lists before it, "Bridesmaids" is among the nominees for "Movie of the Year."

ENT-Jessica-Simpson-Baby

Jessica Simpson has given birth to a daughter in a Los Angeles hospital, the actress-singer said in a statement posted on her website Tuesday morning.

COMMENTARY-Cronin-Okinawa

The long-term strategy behind America's military repositioning in Asia is gradually revealing itself. A series of moves over the past six months will set the stage for rebalancing U.S. naval, air and ground forces in the region.

COMMENTARY-Murdoch-UK-Cathcart

What does it mean, when a UK parliamentary committee says you are not fit to run your company? If you're 81 and you have built a fabulously profitable global empire, you might be inclined to say, not much.

ENT-George-Olivia-Harrison-Material-World

Oh, he wasn't always so quiet. Contrary to his somber popular image -- created in the early days of Beatlemania and never truly put to rest -- George Harrison loved to laugh, and he loved to make others laugh. After all, this is a man who mortgaged his house so Monty Python could make "Life of Brian" because he wanted to see it -- "still the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket," jokes Python's Eric Idle.

SPORT-Olympics-London-2012-Jennifer-Pinches

Not every athlete gets to train with their heroes, but Jennifer Pinches is lucky enough to be friends with one of hers.

FEA-Savage-Bible-Comments

Columnist and gay-rights advocate Dan Savage is standing by his comment that "we can learn to ignore the bulls**t in the Bible about gay people" at a recent conference for high school students, a line that prompted some to walk out and spurred intense online debate.


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 10:26 PM EST


Inhofe fires off on Obama over trip


BYLINE: By Ashley Killough, CNN


LENGTH: 396 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Longtime Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma criticized President Barack Obama over the president's surprise trip to Afghanistan Tuesday, describing the visit as "campaign related" and an "attempt to shore up his national security credentials."

"We've seen recently that President Obama has visited college campuses in an attempt to win back the support of that age group since he has lost it over the last three years," Inhofe said in a statement. "Similarly, this trip to Afghanistan is an attempt to shore up his national security credentials, because he has spent the past three years gutting our military."

A former member of the military and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Inhofe visited Afghanistan two weeks ago. In his statement Tuesday, he said the progress made in the country is "fragile" and accused the president of playing politics with the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

"The security improvements and the killing of Osama bin Laden a year ago are great American victories that should not be politicized," he said.

Obama has taken heat from many on the right, including Mitt Romney, after his campaign released a recent ad praising the president over ordering the raid in Pakistan.

Romney's campaign, however, has not made a statement on the president's trip to Afghanistan.

While the senator praised the commander-in-chief for visiting the troops, he took issue with Obama's overall handling of the war in Afghanistan since assuming office in 2009.

He argued the president "has allowed Washington and campaign politics to dictate his strategy in Afghanistan rather than the conditions on the ground."

Also while in Afghanistan Tuesday, Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement outlining cooperation between their countries once the U.S.-led international force withdraws in 2014.

Senior administration officials maintained on a conference call with reporters Tuesday that the timing of the trip was driven by negotiations over the SPA agreement, not politics.

After 20 months of talks, final details came together in recent weeks. The agreement then went to the presidents for review, the officials said.

However, the officials also acknowledged that the timing coincides with the anniversary death of bin Laden.

-- CNN's Rebecca Stewart contributed to this report.


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 10:09 PM EST


Senate GOP leaders not criticizing president's Afghanistan trip


BYLINE: By Ted Barrett, CNN Senior Congressional Producer


LENGTH: 259 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Senate Republican leaders don't plan any formal reaction - or criticism - of President Obama's surprise trip to Afghanistan, according to a top Senate GOP

leadership aide.

The aide said the president announced the troop drawdown almost a year ago, and there is little new to say.

"We obviously don't have any beef with the President visiting the troops," the aide said.

The sentiment was echoed by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who told CNN's Dana Bash that "it's always good when the president goes to where young men and women are in harms way."

McCain also said Republicans are supportive of the strategic partnership agreement Obama signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai although they have not been briefed on all the details of it.

However, Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, did criticize Obama's decision to travel to Afghanistan.

"Clearly this trip is campaign related," said the Oklahoma senator in a press release.

Inhofe said the trip was "an attempt to shore up his national security credentials because he has spent the past three years gutting our military."

Inhofe accused Obama of allowing "Washington and campaign politics to dictate his strategy in Afghanistan rather than actual conditions on the ground."

Obama's trip comes a year after the successful mission to kill Osama Bin Laden and the same week as the president's re-election campaign released a television ad which questioned whether Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have approved the mission if he were president.


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 8:39 PM EST


McCain: 'Good thing' president is in Afghanistan


BYLINE: By Dana Bash, CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent


LENGTH: 341 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain, who earlier this week leveled harsh criticism at President Barack Obama for what he said was the politicization of the killing of Osama bin Laden, said Tuesday he did not believe the president's trip to Afghanistan was a political move.

"Well I think it's a good thing," McCain said when asked about the president's surprise trip to Afghanistan. "I think it's always good when the president goes to where our young men and women are in harm's way and I think that many of us who have been involved in Afghanistan are very involved in the strategic partnership agreement, which I'm sure he will be talking about, and we think that the agreement is good and we obviously would like to know the details."

On Sunday, McCain slammed Obama for turning the one year anniversary of the raid that killed the al Qaeda chief into a "cheap political attack ad."

McCain issued a statement Sunday asserting: "No one disputes that the President deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy."

McCain, who was pitted against Obama in the 2008 presidential race, is a top surrogate for the likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Republicans including Romney claim Obama is using the anniversary of bin Laden's death to gain political points ahead of November's general election.

On Tuesday, McCain said the president's Afghanistan visit did not constitute "spiking the football."

"No, I don't see it as that," McCain said. "And I wish the president would explain more often to the American people why Afghanistan is important, that Afghanistan not return to a base for attacks on America."

McCain did say it was "regrettable" Obama hasn't given a major address on Afghanistan since June 2011, when he announced plans for troop withdrawal from the country.

"The American people need to know why sacrifices are being made, and they are being made, and in my view the president really has been remiss in not talking to the American people and our young people are in harm's way," McCain said.


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 2:42 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1699 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler and Sarah Aarthun - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Ohio-Bridge-Arrests (will update)

Five suspects, some of whom describe themselves as anarchists, were arrested after allegedly conspiring to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, the FBI said Tuesday.

UK-Phone-Hacking (Will update)

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his tabloid the News of the World reported Tuesday.

UK-Spy-Mystery-Death

It reads like something from a spy novel. An MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent is found dead at his home, his naked body padlocked inside a large red holdall stowed in the bathtub. There is no sign of a break-in or of force having been used against him. The man's internet history betrays an interest in sex games and bondage. But DNA traces suggest other people may have been in his apartment. The mysterious 2010 death of Gareth Williams, who worked for Britain's foreign intelligence service, is a riddle that has gripped the nation. And at the heart of the mystery is a key question: could Williams have zipped himself into the bag as part of a bizarre sexual fantasy? Or was the Cambridge-educated maths whizz placed there by what his family have suggested are killers versed in the "dark arts" of espionage?.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

Violence erupted in Syria on Tuesday despite a bolstered U.N. peace initiative.

POL-Secret-Service (Will update)

The acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security is launching a separate investigation into the Secret Service prostitution scandal.

DSK-Civil-Suit

A judge denied a motion Tuesday to dismiss a civil lawsuit against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn by a hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.

Florida-Stand-Your-Ground (Will update)

A task force created by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to examine the state's "Stand Your Ground" law in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting meets for the first time Tuesday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

UK-Phone-Hacking

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is not a "fit person" to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his tabloid the News of the World reported Tuesday.

Ohio-Bridge-Arrests

Five suspects, some of whom describe themselves as anarchists, were arrested after allegedly conspiring to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, the FBI said Tuesday.

CNN SHOWCASE

China-Chen-Profile - By Michael Pearson

Long before Chen Guangcheng became internationally known as a human rights crusader, villagers near his home knew him as the man to go to for troubles with local authorities. Despite having little formal legal education, Chen began advocating on behalf of villagers in 1996 at the age of 25, according to China Human Rights Defenders, a China-based human rights group. Chen has been at the center of a burgeoning international impasse since his dramatic escape last week from the guards who kept him under house arrest in a small village in eastern China. Fellow activists say he made his way to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he remains as the United States and China try to sort out the future for Chen, who has sought to call attention to the practice of forced abortions and sterilizations in China. Yet he never sought out to be a rabble-rouser, said New York University law professor Jerome Cohen, who first met Chen when the activist traveled to the United States as part of a State Department program in 2004. "You got the feeling you were in the presence of some Chinese equivalent of Gandhi or something," Cohen said. "He had this gentle but steely moral force."

INTERNATIONAL

China-US-Activist

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to China Tuesday, President Barack Obama was tight-lipped about the whereabouts of escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng and his potential impact on the discussions to be held this week in Beijing.

Afghanistan-Violence

Three Afghan children were killed when insurgents attacked police and troops who were visiting villagers in Zabul province, the deputy provincial governor said Tuesday.

Afghanistan-US-Report

Although the international coalition and Afghan government are making progress in the war in Afghanistan, "the Taliban-led insurgency and its al Qaeda affiliates still operate with impunity from sanctuaries in Pakistan," according to a new semi-annual report issued by the Pentagon.

Syria-UN-Monitors

The U.N. monitoring mission in Syria -- the latest in an long series of diplomatic attempts to stop the carnage - has come across recent obstacles that some say undermine the whole peace-seeking process. Who are these monitors, and what are the odds that their work will actually forge a path to peace?

Colombia-Rebels-Kidnapping

Colombia's president has demanded the release of a French journalist believed to have been kidnapped by a leftist rebel group over the weekend, while on a military raid of drug laboratories.

Colombia-Air-Crash

A helicopter carrying members of the Colombian Air Force and police crashed in the north of the Latin American nation on Monday, killing all 13 people on board.

UK-Phone-Hacking

British lawmakers who have been investigating phone hacking by people working for Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid are set to report at 6:30 a.m. ET Tuesday whether they think Murdoch and his son James lied to them.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Meeting

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday praised opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts to advance democracy in Myanmar, supporting her decision to take the oath of office for the country's parliament despite objecting to its wording.

Syria-Unrest

Dozens of Syrians were slaughtered by regime forces in early morning violence Tuesday, opposition activists said, despite the growing presence of U.N. monitors in the country.

China-Chen-Guangchen-Profile

A profile of escaped Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng.

REL-Muslims-Al-Qaeda

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death found that most Muslims in the Middle East and Asia think poorly of al Qaeda.

India-Ferry

At least 100 people are feared dead after a ferry broke in two and sank in a remote part of northeastern India, according to officials.

U.S.A.

Ohio-Bridge-Arrests

Five suspects, some of whom describe themselves as anarchists, were arrested after allegedly conspiring to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, the FBI said Tuesday.

MONEY-Occupy-May-Day

Occupy May Day is under way. The Occupy movement is organizing a nationwide protest on Tuesday, asking Americans not to attend work or school on a day that's already a progressive holiday overseas.

POL-Secret-Service

The acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security is launching a separate investigation into the Secret Service prostitution scandal.

SPORT-Lakers-Hill-Charge

As the Los Angeles Lakers take to the court Tuesday for Game 2 of the NBA playoffs, a key question is whether the team's forward Jordan Hill will square off against the Denver Nuggets.

Florida-Stand-Your-Ground

A task force created by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to examine the state's "Stand Your Ground" law in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting meets for the first time at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday.

DSK-Civil-Suit

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will learn at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday whether a judge will dismiss a civil suit brought against him by the New York hotel housekeeper who accused him of assaulting her last year.

Ohio-Amish-Hate-Crimes

The leader of an Amish sect in Ohio, who was indicted on federal charges for allegedly shaving the beards and cutting the hair of community members, must pay for his own legal defense after making millions off an oil-and-gas deal, court documents show.

POL-Ad-Romney-Bank-Account

The latest television ad by the Obama campaign paints Mitt Romney as a man who outsourced jobs, tried to hide a Swiss bank account, and enjoys a common cause with big oil interests.

MONEY-New-York-Adelphia-Fraud

Nearly eight years after Adelphia's founder was among those convicted for essentially looting the cable company, fraud victims can now get their share of a record $728 million fund, the top federal prosecutor in New York announced Monday.

Pennsylvania-Maternity-Settlement

Dozens of Pennsylvania women who were allegedly told by Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation that they had to return to work from maternity leave before the firm would insure their mortgages could share in a $511,250 settlement fund, Justice Department lawyers announced Monday.

MONEY-Fracking-Violations

For Pennsylvanians with natural gas wells on their land, chances are they won't know if a safety violation occurs on their property.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

ENT-George-Olivia-Harrison-Material-World

Oh, he wasn't always so quiet. Contrary to his somber popular image -- created in the early days of Beatlemania and never truly put to rest -- George Harrison loved to laugh, and he loved to make others laugh. After all, this is a man who mortgaged his house so Monty Python could make "Life of Brian" because he wanted to see it -- "still the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket," jokes Python's Eric Idle.

ENT-Marilyn-Manson-Born-Villian-Album

It's 22 minutes into Marilyn Manson's smart, sarcastic, sprawling response to CNN's opening interview question about his new album, "Born Villain" (out May 1), and he is just about wrapping up the explanation of its origin. Let's just say that Manson -- one of the most vilified entertainers in history, who has been accused of everything from causing the Columbine school massacre to being the devil incarnate -- has a lot to say on the subject.

SPORT-Olympics-London-2012-Jennifer-Pinches

Not every athlete gets to train with their heroes, but Jennifer Pinches is lucky enough to be friends with one of hers.

FEA-Savage-Bible-Comments

Columnist and gay-rights advocate Dan Savage is standing by his comment that "we can learn to ignore the bulls**t in the Bible about gay people" at a recent conference for high school students, a line that prompted some to walk out and spurred intense online debate.


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 1:29 PM EST


Why 'Hope and Change' is dead, 'Forward' lives


BYLINE: By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 808 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.

(CNN) -- During the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, Jimmy Kimmel made a joke that President Obama laughed at, but that you could see was just killing him inside.

"Mr. President, do you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow?" Kimmel asked. "That was hilarious. That was your best one yet."

Yeah it was.

I'm sure he still has a lot of hope. But I would dare to say the thing that changed most over these past three years is Obama. The unbridled optimism that his first campaign once embodied has been bludgeoned by dogmatism, pragmatism and bipartisan cronyism.

Hope and change are tough when the worst economy in 80 years is waiting to greet you at the door.

Hope and change are challenging when Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial gatekeeper of the conservative movement, tells his troops "I hope Obama fails" before your first day on the job.

Hope and change are virtually impossible when working with a Congress so dysfunctional that its approval rating never reached 25% in all of 2011 and was as low as 10% in February.

No wonder his hair is a bit grayer these days.

And no wonder the new Obama slogan is "Forward."

"Hope and Change" captured the heart of a people who believed one man could change the culture of Washington. "Forward" acknowledges things are not where he said they would be, but takes ownership of a record that shows he at least has us pointed in the right direction: 12 consecutive months of job losses before he took office, 25 consecutive months and counting of job growth since 2010.

It's not as sexy, but at least it's honest.

After all, Guantanamo Bay is still open.

Unemployment is still above 8%.

Housing prices are still low.

This is why probably why Mitt Romney felt comfortable enough to send out this tweet: "The promises that candidate Obama made are very different than what President Obama delivered."

Embedded in the tweet was a video, showing Obama in 2008 promising to go through the federal budget line by line to cut fat, and then fast forwarding to today with stats about the growing debt and the nearly $1 million wasted on the now infamous GSA conference.

Had another challenger posted the ad, it would have landed a solid right hook to Obama's re-election bid.

But it was Romney, so it was more like a boomerang -- an aggressive attack sent out but ultimately coming back to its sender. The last person who should want to start a video rewind contest is Romney, who has enough flip-flops and broken promises captured on film that he could start his own network.

Nonetheless, while the messenger is a bit shaky, the overall message is not. Obama has indeed fallen short on quite a few of the promises he's made over the years.

And the campaign slogan "Forward" reflects those shortcomings and challenges: obstructionist Republicans determined to bring him down, self-serving Democrats too scared to pass a budget, and a public so dense that at one point it thought Donald Trump would make a good president.

But at the end of the day, Obama has only himself to blame for the malaise of disappointment that has draped much of his presidency. A disappointment, mind you, that has less to do with his actual policy than with his inability to reach the ridiculously high bar he set for himself over the years.

Tweets like Romney's are not necessarily fair -- after all, nothing happens in a vacuum -- but Obama was the one who made all of the promises. He was the one who set the standard. He is the one sitting in his own prison. I doubt he'll ever say it, but I bet if he had a chance to do it all over again, he would underbid rather than overbid his hand.

 Romney will continue to hammer away at what Obama hasn't done -- and he should -- if for no other reason than hoping to distract voters from seeing all of the things Obama has accomplished.

Like preventing insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions, courtesy of the flawed but helpful Affordable Care Act; overturning "don't ask, don't tell;" appointing two women to the Supreme Court. Getting Osama bin Laden.

That was one of candidate Obama's promises, you know.

In 2007 he said he would get bin Laden, even if it meant going into Pakistan. This week marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama delivering on that promise Funny, for some reason that clip didn't make it into Romney's ad. 

I'm sure it was an oversight.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.


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CNN Wire


May 1, 2012 Tuesday 10:02 AM EST


Obama campaign's latest ad targets Romney's 'Swiss bank account'


BYLINE: By Jessica Yellin and Paul Steinhauser, CNN


LENGTH: 435 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- The latest television ad by the Obama campaign paints Mitt Romney as a man who outsourced jobs, tried to hide a Swiss bank account, and enjoys a common cause with big oil interests.

Called "Swiss Bank Account," the 30-second spot begins airing Tuesday in the key battleground states of Ohio, Virginia and Iowa. In a few days, President Barack Obama will hold his first campaign rallies in two of those states: Ohio and Virginia.

The ad begins by trying to discredit an anti-Obama ad funded by the Americans for Prosperity which the narrator describes as "Big Oil's new attack ads."

The narrator quotes a Washington Post fact check which rated parts of the ad "erroneous."

The Obama administration's green energy program has come under fire by conservative groups that have criticized investments in Solyndra and other new technologies that failed.

The narrator says the president's green energy agenda created jobs in the United States; not overseas.

The ad then asks, "What about Mitt Romney?" -- leaving the impression that there may be a link between these unnamed oil interests and Romney.

The narrator says that when Romney ran Bain Capital, he sent U.S. jobs to China and Mexico. It also says Romney outsourced jobs from Massachusetts when he served as governor.

It ends by telling voters that Romney had a Swiss bank account and failed to disclose income from it on his public campaign disclosure statements.

"It's just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account," the narrator says.

Obama only speaks in the ad to approve it.

Senior Democratic officials have said repeatedly they would try to define Romney early in the election and the ad suggests they're trying to define him as a fat cat who is looking out only for the wealthy.

Because the ad was shown to reporters but will not be publicly unveiled until Tuesday, CNN could not reach out to the Romney campaign for comment.

The campaign's Press Secretary Andrea Saul responded to a similar broadside by Vice President Joe Biden saying the Obama administration that has "done more to devastate the middle class than any in history."

She also said that with its record on gas prices, unemployment and the housing market, "it's no surprise the Obama White House has taken to attacking a proven job creator like Mitt Romney."

On the tax disclosures, Saul has said, "Any document with this level of complexity and detail is bound to have a few trivial inadvertent issues" and that Romney is "clearly coming down on the side of disclosure."

The ad will air on broadcast television channels and the Obama campaign describes it as "a significant buy."


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Creators Syndicate


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Why Obama's bin Laden Ad Drives Republicans Crazy


BYLINE: Joe Conason


SECTION: WHY OBAMA'S BIN LADEN AD DRIVES REPUBLICANS CRAZY


LENGTH: 578 words


Nothing aggravates Republicans like seeing nasty, effective tactics upon which they have so long relied being turned against one of their candidates. So when Barack Obama's re-election campaign aired an ad celebrating the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death - and suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have achieved that objective - the right exploded with outraged protests.

Evidently, the feelings of longtime hatchet men like Bush-era party chair Ed Gillespie, ex-Bush flack Ari Fleischer and the editorial writers at The Wall Street Journal, to name a few, were really, really hurt - because the Obama campaign exploited a moment of national unity for partisan advantage.

"This is one of the reasons President Obama has become one of the most divisive presidents in American history," said Gillespie, now a Romney adviser.

To anyone with a functioning memory, however, this whining is implausible. So are the dire predictions that the president will somehow offend voters by claiming credit for whacking bin Laden (or by smacking Romney). During the Bush presidency, Republicans used precisely the same approach and worse, over and over, without fretting whether their words and ads were "divisive."

It began weeks after the 9/11 attacks, amid sincere pledges of patriotic cooperation from congressional Democrats, when Karl Rove told the Republican National Committee that their party would "go to the country on this issue" to win the midterm elections in 2002. They won a historic victory by sliming wounded Vietnam hero Max Cleland and former Air Force intelligence officer Tom Daschle as stooges of al-Qaida.

Bush's 2004 re-election campaign amplified the same themes, with advertising and pageantry at the Republican convention in New York City grossly exploiting 9/11, a series of conveniently timed terror "alerts" leading up to Election Day and repeated warnings by Vice President Dick Cheney that a Democratic victory would signal weakness to America's enemies. And it persisted into the 2006 midterm, with Rove falsely portraying Democrats as limp-wristed "liberals" trying to "understand" Osama bin Laden.

Until that election, the rough Rovian style succeeded brilliantly - despite the fact that Bush and Cheney had actually allowed bin Laden and Mullah Omar to escape at Tora Bora. Obama's cool order to kill bin Laden, in a moment of considerable risk to his presidency, finally debunked the decade of smears against Democrats as unpatriotic, wimpish and unreliable.

By contrast, the Obama ad's brief rebuke of Romney is at least factual and accurate: Not only did he say what the ad quotes, but he also said that he wouldn't go into Pakistan to get bin Laden, which is what the mission required. Had the president followed Romney's policy recommendation, bin Laden would almost certainly still be at large.

"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," scoffed Romney in response. But he shouldn't be so quick to denigrate the former Democratic president, who entered the Navy during World War II and then served as a submarine officer until his honorable discharge in 1953. Somebody may compare Carter's service with Romney's own military record, which doesn't exist - and remind voters that he avoided the Vietnam draft with a pampered stint as a Mormon missionary, in France.

Joe Conason is the editor in chief of NationalMemo.com. To find out more about Joe Conason, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


'Queasy' over a 'sleazy' 'preezy': President Obama tagged for over-the-top campaigning


BYLINE: Eric Schulzke Deseret News


LENGTH: 383 words


Left-of-center Washington Post columnist Dana Milibank is not a Mitt Romney supporter, but he came down hard on President Barack Obama on Tuesday for over-the-top rhetoric about Osama bin Laden and for the president's ceaseless and record-setting fundraising. Referring to Obama's recent appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show, in which the host referrred to the president as "preezy," Milibank added that he was feeling "queasy" and that the president's behavior seemed a bit "sleazy." Milibank cites a book just out by Brendan Doherty, a political scientist at the Naval Academy, which notes that Obama is the first president to visit all battleground states during his first year in office.

Even more startling, Doherty notes that Obama's 191 fundraisers through March 6 of this year already exceeded the combined total of first-term fundraisers conducted by George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. Finally, Milibank objects to Obama's overt politicization of the bin Laden killing, with an ad that suggested that Mitt Romney would not have issued the order. Milibank is not the only liberal to object to the bin Laden ad. Megablog publisher Ariana Huffington told CBS "We should celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It's one thing to have an NBC special from the Situation Room... all that to me is perfectly legitimate, but to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do," according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail also collected a chorus of voices from Navy SEALs objecting to the use of the bin Laden raid for political purposes. "Politicians should let the public know where they stand on national security but not in the play-by-play, detailed way that has been done recently. The intricacies of national security should not become part of stump speeches," said one. The Obama ad questioned whether Mitt Romney, who has ironically been tagged as a cutthroat capitalist ever anxious to pull the trigger in firing a worker, would have been loathe to issue the order to get bin Laden. On Monday, Romney argued that the question was absurd, and that "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order." Eric Schulzke writes on national politics for the Deseret News. He can be contacted at eschulzke@desnews.com


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E&E News PM


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


CAMPAIGN 2012: Obama ad touts energy record, takes on oil companies and Romney -- all in 30 seconds


SECTION: THIS AFTERNOON'S STORIES Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 451 words


Jennifer Yachnin, E&E reporter

President Obama's re-election campaign fired its latest volley in the ad war over renewable energy today, taking aim at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's personal wealth in the process.

The Obama campaign's new 30-second spot, which is airing in the critical swing states of Virginia, Iowa and Ohio, opens with a rebuttal to the $6.1 million campaign announced last week by the tea party group Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by energy magnates Charles and David Koch.

The AFP ad criticized spending by the Obama administration, citing examples of projects that received federal stimulus grants and funded jobs overseas.

The Obama ad opens as images from the AFP ad scroll on one side of the screen, and an announcer states: "Over the top. Erroneous. Out of context. Big Oil's new attack ad."

"President Obama's clean energy initiatives have helped create jobs for projects across America, not overseas. What about Mitt Romney?"

The ad then criticizes Romney for allegedly outsourcing jobs to Mexico and India during his time in both private business and his tenure as Massachusetts governor.

"It's just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account," the ad says, a reference to Romney's disclosure that he had invested funds in the Swiss bank UBS when he released his 2010 tax returns earlier this year. Romney had not previously divulged the account on financial disclosure forms filed by all federal candidates.

A Romney campaign spokeswoman characterized the ad as a "series of sideshows."

"Unable to defend his failed record of 23 million Americans struggling for work, wasteful boondoggles like Solyndra, skyrocketing national debt and unacceptably high energy prices, President Obama has once again resorted to attacking Mitt Romney," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said. "The American people have suffered enough over the last three years and deserve better."

AFP President Tim Phillips likewise slammed the Obama ad.

"Once again, President Obama is lashing out with distorted, personal attacks instead of taking responsibility for his failed big government green energy boondoggles that have wasted billions of taxpayer dollars in pursuit of his global warming ideology," Phillips said in a statement. "The simple truth is, American tax dollars should be benefiting American taxpayers, not foreign workers or politically connected companies and special interests."

And the conservative Weekly Standard reported this afternoon that the U.S. map the Obama campaign used in the ad to show where clean energy jobs had been created conveniently omitted a dot for where Solyndra, the bankrupt California solar energy firm, had been located.


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The Frontrunner


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Obama Appears To Suggest Romney Might Not Have OK'd Bin Laden Raid


SECTION: LEADING THE NEWS


LENGTH: 1544 words


The anniversary of the Osama bin Laden raid generated a great deal of coverage last night and this morning, including more than ten minutes of combined coverage from the three network newscasts. Both NBC Nightly News (4/30, story 2, 2:10, Williams, 8.37M) and ABC World News (4/30, story 2, 1:55, Sawyer, 8.2M) aired segments suggesting that comments made by Mitt Romney in 2007 suggest that he would have been hesitant to approve the strike on Abbottabad. While the network coverage, especially the lead story from NBC Nightly News (4/30, lead story, 3:00, Williams, 8.37M), reflected very positively on the Administration, much of the commentary in the major papers this morning is critical of the Obama campaign's suggestion that Mitt Romney would not have made the same decision the President did.

For example, David Brooks, in the New York Times (5/1, Subscription Publication, 1.23M), writes the Obama campaign ad touting the bin Laden raid included "a low-minded attack on Romney," which "turned a moment of genuine accomplishment into a political ploy," and Dana Milbank, in the Washington Post (5/1, 553K) says the President's "nonstop campaigning is looking...sleazy -- and his ad suggesting that...Romney wouldn't have killed...bin Laden is just the beginning of it." Also in the Washington Post (5/1, 553K), CIA veteran Jose Rodriguez claims that "much of that work" that preceded the raid "has been denigrated by Obama as unproductive and contrary to American principles."

Over 200 local TV newscasts across the country ran reports on the controversy surrounding the Obama campaign ad. Generally, the reports evenly balanced comments from the President Monday suggesting Romney might not have given the go-ahead for the raid, and responses from Republicans.

On NBC Nightly News (4/30, story 2, 2:10, Williams, 8.37M), Chuck Todd reported, "In anticipation of the one-year anniversary...the Obama campaign released two web videos," which "called into question whether Mitt Romney would have made the same decision." The Romney campaign "took offense," and Romney "himself...tried to minimize the President's role." Romney: "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order." Todd went on to report that the President "took issue with the criticism that his campaign had been overusing the bin Laden anniversary for his campaign and then alluded to the fact that Romney himself once questioned the President's judgment about going it alone in Pakistan." Todd said the President was "referring to Romney's comment from 2007," when he "called the idea 'ill-timed' and 'ill-considered.'"

ABC World News (4/30, story 2, 1:55, Sawyer, 8.2M) reported, "The decision to take out Osama bin Laden loomed large today in the battle for the White House," as "there was a kind of duel between" the President and Romney "over which candidate has the sheer determination and nerve to eliminate US enemies." Jake Tapper added that the President is "determined to make this success a cornerstone of his reelection effort," in part, because Romney "said, in 2007, it wasn't 'worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just to catch one person.'"

Reuters (5/1, Bull) quotes the President as saying, "I said that we'd go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him and I did. If there are others who've said one thing, now suggest they'd do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain."

According to the AP (5/1), the President "gave a steely defense of his handling of the raid...and his use of it to burnish his re-election credentials a year later. ... He then jumped at the chance to portray...Romney as unprepared to make the kind of hard call required to send US forces on that highly risky mission." The AP goes on to report that the President is "using the May 2 anniversary to help maximize a political narrative that portrays him as bold and decisive."

Brett Baier, at the opening of Fox News' Special Report (4/30, lead story), said, "The raid that killed Osama bin Laden...has been widely hailed as a gutsy call by President Obama," but "now it's becoming a political football, one that the President had promised not to spike." Baier added, "Politically, for the Obama campaign, the bin Laden decision appears to be the gift that keeps on giving." According to Ed Henry, the President "used the East Room to slam...Romney for appearing to flip flop on whether he would have taken out the terrorist," but "the White House attack on Romney being indecisive may be complicated, since even Vice President Biden was unsure about the bin Laden mission."

McClatchy (5/1, Clark) says the President "rejected criticism of his handling of the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death -- and questioned whether" Romney "would have made the same decision to take out the al Qaida leader." According to McClatchy, "Though he didn't mention Romney by name, the remarks plunged Obama directly into a roiling dispute." McClatchy notes that Biden also "questioned whether a President Romney" would have made the decision Obama did.

According to the New York Times (5/1, A12, Barbaro, 1.23M), "By referring to Mr. Carter, the Romney campaign is tying President Obama to a previous Democratic president considered by many to be weak on national security issues. But the comparison is somewhat flawed, given that while the signature military raid Mr. Carter ordered -- to rescue United States Embassy hostages in Tehran in 1980 -- was a failure, the raid Mr. Obama ordered against Bin Laden was a success."

USA Today (5/1, Jackson, 1.78M) reports, "Romney and aides have protested the White House approach to the bin Laden anniversary, saying it is politicizing an event that should be a source of unity for the nation. 'It's unfortunate that President Obama would prefer to use what was a good day for all Americans as a cheap political ploy and an opportunity to distort Gov. Romney's strong policies on the war on terror,' said Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul."

Scott Wilson, in an article for the Washington Post (5/1, 553K) titled, "Obama Strategy Of Taking Credit For Osama Bin Laden Killing Is Risky, Some Observers Say," reports that "political analysts and Republican critics say Obama is taking a risk in claiming credit for" the bin Laden raid. Brookings' Michael O'Hanlon says the President "deserves the right to crow about it a little, but he has to be careful, given how many other issues are out there, even on the counter-terrorism front." According to Wilson, O'Hanlon "said that if there is a terrorist attack...or other foreign policy failures before election day, 'It would look odd in the midst of all this self-congratulation over bin Laden.'" Despite the word "observers" in the headline, and Wilson's reference to "analysts," both plural, O'Hanlon is the only nonpartisan analyst quoted in the piece.

Sam Stein of the Huffington Post (4/30) reported that "the remarks from Obama seemed likely to further thrust the political world into a d?j?-vu-inducing squabble over the ethics of campaigning on national security."

The Los Angeles Times (5/1, Memoli, Parsons, 630K) reports that Republicans "have sharply criticized Obama for, in their view, politicizing the anniversary. 'Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of Sept. 11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad,' Sen. John McCain said."

The Washington Times (5/1, Crabtree, 77K) reports that during his press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the President said, "I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration."

NBC Marks Anniversary With Special From The White House Situation Room.

NBC Nightly News (4/30, lead story, 3:00, Williams, 8.37M) reported, "One year ago tonight...US Navy SEALs were already in motion, as was the machinery of an ultrasecret US military strike that killed Osama bin Laden. On the night of the raid, the very top government and military leadership gathered in the White House Situation Room. ... And now, we have more to add to the public record" because, for "the first time, news cameras have...been allowed inside the White House Situation Room." President Obama: "It's not a slam dunk. At this point, all of us understand we're a long way to go before, before the night is done. And you know, I said this was the longest 40 minutes of my life." NBC noted that it will air the full special on the bin Laden raid Thursday night.

Politico (4/30, Epstein, 25K) reported, "Obama's administration and reelection campaign have touted the killing in a variety of ways in recent days, including an interview with NBC's Brian Williams conducted in the White House Situation Room, the release of new video of...Bill Clinton applauding Obama's actions and Vice President Joe Biden questioning whether Romney would have made the same decision."

Huffington Calls Obama Ad "Despicable."

Politico (4/30, Dixon, 25K) reported that in an appearance on CBS This Morning, Arianna Huffington said "making a campaign ad about the killing of Osama bin Laden...'is one of the most despicable things you can do." Huffington added, "There is no way to know whether Romney would've been as decisive. And to actually speculate that he wouldn't be is, to me, not the way to run campaigns on either side."


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The Frontrunner


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


New Obama Ad Introduces "Forward" Slogan, Blames GOP For Recession


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 544 words


The Hill (5/1, Easley) reports the Obama campaign "released a seven-minute Web video on Monday highlighting the president's first-term accomplishments, contrasting them with the challenges he inherited from the prior administration. The video teases a new campaign slogan, 'Forward,' and...blames GOP policies for the still-sluggish economy. The ad begins by focusing on events from January 2008 onward, sketching a downward-trending timeline detailing mounting job losses, the foreclosure crisis, the stock market plunge and the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, with pictures of former President George W. Bush beneath."

The Los Angeles Times (4/30, Memoli, 630K) reports, "Republicans have attempted to argue recently that Obama is not running on his record, but the video shows otherwise," although it also "signals how the president will use Republican obstructionism as a foil." Meanwhile, "the Republican National Committee attempted to quickly turn the possible slogan against Obama" with "a Twitter campaign with arguments like this: 'Under Obama's budget, Americans can look #FORWARD to $1.9 trillion in higher taxes,' and 'Under second term of Obama, we would look #FORWARD to another consecutive year of deficits over $1 Trillion.'"

Historical Use Of Slogan "Forward" By Marxists Noted.

Victor Morton, in a blog post for the Washington Times (4/31, 77K) linked to from the Drudge Report under a "Socialismo O Muerte" poster with President Obama's head superimposed on an image of Lenin, says the term "forward" has a "a long and rich association with European Marxism," and "many Communist and radical publications and entities...had the name 'Forward!'" Morton adds, "Conservative critics of the Obama administration have noted numerous ties to radicalism and socialists throughout Mr. Obama's history, from his first political campaign being launched from the living room of two former Weather Underground members, to appointing as green jobs czar Van Jones, a self-described communist."

Obama Ad Features "First Dog," Bo.

The Washington Post (5/1, Eggen, 553K) reports that the President "has unleashed a particularly unusual fundraiser for his 2012 campaign. ... The unlikely pitchman is Bo, the White House family pet, who may well be the first 'first dog' to emerge as a central player in a presidential reelection campaign." According to the Post, "The strategy is also an attempt to capitalize on the persistent controversy over" Mitt Romney "transporting his now-deceased Irish setter, Seamus, in a crate tied atop the family station wagon for a 12-hour trip to Canada in the 1980s."

"Source": Upcoming Obama Ad Titled "Swiss Bank Account."

In a blog entry on the website of Politico (4/30, 25K), Alexander Burns wrote that "the Obama campaign is going up with a fresh round of ads tomorrow in Ohio, Iowa and Virginia -- three states where the president has been spending time in recent weeks." And "one media-tracking source tells me the title of the new commercial is 'Swiss Bank Account.' An Obama spokesperson declined to confirm the content of the ads, but one would imagine the title's a reference to Mitt Romney's Swiss bank account, which he initially failed to report in disclosure forms, and over which Democrats have been criticizing him for months."


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The Frontrunner


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Headlines From Today's Front Pages


SECTION: THE BIG PICTURE


LENGTH: 580 words


Los Angeles Times: Bridging Old And New Calpers Audit Faults Vernon Leaders Dissident's Ordeal Further Complicates US-China Ties At Home In A Piece Of History A Year Later, Raid On Bin Laden Becomes Campaign Fodder

Wall Street Journal: BofA To Cut From Elite Ranks Europe, In Slump, Rethinks Austerity Ohio Union Fight Shakes Up 2012 Race

New York Times: Microsoft Deal Adds To Battle Over E-Books Ties To Romney In '08 Helped Fuel Equity Firm A Tiny Island Is Where Iran Makes A Stand On A Tightrope, President Prods China On Rights Trying To Fill Broadway Seats With Those Who Fill The Pews Clouds' Effect On Climate Change Is Last Bastion For Dissenters

Washington Post: White House Acknowledges Drone Strikes Asylum Is A Tough Call For Chen For Economy, Living With Your Parents Is A Real Drag The Dog Days Of A Reelection Bid In Ailing Europe, Far Right Finds A Growing Audience

Financial Times: Microsoft Muscles In On EBooks Berlin Insists On Eurozone Austerity ETP Covets Sunoco Pipeline Networks

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Afghan Attack Numbers Off State Ousts School Board Atlanta A Top City For People Living Alone Private Collectors Chase Public Debt

Washington Times: No Safety In Weaker Al Qaeda Obama Pays A Few Women Big Bucks Donors Squeezed At End Of Month King's Lavish Reign In Spain Galls Many To Complain Obama Insists He's Not Spiking The Ball For Votes Virginia Considers 2 Jail Firms With Sketchy Pasts

Story Lineup From Last Night's Network News: ABC: Terror Threat-Body Bombs, Politics-Bin Laden Raid, Economy-Gas Prices, John Edwards Trial, Economy-Made In America, Health-Chemicals In Care Products, Health-Type 2 Pediatric Diabetes, World Trade Center Construction CBS: China-Human Rights Activist, China-US Relations, Bin Laden Raid Documents, New York-Al Qaeda Trial, World Trade Center Construction, Health-Type 2 Pediatric Diabetes, Health-Mammogram, UK-Spy Found Dead, Texas-Exonerated Convicts NBC: Obama Interview-Bin Laden Anniversary, Politics-Bin Laden Ad, Politics-Bin Laden Analysis, World Trade Center Construction, China-Human Rights Activist, Tsunami Debris, Health-Type 2 Pediatric Diabetes, UK-Heathrow Security Lines, Veteran Returns To France

Story Lineup From This Morning's Radio News Broadcasts: ABC: Economy-Gas Prices, Delta-Conoco Purchase, May Day Protests, Politics-Bin Laden Raid, Politics-Voters' Concerns, CBS: China-Dissent, Obama-Bin Laden Raid, Politics-Bin Laden Raid, John Edwards Trial, World Trade Center Construction, Economy-Homeownership Down NPR: Obama Administration-Drone Attacks, Politics-Bin Laden Raid, UK-Parliament-Phone Hacking Report, India-Capsized Ferry, Court Dismisses Suit Against Author

Story Lineup From This Morning's Network News: ABC: Occupy Demonstrations Nationwide, Wall Street Layoffs, Murdoch Cover-Up Accusations, Hillary Clinton To China, DNA Testing Frees Convicts CBS: Bin Laden Anniversary, Osama Campaign Issue, Raid-Pakistan Reaction, Revenge Attacks Wariness, Parliament Slams Murdoch, Hillary's China Trip, Capsized Indian Ferry, Microsoft-e-Books, Forgotten Drug Arrestee, Midwestern Tornadoes, Edwards Trial Testimony, Desert Plane Crash NBC: Al Qaeda Post-Osama, Security Advisor Interview, Chinese Dissident, Occupy Wall Street, Zimmerman Social Media, Wall Street Report, Concertgoer's Tumble, John Edwards Trial, Mammogram Study, Casino Demolition, Body Bomb Threat, Bin Laden-US Campaign, John Edwards Trial, Legal Analyst Commentary, Missing Child Search, Desert Plane Crash


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The Hill


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Osama hit was easy call, says Romney


BYLINE: By Justin Sink


SECTION: Pg. 1


LENGTH: 810 words


Mitt Romney is trying to flip the script on President Obama and use the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death to his own political advantage. Romney on Monday dismissed the supposed courageousness of Obama's decision to send a team of Navy SEALs to Pakistan to kill bin Laden, calling it an easy decision that "even Jimmy Carter" would have made. He also announced plans to campaign Tuesday with New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in an appearance timed to the anniversary of bin Laden's death. The counterattack was aided by liberal commentator Arianna Huffington, who criticized as "despicable" an Obama campaign ad that suggested Romney would not have issued the order to kill bin Laden.

Obama was left to defend his campaign team and administration, telling reporters at a White House press conference that he "hardly think[s] you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here." "I think the American people remember rightly what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice someone who killed 3,000 of our citizens," Obama said. The Romney team clearly hopes its strategy -- equal parts criticism of Obama and employment of top GOP talent on homeland security -- will undermine the president's signature foreign-policy accomplishment. But in truth, Obama and his campaign are likely all too happy that the discussion between the candidates is about bin Laden. For a campaign team primarily concerned about the speed and strength of the economic recovery, each day spent debating the death of a terrorist leader is one not focused on the president's economic history -- with the added benefit of reminding voters about his foreign-policy bona fides. "The greatest risk is that they would listen to Mitt Romney and the Republicans and not talk about the single greatest foreign-policy achievement of this term," said Democratic strategist Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Al Gore's and John Kerry's presidential bids. "Republicans are desperate to suffocate this infant in the crib, and I think the American people are going to see right through this. It's such a tremendous and real achievement, and it stands in dramatic contrast to what President Bush did, which is to run away from and try to diminish capturing and killing bin Laden," Devine said. Democrats feel especially empowered on the issue because of comments Romney made in 2007, in which he said "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." And while Obama defended his administration against charges of spiking the football, the president doubled down Monday on the criticism of Romney, encouraging reporters to "take a look at people's previous statements." "If there are others who said one thing and now said they'd do something else, I'd let them explain it," he added. Republicans recognize the talk about bin Laden could be dangerous territory for Romney. "Obviously President Obama wants to make Election 2012 about anything but his record, but Mitt Romney really needs to make this more about the economy," said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell, who argued the former governor was facing an uphill battle because the media was sympathetic to Obama on the issue. "If the shoe were on the other foot, the media would flag a President Romney 45 yards for excessive celebration," O'Connell said. The danger for Obama is that he is seen as a braggart trumpeting a national achievement as a personal victory. If he appears too crass or opportunistic, he risks forfeiting a major trump card in his November showdown with Romney. "Presidents very rarely trumpet their personal decisions as personal triumphs, and the reason for that is it kind of undermines their legitimacy -- it's kind of the Donald Trump effect: 'It's all about me,' " said James Carafano, a senior research fellow on homeland security issues for the Heritage Foundation. "It's not that presidents don't make tough calls, and it's not that they can't or shouldn't talk about that, but to personalize it or to take personal accomplishment is not something we've traditionally seen." Some Democrats have argued that Obama's use of the bin Laden killing is reminiscent of former President George W. Bush's decision to campaign on his response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks during his 2004 reelection bid. Still, Devine said he didn't "see a big downside for the president" on the issue, arguing that skirmishes over the bin Laden killing would be "as disastrous as the 'war on women' debate for Republicans" and keep the focus off the economy. The Democratic strategist also said campaigning with Giuliani would likely do little to boost Romney's image, especially considering how tepid the former mayor's endorsement of the presumptive Republican nominee was. "Hopefully he can meet with Giuliani once a week for the rest of the campaign," Devine quipped.


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The Hill


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


GOP thinks attacking Obama as celebrity will work in 2012


BYLINE: By Amie Parnes


SECTION: Pg. 3


LENGTH: 720 words


Republicans are once again seeking to portray President Obama as a "celebrity" -- an out-of-touch leader who hobnobs with actress Eva Longoria, considers Oprah a pal and "slow-jams" with comedian Jimmy Fallon before an adoring crowd. Linking Obama to Tinseltown is a strategy that failed to work in 2008, when Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign aimed to compare Obama to pop singer Britney Spears and reality TV star Paris Hilton.

But three and a half years into the Obama administration, Republicans believe they now have enough material to work with to make their point. In the last few weeks, a string of Republican advertisements have tried to puncture Obama's likability. First came a Republican National Committee ad that mocked Obama for appearing on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," where the host referred to him as "Preezy of the United Steezy." Then American Crossroads, the GOP super-PAC, released a spot titled "Cool" that took aim at the persona of a beer-drinking, Al Green-singing, fly-swatting president. "After four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?" the ad asks, after ticking off a slew of statistics aimed at the 20-something set. Republicans say the spot is effective because it makes a larger point that Romney is a serious candidate who will focus on the economy and spend less time making the late-night talk-show circuit. "Romney shouldn't try and compete for the cool vote," said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. "He should just continue to emphasize how he'd help the economy." Other Republicans say the strategy also chips away at Obama's cool factor, something that appealed to young voters in 2008 but appears to be waning, according to recent polls. "It's a good way to counter this likability advantage he has against Romney," said Matt Mackowiak, a GOP consultant. "Here's someone who is living it up, playing lots of golf, yukking it up with celebrities and late-night comics. "The White House has been a little too cute in putting him out there," Mackowiak said. "They've made it so we can't get away from him. So it's definitely a vulnerability for the Obama campaign." The emerging Republican strategy comes on the heels of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, where the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Zooey Deschanel and scores of other Hollywood A-listers flocked to hear Obama speak. During the dinner, a string of boldfaced names including Martha Stewart and actors George Clooney and Kevin Spacey all approached the dais where Obama was seated to wave. Before the dinner began, Obama mingled with actors Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks at a private reception, a source tells The Hill. In a couple of weeks, Obama will attend a fundraiser at Clooney's home in Los Angeles, where the actor told The Wall Street Journal he expects to raise around $10 million for the president's campaign. Some Democrats say labeling Obama a celebrity is a failed strategy that didn't work in 2008 and won't work now. "We've seen this movie before," said Jen Psaki, a former administration official who served on the 2008 campaign. "This is nothing more than a distraction from having a conversation about this issues. "It failed four years ago because it said nothing about what McCain stood for," Pskai said. "And the same thing is true today." Some Republicans -- including those who worked on McCain's president bid -- aren't convinced it'll work now either. "We tried it, and you remember how that went," one former senior McCain aide said. "It was a catchy ad but I don't think it moved the numbers at all. The aide said it's a mistake for the Romney campaign to try that tack again. "I think they don't have a firm plan yet and they're trying anything to see what sticks," the former McCain aide said. "Unfortunately, this won't. We found out the hard way." But some Republicans maintain that the strategy -- and the slew of ads -- will be more effective in 2012. "It's a totally different election this time around," said Kirsten Kukowski, press secretary for the RNC. "Our main point is that the economy is still not great and most of the promises that he made in 2008 haven't come true." Kukowski said the RNC will continue to seize on Obama's Hollywood moments. "The more he goes out there and does that, the more he's making our point for us," Kukowski said.


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Las Cruces Sun-News (New Mexico)


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Sound Off! (May 1)


SECTION: OPINION


LENGTH: 521 words


Being a liberal has nothing to do with supporting the Country Club be used as a city park. Many people who enjoy being outdoors are conservatives.

You don't need a park. You've got plenty of parks in this town. Half of the people here don't even use them. What they should do is turn it into a municipal golf course, like one person said, at least it will pay for itself.

Pegasus wants 15,000 acres of scenic land to build a ghost town on. How many thousands more would they block access to? That's public land. A lot of good hiking areas.

Regarding the $50,000 spent on the fake car accident, it's called a training exercise. How would you like it if you were in a real accident, the first responders showed up and stood around scratching their heads because they had no idea what to do, because they had not been trained for it.

Thank God we're not parents. Prom spending up 33.6 percent from last year to $1,078 for 2012. Mayfield High School renting of a local venue for their prom for $5,000. Good Lord. What happened to the high school gym?

Harbison is against Obamacare, but is supportive of veterans health care, which is one-payer socialized medicine, as opposed to Obamacare run by private Insurance companies. I thought he hated socialism.

I am a veteran of the Korean War and veterans shouldn't have to pay for anything. Taxpayers should pay for everything that veterans do, as far as medical goes. These people protected our country and so did I.

The League of Women Voters are against voter IDs. They know that proven voter fraud has been overwhelmingly absentee ballots, not impersonating a voter at the poll.

Proof that raising taxes on the rich produces jobs has been seen in Illinois. They have a 30 percent job growth since cutting tax loopholes for the rich and increasing their state taxes. More tax incentives were given to true middle class, small businesses.

On Tuesday, Obama was being a clown on his favorite comedy show, Late Night. Mitt Romney was delivering a speech, sounding very presidential, and he gave an inspiring speech about what he is going to do as president in 2012.

Fox News cheered Romney for being on Jay Leno, but when Obama was on the Jimmy Fallon Show, they said it was un-presidential.

In today's Sun News there is an article that says that the Army and Marines plan to "lay off" approximately 60,000 people. I can't wait to see how the Obama Administration spins this and actually turns it into job creation.

The Republican budget calls for more tax breaks for small businesses. Donald Trump's business would qualify as small business by their definition. Just another dishonest ploy to keep their fat cat campaign donors happy.

All of the economic indicators are positive for lower unemployment, consistent job growth and the overall economy growing. It leaves the fear-mongering conservatives trying to convince only themselves the economy is worse under Obama than Republican Bush.

The Republicans are complaining about Obama campaigning on Air Force One. What do you want him to do, go on a commercial airline? Bush did it before. We event provide security for the likes of Newt Gingrich.


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The New York Times


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


Obama and Romney Spar Over Death of Bin Laden


BYLINE: By MICHAEL BARBARO; Richard A. Oppel Jr. contributed reporting from New York, and Michael D. Shear from Washington.


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 939 words


PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Mitt Romney said on Monday that ''even Jimmy Carter'' would have issued the order to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan a year ago, dismissing President Obama's suggestion that Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, would not have followed the same path as the president.

The swipe at the White House, delivered casually on the rope line of a campaign event here, touched off a pointed exchange with Mr. Obama, who quickly accused Mr. Romney of flip-flopping on an issue that the president has put at the center of his re-election campaign.

Attempting to minimize Mr. Obama's signature military accomplishment and burnish his own standing as a potential commander in chief, Mr. Romney implied that any president would have acted on the same intelligence as Mr. Obama, who oversaw the daring early-morning raid exactly one year ago Tuesday.

Asked by reporters if he, too, would have given the order to raid Bin Laden's compound, Mr. Romney replied, ''Of course, of course,'' before taking the jab at Mr. Carter, the former Democratic president known for his longtime work promoting peace.

''Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,'' Mr. Romney said.

Mr. Obama, without mentioning his Republican rival by name, suggested that remark ran counter to Mr. Romney's past statements about how far America should go to pursue Bin Laden. Referring to the hunt for the terrorist mastermind in 2007, Mr. Romney said, ''It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.'' A few days later, though, Mr. Romney said of Bin Laden, ''he's going to pay and he will die.''

After the raid, Mr. Romney praised the troops in the operation and Mr. Obama for his actions.

Still, Mr. Obama's re-election campaign has seized on the original comment, asserting that Mr. Romney, had he been president, might not have carried out the attack.

''I assume that people meant what they said when they said it,'' Mr. Obama said during a news conference on Monday with the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, at the White House.

''I said I'd go after Bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did,'' Mr. Obama said. ''If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they'd do something else, then I'd let them go ahead and explain it.''

Over the past week, as the anniversary of Bin Laden's killing has neared, the president's re-election campaign has turned the much-celebrated attack into an unexpected flash point in the presidential race. Republicans have accused the White House of politicizing the killing in an unseemly way. Mr. Obama's allies, eager to deny Republicans their traditional advantage with voters on national security issues, have portrayed it as a legitimate part of Mr. Obama's record and sought to keep Mr. Romney on the defensive over his own remarks on the subject.

The Obama campaign has produced a stark commercial about the raid that ominously asks ''Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?'' Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last week wondered aloud if Bin Laden would be still be alive today had Mr. Romney been president. And on Sunday, during an appearance on ''Meet the Press,'' a campaign adviser to Mr. Obama, Robert Gibbs, said, ''I don't think it's clear that he would'' have given the order to kill Bin Laden.

By referring to Mr. Carter, the Romney campaign is trying to tie President Obama to a Democratic president considered by many to be weak on national security issues. But the comparison is somewhat strained: the military raid for which Mr. Carter is best known -- the attempted 1980 rescue of hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran -- was a failure, while the raid against Bin Laden was a success.

This is not the first time that the Romney campaign has invoked Mr. Carter's name. One of Mr. Romney's advisers, Richard Williamson, wrote last week for Foreign Policy magazine that events including North Korea's recent test of a long-range missile ''may be bringing us to a juncture at which the inexperience and incompetence of a presidency crystallizes in the public mind.''

''In short, we are approaching a Jimmy Carter moment,'' wrote Mr. Williamson, a senior diplomat under several Republican presidents. ''In a perilous world, this is not the kind of leadership our country needs.''

The comparison to Mr. Carter appears to be a response to the White House claim that Mr. Romney would pursue an obsolete, throwback approach to international affairs. And on Tuesday, in an effort to claim an advantage on national security, Mr. Romney will observe Bin Laden's death by visiting a fire station in Lower Manhattan with former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, an outspoken critic of Mr. Obama's policies in the Mideast.

The question of how -- and whether -- to use the death of Bin Laden in the context of a presidential campaign is fraught with emotional and politically delicate baggage.

Aides to Mr. Romney said the Obama campaign's highlighting of the raid had turned a nonpartisan victory in the war on terror into a crass political ad.

But Mr. Obama rejected on Monday the suggestion that his administration or his campaign had been treating the subject with anything but the seriousness that it deserved.

''I hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here,'' Mr. Obama said. ''The American people rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens.''

He added, ''For us to use that time for some reflection, to give thanks to those who participated, is entirely appropriate and that's what's been taking place.''


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GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Obama supporters shouted ''flip-flop'' on Monday from a bridge overlooking the site of a Mitt Romney event in Portsmouth, N.H. (PHOTOGRAPH BY CHERYL SENTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)


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The New York Times


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


Warfare Or Courtship In 2012?


BYLINE: By DAVID BROOKS


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Editorial Desk; OP-ED COLUMNIST; Pg. 25


LENGTH: 793 words


What sort of thing is a presidential campaign?

Maybe a campaign is like a courtship. A candidate's job is to woo the electorate, to win the people's affection with charm, familiarity and compassion.

Maybe a campaign is like a big version of ''American Idol.'' It is a contest over who is the most talented. In this mode, a candidate's job is to endear himself to the people in the audience with likability and then wow them with his gifts.

Maybe, on the other hand, hiring a president is like hiring a plumber. Voters aren't really looking to fall in love with the guy; they just want someone who will fix the pipes. The candidate's job is to list the three or four things he would do if elected and then to hammer home those deliverables again and again.

You could make a case that most campaigns are a little of all three, though the proportions vary from year to year. In 2008, Obama ran an uplifting campaign that was part courtship and part ''American Idol.'' Richard Nixon, who lacked such charm, ran workmanlike, plumber campaigns, no pun intended.

So far, though, the 2012 presidential campaign is fitting into none of these categories. It's being organized according to a different metaphor. This year, both organizations seem to visualize the campaign as a boxing match or a gang fight. Whichever side can hit the other side harder will somehow get awarded the champion's belt.

So far this year, both President Obama and Mitt Romney seem more passionate about denying the other side victory than about any plank in their own agendas. Both campaigns have developed contempt for their opponent, justifying their belief that everything, then, is permitted.

In both campaigns, you can see the war-room mentality developing early. Attention spans shrink to a point. Gone is much awareness of the world outside the campaign. All focus is on the news blip of the moment -- answering volley for volley. If they bring a knife, you bring a gun. If they throw a bomb, you throw two.

Both sides are extraordinarily willing to flout respectability to show that they are tough enough to bare the knuckles.

In November, the Romney campaign ran a blatantly dishonest ad in which President Obama purportedly admits that if the election is fought on the economy, he will lose. The quote was a distortion, but the effectiveness of the ad was in showing Republican professionals and primary voters that Romney was going to play by gangland rules, that he was tough enough and dishonest enough to do so, too.

Last week, the Obama campaign ran a cheap-shot ad on the death of Osama bin Laden. Part of the ad was Bill Clinton effectively talking about the decision to kill the terrorist. But, in the middle, the Obama people threw in a low-minded attack on Romney. The slam made Clinton look small, it made Obama look small, it turned a moment of genuine accomplishment into a political ploy, but it did follow the rules of gangland: At every second, attack; at every opportunity, drive a shiv between the ribs.

This martial-, gangland-style of campaigning apparently makes the people in the campaigns feel hardheaded, professional and Machiavellian. But it's not clear that it's actually the best way to win an election. That's because the style is based on a series of dubious assumptions: that the harshest language is the most persuasive to voters; that what feels good to you as a competitive combatant will also look most attractive to detached onlookers; that over the duration of a six-month campaign, daily combat will continue to look compelling rather than cumulatively revolting; that in a campaign dominated by ''super PAC'' negativity, a presidential candidate is better served by wading into the brawl rather than separating himself from it.

The campaign-as-warfare metaphor may seem sensible to those inside the hothouse. It may make sense if you think today's swing voters hunger for more combat, more harshness and more attack.

But it's probably bad sociology and terrible psychology, given the general disgust with conventional politics. If I were in the campaigns, I'd want to detach from the current rules of engagement and change the nature of the campaign. If I were Obama, I'd play to his personal popularity and run an ''American Idol'' campaign -- likability, balance, safety and talent. If I were Romney, saddled with his personal diffidence, I'd run a plumber campaign -- you may not love me, but here's four things I can do for you.

These would be very different campaigns than the ones we are seeing so far: more positive psychology, less negative psychology. A few big messages about fundamental change, less obsession with the daily news cycle. More attention devoted to those turned off by politics, less to the hard-core denizens who are obsessed by it.


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The New York Times


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


G.O.P. Campaign: An Online Peace Offering


BYLINE: By NICK CORASANITI


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; THE CAUCUS; Pg. 13


LENGTH: 202 words


As Republicans rally to unify behind the presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, the campaign's allies are working to heal old wounds from the bruising primary fight. In the latest example, the pro-Romney ''super PAC'' Restore Our Future has scrubbed its YouTube account of all negative ads against Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

As noticed by Politico, the group's YouTube account now just has two advertisements: an attack on President Obama's job-creating credentials and a rehashing of a 2008 ad about Mr. Romney saving a young girl gone missing in New York City. The former negative videos have been scrubbed from the group's channel and made private on individual ad pages.

The super PAC had been one of the main attack dogs of the Romney primary campaign, critcizing Mr. Gingrich heavily in Iowa and Florida. The group then shifted its attacks to Mr. Santorum following his post-Iowa surge in the polls.

Mr. Romney's campaign is expected to meet with Mr. Santorum this week to discuss a possible endorsement and ways in which the two former rivals can work together. Mr. Gingrich is expected to formally withdraw from the race this week.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.


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The New York Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


I'd have whacked Osama, too: Mitt


BYLINE: Geoff Earle


SECTION: Metro; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 194 words


WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney today visits a downtown firehouse with Rudy Giuliani on the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden - as President Obama continued his multiday victory lap by suggesting Romney wouldn't have pulled the trigger.

Romney bristled at Obama's taunting, insisting that if he were president he, too, would have cleared the raid to get the terror leader.

"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney said while campaigning in New Hampshire yesterday.

Romney today guarantees he'll be a part of the anniversary story, as he joins former mayor Giuliani to visit a Greenwich Village firehouse where several first-responders lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

But, Obama stood by his attack on Romney.

"I'd just recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go into Pakistan and to take out bin Laden," Obama said, in a clear shot at his Republican opponent.

A provocative new Obama campaign ad features a 2007 quote from Romney saying, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."


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The New York Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Towering Triumphs


BYLINE: Editorial


SECTION: All Editions; Pg. 20


LENGTH: 431 words


Take that, Osama.

The World Trade Center regained its status yesterday as the city's tallest building, even as Americans celebrated the one-year anniversary of the death of the top evil-doer behind the attacks that brought down the Twin Towers on 9/11.

With the installation of the first column of the 100th floor, 1 WTC's height grew to 1,271 feet - some 21 feet higher than the Empire State Building.

The notable milestone comes at a most auspicious time.

Recall that al Qaeda's terrorist-in-chief, who now thankfully sleeps with the fishes, had thought that destroying the Twin Towers would permanently wound America.

US resilience has proved him wrong.

Meanwhile, a year ago, President Obama gave the go-ahead to Seal Team Six to head into Pakistan and bring final justice to Osama bin Laden, fulfilling a key post-9/11 objective set by President Bush.

Certainly, Obama deserves credit.

And he hasn't been shy - during this election year - about claiming it.

Which is fair enough.

But you do have to wonder about his use of ex-President Bill Clinton as a top cheerleader for the courageous deed.

For starters, Clinton, in an online ad, heaps mounds of praise on Obama, stressing, "You hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it."

The ad quotes Romney saying in 2007 that he wouldn't "move heaven and earth" to get bin Laden.

Actually, Romney put things in context shortly thereafter: "We'll move everything to get [bin Laden]," he said. "But I don't want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person . . .sIt's more than [about him]. But he is going to pay, and he will die."

Romney, of course, was right: The War on Terror wasn't, and still isn't, "about one person"; even after bin Laden's demise, it's far from over today.

But Clinton's appearance is even more ironic: After all, as president, he had multiple chances to "make the call" against bin Laden - and fumbled them, including when he rejected Sudan's 1996 offer to turn the terror kingpin over to Washington.

Everyone knows what happened instead: Al Qaeda grew bolder - staging attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 and USS Cole in 2000.

And then the horrific blow on 9/11.

So, sure, credit Obama for making the right call. But suggestions by Clinton and Obama that Romney wouldn't have acted similarly are simply absurd.

As Romney said yesterday, "Of course, even Jimmy Carter would have given that order." (Well, maybe.)

Meantime, New York can rejoice in another triumph over terror - at Ground Zero.


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The New York Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


It's a happy anniversary!


BYLINE: Geoff Earle and


SECTION: Sports+Late City Final; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 458 words


WASHINGTON - Today marks the first anniversary of the Navy SEALs' daring attack on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, where they rid the world of its most deadly terrorist.

That event - which unified the nation a year ago and drew cheering crowds at the White House and Ground Zero - caused angry finger pointing between President Obama and Mitt Romney yesterday, as the two clashed over the president's role in overseeing the mission.

Romney, who campaigned in New Hampshire yesterday, dismissed Obama's role, while the president continued his multiday victory lap and suggested Romney wouldn't have pulled the trigger.

"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney countered.

Romney today, along with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, plans to visit a FDNY firehouse in Greenwich Village where many responders lost their lives on 9/11 - an event that guarantees Romney will be included in stories about the anniversary.

At a press conference yesterday, Obama denied charges of "excessive celebration" on the anniversary - although critics have fumed at new efforts to milk the issue, including an interview with NBC's Brian Williams in the White House situation room and a tense new campaign ad featuring a testimonial from former President Bill Clinton.

The ad features a 2007 quote from Romney saying, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

"I'd just recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go into Pakistan and to take out bin Laden," Obama said, in a clear shot at Romney.

"I assume that people meant what they said when they said it. And that's been at least my practice.

"I said that I would go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him - and I did. If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain it."

The Romney camp called Obama's comments a "cheap political ploy," and has called a new Obama campaign ad "divisive."

Obama's counterterrorism adviser John Brennan yesterday hat-tipped his boss, saying credit belongs to those who carried out the raid, to intelligence officials, "and to President Obama, who gave the order to go in."

"One year ago today, President Obama . . . did not hesitate to act," Brennan said in a speech in DC.

But deadly terror threats remain.

American and European authorities told ABC News that terrorists might try to mark the anniversary by taking down an airliner using explosives concealed inside their bodies.

Airports in Britain and other European countries and the Middle East have stepped up security on US-bound carriers.


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The New York Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Bam's new slogan


BYLINE: S.A. Miller


SECTION: Sports+Late City Final; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 457 words


WASHINGTON - Forget "hope and change," President Obama yesterday rolled out a brand-new slogan for his re-election campaign: "Forward!"

After testing out "America built to last," "Win the future" and "We can't wait," the Obama campaigned arrived at the one-word war cry that immediately drew unflattering comparisons to the "Lean Forward" advertising slogan of liberal-leaning cable news channel MSNBC.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt responded to criticism that they ripped off MSNBC with a terse Twitter post:

"Funny that some in media think most people follow cable news slogans as closely as they do. Also apparently off limits: 'trust' 'fair' 'vote,' " he tweeted.

The hard-charging motto is part of a message strategy to counter Republican challenger Mitt Romney's argument that Obama is a failed president who doesn't know how to fix the economy.

The slogan stresses the need for a second term to build on Obama's accomplishments so far.

Obama has grappled with various slogans, seeking a fitting sequel to his blockbuster 2008 catchphrases of "Hope and change" and "Yes we can" as his campaign has tried to gain traction in the face of an anemic economy.

The Obama campaign used the "Forward" slogan yesterday as the title of a Web video that emphasizes the economic downturn he inherited.

The seven-minute video then touts Obama's claims of success with stimulus spending, the auto bailout, ObamaCare, Wall Street reforms, ending the Iraq war and killing Osama bin Laden.

It slammed Republicans for being the "party of no."

Romney hit back with a Web ad titled "Broken Promises" that contrasts Obama's pledge for budget and government reforms in 2008 with the grim economic realities of today, including the General Services Administration's scandalous Las Vegas spending spree, four years of $1 trillion-plus deficits and the record $15.6 trillion debt.

Obama yesterday also moved to reconnect with his powerful union allies, who he broke with by opposing the job-creating Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

The Romney campaign blasted Obama for "pandering" to big labor with pro-union policies that it said help keep nearly 23 million Americans unemployed.

---

... but here's what he's REALLY taken forward

NatiONal debt

o $10 trillion in September 2008

o $15.6 trillion now

Federal sPeNdiNg

o $3 trillion in 2008

o $3.8 trillion now

GoverNmeNt size

o 4.2 million federal workers in 2008

o 4.44 million in 2010

Jobless rate

o 7.8% in January 2009

o 8.2% in March 2012

Average Price OF gas

o $2.50 per gallon for regular in September 2009

o $3.81 per gallon now

AmericaNs ON FOOd stamPs

o 28.22 million in 2008

o 46.2 million in 2011

smiller@nypost.com


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


David Brooks: 2012 campaign has deteriorated into a gang fight


BYLINE: By David Brooks


SECTION: NEWS; Opinion


LENGTH: 572 words


What sort of thing is a presidential campaign?

Maybe a campaign is like a courtship. A candidate's job is to woo the electorate, to win the people's affection.

Maybe a campaign is like a big version of "American Idol." It is a contest over who is the most talented. In this mode, a candidate's job is to endear himself to the audience with likability and wow them with his gifts.

Maybe, on the other hand, hiring a president is like hiring a plumber. Voters aren't really looking to fall in love with the guy; they just want someone who will fix the pipes. The candidate's job is to list the three or four things he would do if elected and then to hammer home those deliverables again and again.

You could make a case that most campaigns are a little of all three, though the proportions vary. In 2008, Obama ran an uplifting campaign that was part courtship and part "American Idol." Richard Nixon, who lacked such charm, ran workmanlike, plumber campaigns, no pun intended.

So far, the 2012 presidential campaign is fitting into none of these categories. It's being organized according to a different metaphor. This year, both organizations seem to visualize the campaign as a gang fight.

So far this year, both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney seem more passionate about denying the other side victory than about any plank in their own agendas. Both campaigns have developed contempt for their opponent.

In both campaigns, you can see the war-room mentality developing early. Attention spans shrink to a point. Gone is much awareness of the world outside the campaign. All focus is on the news blip of the moment -- answering volley for volley.

Both sides are extraordinarily willing to flout respectability to show that they are tough enough to bare the knuckles.

In November, the Romney campaign ran a blatantly dishonest ad in which Obama purportedly admits that if the election is fought on the economy, he will lose. The quote was a distortion, but the effectiveness of the ad was in showing Republican professionals and primary voters that Romney was going to play by gangland rules.

Last week, the Obama campaign ran a cheap-shot ad on the death of Osama bin Laden. Part of the ad was Bill Clinton effectively talking about the decision to kill the terrorist. But, in the middle, the Obama people threw in a low-minded attack on Romney. The slam made Clinton look small, it made Obama look small, it turned a moment of genuine accomplishment into a political ploy, but it did follow the rules of gangland.

This martial, gangland-style of campaigning apparently makes the people in the campaigns feel hardheaded, professional and Machiavellian. But it's not clear that it's actually the best way to win an election.

The campaign-as-warfare metaphor may seem sensible to those inside the hothouse. It may make sense if you think today's swing voters hunger for more combat, more harshness and more attack.

But it's probably bad sociology and terrible psychology, given the general disgust with conventional politics. If I were in the campaigns, I'd want to detach from the current rules of engagement and change the nature of the campaign. If I were Obama, I'd play to his personal popularity and run an "American Idol" campaign. If I were Romney, saddled with his personal diffidence, I'd run a plumber campaign.

These would be very different campaigns than the ones we are seeing so far.

David Brooks is a New York Times columnist.


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The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL)


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


It's not cool to fool with the voters


BYLINE: Kathleen Parker


SECTION: OPINIONS; Pg. 7


LENGTH: 613 words


WASHINGTON - It was fun. It was odd. It was just a little bit unseemly.

Doubtless you've heard plenty by now of President Barack Obama's slow jam, which, for all you drips out there, refers to an R & B ballad or down-tempo song. You, too, can find this on Wikipedia.

During a visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Obama and late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon pushed the president's plan to preserve low student-loan rates through a rhythmic rendering of his talking points set to music. Fallon, playing a one-man Greek chorus, interspersed commentary, such as: "Aw yeah, you should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy."

It was, shall we say, a tad unusual for a sitting president. Wannabes will do nearly anything. But this particular skit went beyond the usual horn-tooting a la Bill Clinton - or even the awkward stand-up "Top Tens" many candidates, including Mitt Romney, have endured for the sake of the sacrosanct "youth vote."

One could argue that Obama's Fallon appearance was quite well done, which it was - for that sort of thing.

The president played straight man and said or did nothing objectionable.

He was, in a word, presidential, to the extent one can be under such circumstances. Even at the end when he said, "Oh yeah," it was cool.

Yet the effect was nearly narcotic, so strange that cognitive dissonance doesn't quite describe it. One had the uneasy feeling that something wrong was happening. The lead grown-up isn't supposed to act that way.

On the other hand, if you can get kids to learn multiplication tables by setting them to rap, why not push student-loan relief with a little R & B? Maybe because you're the Preezy of the United Steezy?

That Obama is a cool drink is no one's revelation. He's Muhammad Ali to Romney's, well, Romney. It's hard to come up with a more quintessential un-cool guy than the presumptive GOP nominee. What can you do? There's no book for cool, though if there were, Romney would have memorized and distilled it to a PowerPoint presentation.

Then again, who really cares? Once you're beyond a certain age, cool becomes as attractive as a 60-year-old in jeggings. Young folks do get that you're not actually young or cool, nor do they really want you to be.

That Romney couldn't pull it off as well may be a surprise gift. He looked sadly uncomfortable while going through the paces with David Letterman. Then again, that may have been the only way to play it. Serious adults don't do silly well.

The GOP is mindful of the coolness gap and has issued a video ad in response to Obama's late-night foray titled "A Tale of Two Leaders." The ad juxtaposes Obama's slow jam with Romney's general election kickoff speech that is both earnest and heartfelt. It does not hurt that Romney's voice at times could be mistaken for Ronald Reagan's. Implicit in the message (and the voice): Take your pick. Grown-up or cool dude?

The answer should be obvious except for the fact that many consider the president grown up enough. His play-alongs are just for fun, after all, though overplaying one's cool hand is risky as the very adult business of economic survival looms ominously.

In the meantime, Obama would do well to pay attention to another comedian whose gravitas may be greater than the president's among the late-night demographic. Said Comedy Central's Jon Stewart: "You're the president. You don't have to do this (expletive) anymore."

As for Romney, his safest bet is being proudly nerdy. As the cool know too well, nerds usually win in the end.

Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group.

Her email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com


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The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)


May 01, 2012 Tuesday


Romney touts faith in small business


BYLINE: Paul Montgomery


SECTION: 1A; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 638 words


Portsmouth campaign visit: GOP presidential hopeful, Sen. Ayotte speak to local fishermen.

PORTSMOUTH - "Help is on the way," U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said to commercial fishermen and small business owners gathered at the Commercial Fishing Pier Monday morning as she introduced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Romney took on the issues of overregulation and big business at a brief campaign stop during which he talked one-on-one with fishing boat captains such as David Goethel of Hampton.

"I think both he and Senator Ayotte get the message very clearly," said Goethel, one of the few members of the New England Fisheries Management Council to represent New Hampshire's small boat fleet.

In a 10-minute speech to a crowd of about 200 gathered on the pier, Romney said it feels like small business has been "under attack" over the past several years.

"As I've been with Senator Ayotte and down looking on these fishing boats and speaking with the captains and the workers ... my heart goes out to them. It's been a tough time to be in small business in America; it's a tough time to be in the fishing business in America, but not just in that industry - in many industries," Romney said.

He said the number one concern of small businesses he talks to is Obamacare, and the second is regulation.

"Across America, regulators just multiplying like proverbial rabbits and making it harder and harder for enterprises to grow and to understand what their future might be," Romney said.

He said regulators have to see their job as not just stopping bad guys, but also encouraging the good guys.

"I think it shows two things: his interest in small business ... and to connect with people who work for a living. This is as far out of the Beltway as you can get," Goethel said about Romney's visit.

Romney focused his speech on how he would support small businesses as President and how he feels President Barack Obama's policies are hurting small businesses.

"I somehow think the President has this view of the country that a big government and big companies and big banks can do a better job managing this economy than can individuals free to choose their own course in life, and free to build their own enterprises," Romney said.

He said Obama should also be spending more time talking about the economy.

Across the river from the pier, a group of Obama supporters could be heard chanting for their candidate as Ayotte and Romney spoke.

Fisherman Padi Anderson of Dover said she is glad to see national attention being brought to the plight of New Hampshire fishermen.

"There doesn't seem to be recognition of the magnitude and significance of our situation that small community boats face here in New Hampshire, and what it means to our coastal communities, local economies, our tourism, local food system and future food security," Anderson said. "We are overburdened with rules and regulations governed by management promoting economic-based approaches and inadequate science."

Most recently, New England fishermen have challenged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding stock assessments of cod. Cuts to catch limits this year are nothing compared to the 80 percent cut fishermen are looking at next season, which some say could close the New Hampshire ground fishing industry forever.

Ayotte said what is happening to New Hampshire fishermen is "Exhibit A" as to why Obama should not be elected to a second term, and why Romney and his private sector experience should be sent to the White House.

After the event, Ayotte denied reports that she is being considered as Romney's running mate.

"No, no discussion about that. My focus is really serving New Hampshire in the United States Senate," Ayotte said.

When asked what she would do if asked to be on the ticket, Ayotte said "that's not going to happen."


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 4:59 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 1217 words


Obama in Kabul sign partnership pact

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday arrived in Kabul to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Obama departed Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington just after midnight and arrived at Bagram Air Base at 10:20 p.m., local time. He was flown to a location near the presidential palace where he was greeted by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Lt. Gen. Mike Scaparotti, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Obama will make a 10-minute televised address from Bagram to the American people at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

The partnership agreement, coming on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Navy SEALs raid in Pakistan that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, is expected to pledge U.S. assistance to Afghanistan through 2024, a decade beyond the scheduled end of NATO combat operations.

The Obama campaign is using the killing of bin Laden as a major building block in his re-election campaign, questioning whether likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have had the "honor" to make the call to assassinate bin Laden. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has said "even (former U.S. President) Jimmy Carter" would have made the call to kill the terrorist mastermind, and GOP operatives are decrying the politicizing of the assassination.

U.S.: Alleged anarchists targeted bridge

CLEVELAND, May 1 (UPI) -- Five men -- including three self-described anarchists -- have been arrested and accused of trying to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, officials said Tuesday.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested the three alleged anarchists Monday evening: Douglas L. Wright, 26, Brandon L. Baxter, 20, and Anthony Hayne, 35. They were charged with conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.

Two other suspects, Connor C. Stevens, 20, and Joshua S. Stafford, 23, also were arrested, but a U.S. Justice Department statement did not specify the charges. The criminal complaint was filed in Cleveland.

The department said the public was never in danger. The explosive devices meant for the scheme were controlled by an undercover FBI employee, and the suspects were closely monitored.

The department statement said the initial plot involved the use of smoke grenades to distract law enforcement so the co-conspirators could topple financial institution signs atop high-rise buildings in downtown Cleveland.

But the suspects later conspired to obtain C-4 explosives contained in two improvised explosive devices to be placed and remotely detonated, the criminal complaint said.

Occupy protests hit major U.S. cities

CHICAGO, May 1 (UPI) -- Dozens of Occupy protesters blocked the entrance to a Bank of America branch in downtown Chicago Tuesday, police said.

Chicago's WBBM-TV reported more than two dozen city police officers were at the scene of the sit-in but no arrests had been made. About 15 of the protesters were ejected from the branch when they tried to go inside to open accounts, the TV station said.

Occupy demonstrators also joined forces with a larger group for a May Day march and rally in Union Park, the Chicago Tribune reported. Police officers patrolled the crowd's perimeter, and numerous police horses and riders were standing by for crowd control, the newspaper said.

The protests in Chicago come ahead of a May 20-21 summit of NATO countries' heads of state and government. The magazine Adbusters, which spearheaded the original Occupy Wall Street event, called Chicago "the focal point of this global spiritual insurrection" because of the summit.

In Philadelphia, about 125 Occupy protesters marched downtown, tying up traffic. Police warned them they would be arrested if they didn't disperse and Occupy protesters posted messages saying two people were arrested outside a bank, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

In Detroit, about 250 protesters, including members of the Occupy movement and the United Auto Workers, demanded immigration and education reform, among other issues as part of a May Day celebration.

Obama steps up Iran, Syria sanctions

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- President Obama stepped up U.S. sanctions against Syria and Iran with an executive order Tuesday penalizing those who try to evade the sanctions.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, the president said evasion is making the sanctions imposed by previous executive orders going back to 1994 less effective.

"I have determined that efforts by foreign persons to engage in activities intended to evade U.S. economic and financial sanctions with respect to Iran and Syria undermine our efforts to address the national emergencies described above," Obama said. "To address this situation, the order takes additional steps with respect to those national emergencies."

Individuals identified by the treasury secretary would be barred from doing business in or with the United States and from entering the country, the president said.

Syrian forces allegedly kill dozens

DAMASCUS, Syria, May 1 (UPI) -- Syrian forces killed dozens of civilians Tuesday despite beefed-up monitoring by the United Nations, opposition groups said.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria told CNN at least 25 people, including defected soldiers and one entire family, were killed in a "massacre committed by the regime forces in Idlib towns."

Activists said increased U.N. monitoring has stemmed the violence to some extent, but the government of President Bashar Assad is still out of compliance with a U.N.-brokered peace plan.

"Shelling has calmed, but this does not mean that the peace plan has been implemented," an activist in Homs identified only as Saleem told CNN. "Gunfire, rocket shelling, mortar shelling and arbitrary arrests still occur."

"Unfortunately, the monitors are like a guide for the Syrian regime: Wherever they go, usually people are killed after they leave," an activist identified as Ahmad said Monday.

Tuesday's slaughter followed car bomb blasts that killed at least 20 people Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Germany: Neo-Nazi violence on the rise

MUNICH, Germany, May 1 (UPI) -- Officials say neo-Nazi attacks are on the rise in parts of western Germany, particularly Nuremberg and Bavaria.

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution says several hundred neo-Nazi assaults have occurred recently in Nuremberg alone. The Nurnberger Nachrichten says between November and April, there have been more than 50 attacks.

Michael Helmstedt of the Alliance Against Right-Wing Extremism says attacks are taking place in other parts of western Germany, as well.

"It's getting worse, more brutal and increasingly public," he told Deutsche Welle.

Officials say neo-Nazis are targeting foreigners or anyone who appears foreign. Just recently, a right-wing extremist group paraded down the streets of Weissenburg in Bavaria, afterward smashing the windows of democratic party offices and attacking foreigners with knives.

"Experiencing this is not nice," a Turkish vegetable dealer identified as Murat told Deutsche Welle. "One doesn't even feel like a second-class human being anymore, it's more like third class."


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May 1, 2012 Tuesday 12:33 PM EST


Romney: Bin Laden politicization sad


LENGTH: 261 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 1


Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he is disappointed at the Obama campaign's politicizing the death of Osama bin Laden.

"I think them taking credit for the right decision is entirely appropriate. I think trying to attack me on that basis is disappointing and the wrong course," Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said Tuesday on "CBS This Morning."

Romney was asked about a new ad in which former President Bill Clinton praised Obama's decision to order the U.S. SEAL raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a year ago. The ad also includes a comment Romney made during his 2008 presidential bid when he said it was "not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

The issue has moved to the front burner in the political campaign in the days leading up to Tuesday's anniversary of the al-Qaida founder's death.

"Of course the right course was to assassinate, execute Osama bin Laden and that is precisely what happened, and I congratulate the president for doing so. And I am confident and that of course I would have taken exactly the same decision," Romney said.

"There are plenty of differences between President Obama and myself, but let's not make up ones," he said.

During a campaign stop Monday in Rhode Island, Romney said he would have ordered the raid, responding to Democratic hints that he may not have ordered the strike if he were president, based on that 2008 comment, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," Romney said.


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USA TODAY


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION


Obama, Romney debate raid;
Republican says triumph being used as political weapon


BYLINE: David Jackson, USA TODAY


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2A


LENGTH: 537 words


President Obama said Monday that his team is not celebrating the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, and he questioned whether Republican opponent Mitt Romney would have ordered the kind of raid that killed the architect of 9/11.

"I said that I'd go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did," Obama said during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

This week's anniversary of the raid on bin Laden's compound has generated speeches, news stories and an Obama political ad spotlighting the president's decision to authorize the mission deep into Pakistan territory and questioning whether Romney would have done the same.

Romney, campaigning in New Hampshire, said "of course" he would have authorized the raid that took place May 2 of last year. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," he said.

Asked about that statement, Obama told reporters to "take a look at people's previous statements." In 2007, Romney criticized Obama for saying he would go into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists.

While not citing Romney by name, Obama said, "If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they'd do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain it."

Romney and aides have protested the White House approach to the bin Laden anniversary, saying it is politicizing an event that should be a source of unity for the nation.

"It's unfortunate that President Obama would prefer to use what was a good day for all Americans as a cheap political ploy and an opportunity to distort Gov. Romney's strong policies on the war on terror," said Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

At the White House, Obama said, "I hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here." He called the anniversary a time for reflection and "to give thanks to those who participated is entirely appropriate. And that's what's been taking place."

Speaking at their news conference after their bilateral meeting, Obama and Noda both criticized North Korea for its recent failed rocket launch, as well as new threats to conduct another nuclear test.

The U.S. and Japanese leaders vowed to stand together against such provocations. The president said another nuclear test will continue to isolate the regime and cost them global aid, and Noda agreed, saying other nations need to pressure North Korea against conducting another nuclear test.

Obama also refused to comment on reports that the U.S. is sheltering blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, after he escaped house arrest. "What I would like to emphasize is that every time we meet with China, the issue of human rights comes up," Obama said.

A Japanese reporter asked Obama and Noda whether they had discussed the role of China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Yes, Noda said through an interpreter, adding that he is seeking more maritime cooperation with China.

Obama said the U.S. welcomes "a peacefully rising China" and is also seeking more cooperation.

Asked about a dispute over a U.S. military base in Okinawa and whether the base will be moved, Noda said he and Obama are working on it.

Obama said he is seeking to speed up the relocation of the Okinawa base, but without compromising mutual defense needs.


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USA TODAY


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION


WHO WANTS TO BE A VEEP?;
Romney's very public vetting gives voters a rare view of the 'tryouts'


BYLINE: Susan Page, USA TODAY


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 1716 words


Call it America's newest reality show: Who wants to be vice president?

Some of the top contestants -- er, potential candidates -- to become Mitt Romney's running mate have been strutting their stuff in policy speeches, new books and joint campaign appearances in ways that look a lot like public auditions for the Republican ticket even as some deny interest in the job.

Though vice presidential hopefuls have jockeyed for the job in the past, typically behind the scenes, there's been more action in public view this year than ever before. Democratic consultant Dan Gerstein says that might reflect what he dubs "the celebrity-fication of politics" and the new media age. The fact that Romney's options are wide open -- there's no also-ran from the primaries he's forced to consider, for instance -- also has stoked a sense of open competition.

"They're doing tryouts almost like spring training," says Paul Light, a political scientist at New York University.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio outlined his foreign policy views at the Brookings Institution one afternoon last week; the next morning it was Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan delivering an address on budget policy at Georgetown University. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is on the road, promoting her new memoirs. An hour after President Obama's campaign announced that his opening rally would be this week in Ohio, home-state Sen. Rob Portman sent out a not-so-welcoming statement via the Romney campaign that said Obama was coming to Columbus "to argue for four more years of the same failed policies."

And Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is featured in a TV ad paid for by his political action committee that touts his record as governor. "Virginia's growing strong, and so is our future," a beaming McDonnell declares in the ad, which airs in the Washington market and elsewhere in the Old Dominion.

Why would a governor barred by term limits from seeking re-election run a spot like that? "I guess he wanted to raise his hand," says GOP strategist Frank Donatelli.

"These ads aren't running in Boston," site of Romney's headquarters, protests McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin. "They're running in South Boston, Va. These are ads celebrating Virginia and Virginians."

The increased public efforts are in part a response to concern over what happened in 2008. Republican nominee John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin -- a little-known, first-term Alaska governor -- and the questions raised during the campaign about her preparedness for the White House are chronicled in the best-selling book Game Change and an HBO movie released in March. (Palin and her allies call the portrayal of her in the book and movie inaccurate and unfair.)

Another contributing factor: the sordid trial underway in North Carolina of former senator John Edwards, Democrat John Kerry's running mate in 2004. He is charged with misusing campaign funds during his 2008 presidential bid in an effort to hide his mistress and their child.

"The reaction has been more trial-ballooning," Light says, a sort of public vetting that can expose strengths and secrets before the nominee commits to anyone. That doesn't mean the Romney camp itself is floating the trial balloons, he adds: "There are lot of wannabees out there, trying to get some visibility so that they can make the first cut."

Taking advantage of the media's attention could have other beneficial side effects for potential running mates, from raising their public profile to positioning them for their own run at the presidency down the road.

"Of course, the joint campaigning has occurred in the past," says Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University Law School professor and author of The Modern American Vice Presidency. "But I don't ever remember a situation where so many vice presidential mentionees so visibly exploited the spotlight from vice presidential speculation as is occurring this year, and at such an early point."

Clearing away hurdles

Some prospective running mates seem to be moving to address possible hurdles in their way.

Consider McDonnell, a champion for conservative social policies, who moved this year to moderate the provisions of an anti-abortion bill he had promised to sign.

In February, after a national furor, he urged the Virginia Legislature to amend a bill that would have required some women to undergo an invasive, transvaginal ultrasound before an abortion. The measure was modified to allow women to opt instead for an abdominal ultrasound.

Then there's Rubio, a former Florida state legislative leader who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He's had little opportunity to demonstrate expertise on foreign policy. So a few weeks ago at the Summit of the Americas in Colombia, the freshman senator met one-on-one with Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and Chilean President Sebastin Piera, putting out photos and a news release afterward. At the think-tank speech last week, he outlined a sweeping and generally centrist view of the world. He was introduced by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, chosen by Democrat Al Gore as his running mate in 2000.

Whether seeking the spotlight is an entirely smart idea is another question.

Big events give officials a chance to shine -- and to stumble. Romney's buttoned-down management style, exhibited in his tightly run campaign operation, hasn't encouraged or rewarded freelancing. "The cynic in me says the more visible they are out on the campaign trail, the less likely they're going to be on the ticket," Gerstein says.

Romney hasn't been forthcoming about how he'll proceed to choose a running mate, a process he said last week was "just beginning." He has appointed a longtime aide, Beth Myers, to oversee a search that she promises will be comprehensive and thorough. For the finalists, it will involve intensive private vetting of financial records and personal history.

"She'll present Mitt with all the facts, and he'll make the decision," spokeswoman Andrea Saul says of Myers. "She thinks he'll look for someone he gets along with and could take over the presidency, should the person need to."

Some prospects have been by his side for months, helping him prevail in the Republican primaries and in the process getting to know him better.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has become an occasional behind-the-scenes adviser, energized crowds and parried with protesters at a rally in Exeter and elsewhere in New Hampshire just before the state's January primary. (Monday, during a visit to a high school history class in Plainsboro, N.J., Christie said he would "listen" if Romney asked him to join the ticket. "He might be able to convince me," Christie said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. "He's a convincing guy.")

Portman stumped with Romney in Ohio, a crucial win in March.

And before the Wisconsin primary in April, when his victory effectively settled the nomination, Romney and Ryan crisscrossed the state together. Ryan's endorsement gave Romney credibility with the state's most conservative voters, and the presidential candidate offered his own endorsement of Ryan's austere budget plan.

At a town-hall-style meeting in Muskego three days before the vote, the two tall, earnest, dark-haired men looked like they could have been brothers. "His support is a big deal," Romney said of Ryan. Ryan called Romney's election crucial: "Our country is at that sort of proverbial fork in the road."

What's the goal?

Before he decides whom to pick, Romney will have to decide what he wants.

Rubio, a Cuban American, could give the GOP an opening with Latino voters, the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group and one that leans overwhelmingly Democratic. McDonnell and Ryan are favorites of the strong Tea Party supporters who were slow to warm to the former Massachusetts governor. Haley, the first woman elected governor in South Carolina, might boost him among women and narrow the gender gap. Romney campaigned Monday in New Hampshire with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, another prospect.

Portman, who was a seven-term Ohio congressman and served as trade representative and budget director in President George W. Bush's administration before being elected to the Senate, could help Romney carry what has been the GOP's most crucial swing state: No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio.

"Historically, there are three paths" for a presidential nominee, says Haley Barbour, a former governor of Mississippi and former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "One is the Hippocratic path, which is 'do no harm.' One is to pick somebody you believe will give you a big state that otherwise you wouldn't win. And the last is to pick somebody who might be a game-changer."

That third option -- the course taken by McCain with Palin and by Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984 when he picked New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro -- is typically a political Hail Mary for a campaign that seems to be on the road to defeat without dramatic action.

The ability of any vice presidential candidate to affect the election's outcome is limited, though. The last time that clearly happened was more than a half-century ago, when Lyndon Johnson helped John Kennedy narrowly carry LBJ's home state of Texas and with it win the White House in 1960.

Still, the process of choosing a running mate can reveal a lot about how a nominee would operate as president.

"Look, picking his No. 2 is his No. 1 decision," says Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn/Ferry International, the world's largest executive recruitment firm. He looks at the vice presidential search as an elite case of executive hiring. "It sets a tone, and I think the process and the rationale is probably as important as the ultimate pick. It reveals his decision style."

McCain's choice reflected the trust-your-gut instincts of a fighter pilot or a surgeon, he says. "With a fighter pilot or a surgeon, you want quick decisions, like Sully on the Hudson," a reference to the U.S. Airways pilot who successfully ditched his plane on the Hudson River in 2009. In contrast, Romney reflects the style of the business CEO he once was at Bain Capital, reflective and data-driven.

One more thing: Don't expect Romney to settle on a choice until he absolutely must. "You don't communicate until you have all the facts; that's first and foremost," Burnison says. "It's not an overnight decision."


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The Washington Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
Met 2 Edition


The dog days of a reelection bid


BYLINE: Dan Eggen


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1033 words


President Obama has unleashed a particularly unusual fundraiser for his 2012 campaign.

One Internet ad starts with a two-toned blue background, like dozens of other pro-Obama spots. Then the furry star pops into the frame, tongue out and ready to frolic. "Join Pet Lovers for Obama," the ad implores.

The unlikely pitchman is Bo, the White House family pet, who may well be the first "first dog" to emerge as a central player in a presidential reelection campaign.

Political pets have long attracted inordinate attention, from then-Sen. Richard M. Nixon's dog, Checkers - the focus of an early 1950s scandal that slowed his political ascent - to Bill Clinton's adopted stray cat, Socks. In 2004, George W. Bush's campaign put together a tongue-in-cheek video for the Republican National Convention seeking advice from Barney, Bush's Scottish terrier, on how to attract the "canine vote."

But Obama appears to be breaking ground by featuring his Portuguese water dog so prominently in official campaign advertisements and fundraising efforts, part of a broader focus on the president's family.

The strategy is also an attempt to capitalize on the persistent controversy over canines that has dogged the 2012 race. Obama's presumed GOP rival, Mitt Romney, hascome under fire from Democrats and animal-rights activists for transporting his now-deceased Irish setter, Seamus, in a crate tied atop the family station wagon for a 12-hour trip to Canada in the 1980s. Republicans, in turn, have highlighted Obama's recollection in his 2004 autobiography that he had eaten dog meat as a child in Indonesia.

"My stepfather always told me, 'It's a boy-eat-dog world out there,' " Obama said to laughter at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday.

Mark McKinnon, a top Bush campaign adviser, joked that the 2012 race "has gone to the dogs." But, he added, a candidate's relationship with animals can serve as an important marker for many voters.

"People look at a whole constellation of attributes when they vote for president," McKinnon said. "Pet lover may not be high on the list, but it's on the list."

For the Obama campaign, pet lovers are just one niche among many, with specific appeals aimed at women, African Americans, students, military families and countless others. The result is a campaign that might be the most micro-targeted in history, attempting to use the power of the Web and social media to reach ever-thinner slices of the electorate.

Nearly half of the Obama campaign's March budget - $6.7 million - went toward Internet ads, many of them targeting specific demographic or interest groups. Romney has been less aggressive in micro-targeting efforts and has spent only a tenth as much on online advertising.

Pro-Obama Internet ads featuring Bo, which have run steadily in recent months, urge voters to"Bark for Barack" by donating to the campaign. Official "Pet Lovers for Obama" pages on Facebook, Pinterest and other social media sites feature pictures of the president and his dog and invite supporters to share their own pet photos.

The campaign also offers nearly a dozen Bo- or pet-themed products on its Web site, including a $12 "Cats for Obama" collar and a $35 red, white and blue "Obama Dog" sweater. "This adorable Obama dog sweater will keep your furry friend feeling cozy and looking stylish," the description says.

Other subgroups targeted by the Obama campaign include nurses (featuring bumper stickers, magnets and T-shirts); Latinos (with a line of products including clothing and buttons); and young mothers (http://store.barackobama.com/obama-baby-bib.htmlincluding a $20 "Babies for Obama" onesie).

The categories expand on Obama's efforts in 2008, which pushed the boundaries of political campaigns by aggressively marketing the candidate to groups within the disparate Democratic base. The segmenting underscores the importance that turnout is likely to play in the tightening race between Obama and Romney.

Neither the Obama nor Romney campaigns would discuss their micro-targeting activities or plans. Romney, who until this month was focused on winning the bitter GOP primaries, is expected to ramp up his targeting efforts in coming weeks.

Romney has already made fundraising appeals aimed at mothers after a Democratic strategist belittled Ann Romney's stay-at-home-mom role. The Republican candidate's campaign Web site offers $6 bumper stickers proclaiming that "Moms Drive the Economy."

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, said micro-targeting is particularly useful when combined with Facebook, Twitter and other social media, encouraging like-minded supporters to recruit peers and help spread "viral" campaign messages.

"You can't really target 'swing voters' on social media because nobody thinks of themselves that way," Lake said. "This kind of micro-targeting is vital because it helps turn people from passive, captured audiences to identified, active participants."

But strategists in both parties warn that the approach has limits. Peter Daou, a digital media strategist who worked for John F. Kerry's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's Democratic presidential campaigns, said there's a danger of losing sight of the broader themes and voter-organizing efforts needed to win elections.

"Some of this can be taken a little too far, because the macro environment is always going to override the narrow interests of various voters," Daou said. "Once you're getting down to pet lovers, I have a feeling that the bigger issues will override any of the work you do there. It can help on the margins, but that's about it."

Some of the pitfalls are clear on the Pet Lovers for Obama Facebook page, a mostly fluffy affair featuring dozens of photographs of dogs, cats and at least one goat wearing pro-Obama swag.

But the page also has its share of detractors, including those urging animal lovers to vote against Obama, and recurring lists of dog-eating and dog-on-car jokes. "Oh my God, just when I thought people couldn't be more shallow and lame, this pops up," one user wrote in a recent comment, adding that Obama is "the worst president ever."

Another called the page "ridiculous." "What next," they asked. "Starlings for Obama . . . ?"

eggend@washpost.com


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The Washington Post


May 1, 2012 Tuesday
Suburban Edition


Campaigner in chief


BYLINE: Dana Milbank


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A02


LENGTH: 810 words


The preezy of the United Steezy is making me queasy.

I'm not troubled by President Obama's slow jam with Jimmy Fallon, who dubbed the commander in chief "preezy" during Obama's appearance on late-night TV. No, preezy is making me queasy because his nonstop campaigning is looking, well, sleazy - and his ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have killed Osama bin Laden is just the beginning of it.

In a political culture that long ago surrendered to the permanent campaign, Obama has managed to take things to a whole new level. According to statistics compiled for a book to be published this summer, the president has already set a record for total first-term fundraisers - 191 - and that's only through March 6. Measured in terms of events that benefit his reelection bid, Obama's total (inflated in part by relaxed fundraising rules) exceeds the combined total of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

It's not just the gatherings officially categorized as campaign events. To a greater extent than his predecessors, Obama has used the trappings of his office to promote his reelection prospects even while handling taxpayer-funded business.

According to the same book, "The Rise of the President's Permanent Campaign," by Naval Academy political scientist Brendan Doherty, Obama was the first commander in chief in at least 32 years to visit all of the presidential battleground states during his first year in office. He has kept that pace, devoting nearly half of his travel to 15 swing states that account for just over a third of the population.

The election is still six months away, but it's increasingly difficult to distinguish Obama's political events and speeches from the official ones.

This was the case on Monday, when he spoke to a group of trade-union leaders at the Washington Hilton. The event, the morning after he and Clinton made a joint fundraising appearance, was ostensibly an "official" speech to the AFL-CIO's building trades section. But it was a campaign rally in everything but name.

The audience members shouted out Obama's "Yes, we can" slogan and chanted, "Four more years."

"I'll take it," offered the president, who unloaded on congressional Republicans for not spending money on infrastructure projects.

"Time after time, the Republicans have gotten together and they've said no," he said.

"Boo!" the audience responded.

"I sent them a jobs bill that would have put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back to work," he continued.

"Boo!" the audience repeated.

"I went to the speaker's home town," Obama said, referring to a trip to House Speaker John Boehner's battleground state of Ohio, "stood under a bridge that was crumbling."

"Let him drive on it!" somebody shouted.

"Maybe he doesn't drive anymore," Obama joked.

Predictably, Boehner has been complaining about the president's campaigning. He said Obama's team should "pony up" and reimburse taxpayers for trips to three colleges in swing states last week. Boehner called Obama's traveling "pathetic." The Republican National Committee formally asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the president's travel.

The Republicans will get nowhere with that, just as Democrats failed when they made similar complaints about George W. Bush. Rules separating the official and the political are flimsy, and even when a president's campaign reimburses the Treasury, it's for a tiny fraction of the cost, which includes $179,750 per hour to operate Air Force One.

In fairness, it's not entirely clear what choice Obama has. As with his blessing of a super PAC after condemning such groups, the alternative is unilateral disarmament. Also, his fundraising total has been inflated by a rule change that allows him to hold events that jointly benefit him and the Democratic Party (although his total number of fundraising appearances still eclipses that of each recent predecessor). Republicans, meanwhile, are determined to block the president's agenda, so it's an effective use of time to campaign for their defeat.

Still, Obama's acquiescence to an intolerable status quo raises a question: Shouldn't presidential leadership be about setting an example?

Instead, he is erasing the already blurred lines between campaigning and governing. During his "official" speech to the union group Monday, he hailed Tim Kaine as "the next United States senator from the great commonwealth of Virginia," and his partisan speech spurred audience members to shouts of "Vote 'em out!" and "Gotta throw 'em out!"

"Not everything should be subject to thinking about the next election instead of thinking about the next generation," Obama said of the Republicans. "Not everything should be subject to politics."

He should follow his own advice.

danamilbank@washpost.com

For previous Washington Sketch columns, go to postopinions.com.


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The Washington Times


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Wanted: A competent commander in chief;
Obama's leadership is resulting in a degraded military


BYLINE: By Frank J. Gaffney Jr. SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, COMMENTARY; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 933 words


It turns out Team Obama suddenly wants the 2012 presidential campaign to be about foreign policy rather than the economy. Such a pivot might not be surprising given that by President Obama's own test, he has not cut unemployment to the point where he deserves to be re-elected.

The Democrats have - if anything - a weaker case for re-electing this president on national security grounds. The campaign ad they unveiled on Friday, timed to take credit for the liquidation of Osama bin Laden on the first anniversary of that achievement, is a case in point.

The video uses former President Bill Clinton to extol his successor's role in the mission - and selectively quotes Republican nominee Mitt Romney to suggest he would not have done the same thing.

It is an act of desperation and contempt for the American people that, of all people, Mr. Clinton would be used in such a role. Let's recall that during his presidency, he repeatedly declined to take out bin Laden. The former president is so sensitive about this sorry record that his operatives insisted in 2006 that ABC excise from "Path to 9/11" - an outstanding made-for-TV film by Cyrus Nowrasteh - a dramatized version of one such episode.

More telling still is an issue inadvertently showcased by this controversy. While the Clinton-Obama-Biden spot tries to make Mr. Romney sound as though he wouldn't have had the courage, or at least the vision, the president exhibited in a risky bid to take out bin Laden, what the presumptive Republican nominee actually said in 2007 in context illustrates a far better grasp than Mr. Obama has of the enemy we confront:

"I wouldn't want to overconcentrate on bin Laden. He's one of many, many people who are involved in this global jihadist effort. He's by no means the only leader. It's a very diverse group - Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood and, of course, different names throughout the world. It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. It is worth fashioning and executing an effective strategy to defeat global, violent jihad, and I have a plan for doing that."

Mr. Obama, by contrast, would have us believe that the problem is al Qaeda and that threat is pretty much a thing of the past, thanks to bin Laden's elimination and the decimation, primarily by drone strikes, of others among its leadership and rank and file. An unnamed senior State Department official told the National Journal last week, "The war on terror is over" as Muslims embrace "legitimate Islamism."

Unfortunately, as Seth Jones observed in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, "Al Qaeda is far from dead. Acting as if it were will not make it so."

Even if al Qaeda actually had been defeated, however, we are - as Mitt Romney said five years ago - confronting a host of other jihadist enemies who seek the same goals as bin Laden's al Qaeda and its franchises: the triumph of the totalitarian, supremacist Islamic doctrine of Shariah and a global government, known as a caliphate, to govern accordingly.

Unfortunately, as demonstrated conclusively in a free, Web-based video course titled "Muslim Brotherhood in America: The Enemy Within," released last week by the Center for Security Policy (MuslimBrotherhoodinAmerica.com), far from understanding the danger posed by the rest of the jihadist enterprise, the Obama administration is actually making it stronger.

The evidence presented in this course suggests that that could be, at least in part, because of the six Muslim Brotherhood-associated individuals the center has identified who are either on the government's payroll, advising it or being used for outreach to the American Muslim community. (See Part 8 of the video course for details on the Obama Six.)

Whatever the motivation, consider how Team Obama has managed the three other groups Mr. Romney mentioned. The administration made no effort to impede the takeover of Lebanon by the Iranian foreign legion, the designated terrorist organization known as Hezbollah. It has actively helped bring to power, recognized and effectively turned over $1.5 billion to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Worse yet, it has, as noted above, embraced its operatives and front groups here. President Obama personally directed last week that $170 million in U.S. foreign aid be given to a Palestinian Authority "unity government," which includes another designated terrorist organization, Hamas - incredibly - on the grounds that "U.S. national security interests" required it.

Unfortunately for the Obama administration, fundamentally misconstruing the nature of the enemy is just part of this president's ominous legacy with respect to his commander-in-chief portfolio. The wrecking operation he is engaged in concerning our military's capability to project power, its unilateral cuts to the U.S. nuclear deterrent and weakening our missile defenses may not be fully evident between now and the election. But the impact will be felt for generations to come. That will be true in spades of the war on the culture of the armed forces being waged in pursuit of the radical left's efforts to make over American social norms and mores, starting with its most esteemed institution: the United States military.

Getting bin Laden isn't the issue. The issue is whether Mr. Obama is getting right the rest of his job as commander in chief. Regrettably, he is not.

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy (SecureFreedom.org), a columnist for The Washington Times and host of Secure Freedom Radio, heard in Washington weeknights at 9 p.m. on 1260 AM.


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The Washington Times


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Obama insists he's not spiking the ball for votes


BYLINE: By Susan Crabtree THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, PAGE ONE; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 640 words


Under fire for playing politics with Osama bin Laden's killing, President Obama defended himself Monday and repeated questions in a campaign ad about whether Mitt Romney would have ordered the raid that killed the 9/11 mastermind.

"I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration," Mr. Obama said during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. "The American people rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens. It's a mark of the effectiveness of intelligence teams, of our military teams - it's a process that worked."

The president went on to say that it is "entirely appropriate" for those involved in the mission to use the anniversary of bin Laden's death as "a time of reflection." He wasn't asked specifically about the appropriateness of using the killing of the world's most notorious terrorist as a campaign theme.

Responding to a question about Mr. Romney's comment that anyone would have authorized the Navy SEAL team raid on bin Laden's compound - "even Jimmy Carter" - Mr. Obama told reporters to look at the "people's previous statements."

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Romney expressed reservations about sending U.S. forces into Pakistan to take out terrorists.

The Obama campaign team's most recent video features Bill Clinton and reminds voters of Mr. Romney's quote, arguing that Mr. Romney would not have made the same decision to launch the raid if he were president.

"I said we'd go after bin Laden, if we had a shot at him," Mr. Obama told reporters. "And that's what we did. If there's others who said they would do one thing, and now are doing something else, I would let them explain it."

Team Romney returned the fire Monday afternoon by calling the ad and Mr. Obama's decision to repeat the charges during the news briefing "a cheap political ploy and an opportunity to distort Gov. Romney's policies on the war on terror."

"President Obama's feckless foreign policy has emboldened our adversaries, weakened our allies and threatens to break faith with our military," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. "While the Obama administration has naively stated that 'the war on terror is over,' Gov. Romney has always understood we need a comprehensive plan to deal with the myriad threats America faces."

Late Monday, the Daily Mail, a London tabloid, reported that some current and former Navy SEALs aren't happy about the highly trained unit being dragged into the presidential campaign.

Ryan Zinke, a former Navy commander who spent 23 years as a SEAL, told the paper that Mr. Obama was exploiting bin Laden's death.

"The decision was a no-brainer. I applaud him for making it, but I would not overly pat myself on the back for making the right call," said Mr. Zinke, now a Republican state lawmaker in Montana.

Another former SEAL said using the bin Laden raid for political purposes is a "cheap shot."

Mr. Romney and Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona who lost his race for the White House to Mr. Obama in 2008, spent the weekend blasting Mr. Obama for the ad.

"No one disputes that the president deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy," Mr. McCain said in a statement issued by the Republican National Committee. "This is the same president who said, after bin Laden was dead, that we shouldn't 'spike the ball' after the touchdown. And now Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get re-elected."

In New Hampshire on Monday, Mr. Romney told reporters that he would have made the decision to send in the Navy SEALs to kill bin Laden.

"Of course. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," the former Massachusetts governor said.


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The White House Bulletin


May 1, 2012 Tuesday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 516 words


President. On NBC Nightly News, Chuck Todd reported, "In anticipation of the one-year anniversary" of the killing of bin Laden, President Obama's campaign "released two web videos," which "called into question whether Mitt Romney would have made the same decision." ABC World News says Obama is "determined to make this success a cornerstone of his reelection effort," in part, because Romney "said, in 2007, it wasn't 'worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just to catch one person.'" ... The Hill reports the Obama campaign "released a seven-minute Web video on Monday highlighting the president's first-term accomplishments, contrasting them with the challenges he inherited from the prior administration" and "teases a new campaign slogan, 'Forward,' and...blames GOP policies for the still-sluggish economy." ... In a blog entry on the website of Politico, Alexander Burns wrote that "the Obama campaign is going up with a fresh round of ads tomorrow in Ohio, Iowa and Virginia -- three states where the president has been spending time in recent weeks" and "one media-tracking source tells me the title of the new commercial is 'Swiss Bank Account.'" ... Politico reports in its "Burns Haberman" blog that New Jersey Gov.

Chris Christie indicated Monday "that he might be open to the possibility" of joining Romney on the GOP ticket, saying, "He might be able to convince me. He's a convincing guy, but I really love this job. I really want to stay in this job." ... On its front page, the New York Times runs a report on Solamere Capital, a private equity firm started by Tagg Romney, the candidate's oldest son, and a top campaign donor, saying that the two "didn't have any "experience in private equity," but they had "the Romney name and a Rolodex of deep-pocketed potential investors who had backed Mr. Romney's presidential run."

Governors.

The AP reports Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) "has raised more than $13 million in three months for" his June 5 "recall election, a jaw-dropping feat that easily shattered the fundraising record he set last year." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds that Walker "has raised more than $25 million in total since January 2011 and has $4.8 million in cash on hand - numbers unlike any that have been seen for a political candidate in Wisconsin."

Senate.

The Hill reports Sen. Jim DeMint (R) "is throwing the weight of his Senate Conservatives Fund behind" Rep. Jeff Flake's (R) Arizona Senate bid, where he faces Wil Cardon in the primary. ... The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press reports Sen. Richard Lugar "is not saying whether he will support" state Treasurer Richard Mourdock should the latter win the GOP primary.

House.

The Miami Herald reports a state court and the Department of Justice both approved Florida's new, GOP-drawn congressional districts for the 2012 elections. ... In an editorial, Los Angeles Times lauds both CA28 Rep. Howard Berman (D) and CA27 Rep. Brad Sherman (D), competing in the new CA30 district, but endorses the former based upon seniority and "small differences between two worthy candidates."


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The Associated Press


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 12:49 AM GMT


In Kabul, Obama highlights foreign policy record


BYLINE: CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 883 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama answered political taunts with presidential muscle Tuesday, addressing the nation from Kabul as Republicans said he's overdoing the celebration of Osama bin Laden's death one year ago.

The president's secret flight to Afghanistan where he signed off on details for withdrawing U.S. troops from the decade-long war there was the type of campaign counterpunch that may play out many times in his re-election battle against Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama began his visit at the same air base where Navy SEALs launched their daring raid on bin Laden's house in Pakistan.

Timing his pre-dawn speech in Kabul for evening viewing back home, Obama brought attention to his three chief foreign policy achievements: ending the Iraq war roughly as he promised in 2008; killing bin Laden, whose terrorist organization killed nearly 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001; and setting a timetable for ending the increasingly unpopular Afghanistan war.

Both political parties agree the Nov. 6 election will hinge mainly on the U.S. economy. Before the campaign gets fully engaged, however, Obama is using his presidential prerogatives and risking new complaints of political exploitation to make his strongest possible case on military and diplomatic fronts.

"One year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden," Obama said in his 10-minute speech in front of empty armored personnel carriers. "The goal that I set - to defeat al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild - is within reach."

Republicans, and even some liberal allies, said Obama's team went too far last week in releasing a campaign video suggesting Romney would not have ordered the risky nighttime raid on bin Laden's suspected compound. But some Democratic strategists defended the strategy.

Obama "is in an unusually strong position, thanks to keeping his promises on Afghanistan and Iraq, overseeing the killing of Osama bin Laden and otherwise keeping America strong and secure," said Doug Hattaway, who worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign against Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. "The economy will remain top of the list for most people," Hattaway said, "but it definitely helps to highlight his successes in this area."

Vice President Joe Biden launched the political argument last week.

"Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," Biden said in a campaign speech. "You have to ask yourself, if Gov. Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan in reverse?"

The double-barreled taunt hit Romney's criticism of the administration's auto industry bailout and the mixed signals Romney gave in 2007 about the lengthy hunt for bin Laden.

Romney first told The Associated Press that it was not worth "moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." He later said of bin Laden, "We'll move everything to get him," but it's not "all about one person."

Romney said this week "of course" he would have approved the raid on bin Laden's compound. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," he said.

Democrats said the mention of Carter underscored precisely the political risk Obama was willing to take. A 1980 Carter-approved attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Tehran ended in disaster in an Iranian desert, with helicopters destroyed, eight servicemen dead and the United States deeply embarrassed.

"It's very important for people to understand that this was a gutsy political call," said former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., who now heads the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Facing conflicting predictions about the bin Laden raid's chances for success, Obama showed "a combination of deliberation and decisiveness" that Americans like, Perriello said.

Some Republicans, however, have sharply criticized the president's references to bin Laden's death.

"Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get re-elected," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost to Obama in 2008.

Writer Arianna Huffington, usually an Obama ally, joined in. She told "CBS This Morning": "Using the Osama bin Laden assassination, killing, the great news that we had a year ago, in order to say basically that Obama did it and Romney might not have done it ... to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do."

Like most former governors who run for president, Romney has scant foreign policy experience. He has said Obama is too faint-hearted in defending Israel and in warning Iran and North Korea about the potential consequences of their nuclear ambitions.

Democratic strategists say relatively few voters will base their November ballots on such claims.

While Obama was flying to Kabul Tuesday, Romney visited the lower Manhattan site where hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center's towers in the 2001 terror attacks.

"It's totally appropriate for the president to express to the American people the view that he has that he had an important role in taking out Osama bin Laden," Romney said. "I think politicizing it and trying to draw a distinction between himself and myself was an inappropriate use of the very important event that brought America together."


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The Associated Press


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 04:47 PM GMT


THE RACE: Obama flexes presidential muscle in race


BYLINE: By TOM RAUM


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 353 words


We just saw a raw display of the power of the presidency in an election year.

Mitt Romney and other Republicans may gripe that President Barack Obama tries to politicize the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces.

But only Obama could secretly take Air Force One to Kabul to sign a strategic-partnership accord with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and meet with U.S. troops on the anniversary of bin Laden's death.

Heading into a long lull before the late-August GOP convention, the presumptive GOP nominee may find it hard to keep himself in the headlines. Obama just has to do presidential things to seize attention.

Also, Obama makes full use of the Internet to pound home campaign themes.

The official White House web site ( www.whitehouse.gov) quickly declared: "The Way Forward in Afghanistan. During a surprise visit to Afghanistan, President Obama discusses a historic strategic partnership that will help guide our future relationship with the country." Naturally, there's a video link.

Also highlighted on the site: "We Can't Wait" trumpeting how Obama is using executive orders to bypass a lethargic Congress; and "Don't Double My Rate," reinforcing his appeal to extend a rate cut on federally backed student loans due to expire in July.

Meanwhile, Obama's re-election campaign Wednesday released an 80-second web video of clips of Newt Gingrich criticizing Romney timed to coincide with Gingrich's exit from the race. The former House speaker is "frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," the ad taunts.

Romney's more subdued web site ( www.mittromney.com) features a request for contributions and an appeal to "help me fight for the America we love."

Appearing Wednesday in Chantilly, Va., Romney focused on the economy. Under Obama "the pain continues," he said.

It's hard to compete with Air Force One.

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012.


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The Associated Press


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:21 PM GMT


Battle begins between Obama, Republican super PACs


BYLINE: By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1086 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


It's on.

Independent groups favoring Mitt Romney already are launching TV advertisements in competitive states for the November general election, providing political cover against President Barack Obama's well-financed campaign while the Republican candidate works to rebound from a bruising and expensive nomination fight. Some conservative organizations also are planning big get-out-the-vote efforts, and Romney backers are courting wealthy patrons of his former GOP rivals.

Taken together, the developments underscore how dramatically the political landscape has changed since a trio of federal court cases most notably the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling paved the way for a flood of campaign cash from corporations and tycoons looking to help their favored candidates.

"Citizens United has made an already aggressive anti-Obama movement even more empowered," said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. "There's now a regular Republican line of attack on Obama, even when the Romney campaign is taking a breather, raising money and preparing for the general election."

The general election spending and advertising has only just begun. Voters in roughly a dozen hard-fought states will be inundated with TV ads, direct mail, automated phone calls and other forms of outreach by campaign staff members and volunteers pleading for their votes. While Obama and Romney both will spend huge amounts of money in the coming months, an untold additional amount will come from outside organizations called super PACs that can collect unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals.

Already, Obama's campaign has spent $3.6 million on commercials in key battlegrounds in the weeks since Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.

Its latest ad depicts Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive, as a corporate raider who once maintained a Swiss bank account. The president had $104 million on hand at the end of March, giving his campaign a 10-1 advantage over Romney who had just $10 million his campaign bank at the same time.

But Obama is unlikely to receive anywhere near the kind of financial backup Romney is already getting from outside groups. The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action has raised just $10 million since its inception, and few other Democratic-leaning groups have signaled they plan to compete with the pro-Romney efforts.

The latest of these comes from Restore Our Future, a super PAC run by former Romney advisers.

The group announced Wednesday it will go up with $4.3 million in ads this week in nine states that will be key to winning the White House. The ad, "Saved," describes Romney's efforts that helped lead to the rescue of the teenage daughter of a colleague after she disappeared in New York for three days.

ROF was by far the biggest advertiser during the Republican nominating contest, spending $36 million on ads attacking Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. The group has raised more than $51 million since its inception.

Its initial general election push follows a $1.7 million, three-state ad buy from Crossroads GPS. That group's spot attacks Obama's energy policies. And it is an arm of American Crossroads, a super PAC with ties to President George W. Bush's longtime political director Karl Rove and one of the most prolific spenders in the 2010 cycle that put the House in Republican hands. The two Crossroads groups have already raised $100 million collectively for 2012 and plan to spend as much as $300 million to defeat Obama and other Democrats.

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative-leaning independent group backed by the billionaire energy tycoons Charles and David Koch, dropped $6.1 million on ads in eight general election swing states last week hitting Obama for allowing millions in federal stimulus money to be directed to green energy companies overseas. The group spent $6.5 million earlier this year on ads criticizing Obama over Solyndra, a California-based solar energy company that went bankrupt despite a $535 million federal loan guarantee.

AFP president Tim Phillips said the group planned to raise $100 million and that slightly less than half would go to advertising. Much of the remaining amount, he said, would be used for field operations like rallies, bus tours, canvassing, phone banks and micro-targeting.

AFP boasts chapters in 34 states and its field operations have included annual conservative conferences.

Phillips cited Florida, where the group now has a staff of 20 and has promoted bus tours assailing Obama and Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.

"We use our rallies to let people know how their president and their senators and congressmen are voting on key issues," Phillips said. "A rally focusing on government over-spending can be as effective as a media buy."

The Romney campaign, by contrast, has not run its own TV ads since former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum dropped out of the GOP nomination fight in April.

Senior Romney aides said they are closely tracking the super PAC ad buys from allies but insist there is no coordination between the campaign and the outside groups.

At the same time, Romney's team also is working to improve relations with Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, billionaires who almost single-handedly financed super PACs supporting Romney's opponents during the nomination fight.

Representatives of ROF and other Romney backers have reached out to Adelson, a casino mogul who contributed about $20 million to a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich. But Adelson has not yet given money to the pro-Romney efforts, and a person close to him said he doesn't want to be a campaign distraction and may give money only to groups like Crossroads GPS and other nonprofit advocacy organizations not required to disclose their donors.

Friess, who helped bankroll a super PAC supporting Santorum, has said he would back Romney and has spoken to Romney supporters.

Romney's campaign concedes that the super PAC activity alleviates financial stress as he works to add staff and raise campaign cash.

His aides are also noting Priorities USA Action's slow start compared to the pro-Romney groups. The disparity is fueling a quiet confidence among Romney advisers who believe that his super PAC support will significantly narrow Obama's current 10-to-1 cash advantage.

(equals)

Associated Press Writers Jack Gillum, Steve Peoples and Stephen Braun in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at http://www.twittter.com/bfouhy


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The Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
ALL EDITION


GIVE 'EM 'L,' MITT: ROMNEY SHOULD FIGHT FOR LIMITED GOVERNMENT


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Cal Thomas; Pg. A4


LENGTH: 694 words


In the 1993 movie Dave, the faux president (played by Kevin Kline) calls in his best friend (played by Charles Grodin) and they stay up all night balancing the federal budget, not by raising taxes, but by cutting unnecessary and wasteful spending.

If only it were that easy.

Most presidents have talked about cutting spending, but few succeed because Congress holds the power of the purse and is reluctant to give it up.

THERE HAVE been serious and not so serious attempts to reduce government spending, from Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission to something called OMB Circular A-76, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget to all federal agencies that has been around in one form or another over several administrations. A-76's 2003 revision calls for the identification of "all activities performed by government personnel as either commercial or inherently governmental."

To borrow a song from the musical, Annie Get Your Gun, commercial ventures should look at government and say about many of its functions, "Anything you can do, I can do better" and then they should be allowed to do it.

The model for this could be the government of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. During her time in office, she privatized many industries and utilities previously owned by the government because she believed, correctly, that the private economy could do a better and less expensive job of running them.

Her philosophy, mostly absent from the film The Iron Lady, was: "We should not expect the state to appear in the guise of an extravagant good fairy at every christening, a loquacious companion at every stage of life's journey, and the unknown mourner at every funeral."

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney could follow her example by challenging the country to look deep inside its Puritan DNA and rediscover the principle of what might be called the three L's: limited government, liberty, and living within our means. Give 'em "L," Mitt!

HERE'S WHAT Romney should do and it might be the strategy that could work to force even a Republican Congress to obey what the Constitution and common sense require:

If elected, Romney should pledge to bring in a team of outside auditors and private entities to determine what government ought to be doing and what it might outsource. If a private

company can perform a government function with greater efficiency and at lower cost, let it. If a government agency is redundant or no longer necessary, eliminate it.

No "interest group" should be able to exercise more influence than that of taxpaying citizens.

Traditional spring cleaning finds many of us going through closets, basements and attics, disposing of things we no longer want or need. Toward the same goal, Romney should lead a "spring cleaning" of government.

Romney might cite the Congressional Pig Book published by Citizens Against Government Waste (www.cagw.org). The 2012 edition, as always, contains examples of wasteful spending in many government agencies. This year's Pig Book shows that while "the number and cost of earmarks have decreased dramatically since fiscal year 2010," the accurate amount of waste is difficult to figure because "transparency and accountability have regressed immeasurably."

Two recent reports from the Government Accountability Office name 51 areas of duplication, overlapping and fragmented government functions, which, if ended, would save an estimated $400 billion. There's a start to which no one should have an objection.

WHILE PRESIDENT Obama promotes his "Buffett Tax" on millionaires and billionaires, Romney should focus on the government's waste of taxpayer money. If government is such a poor steward of what it now receives, why should it be given more?

That can be a winning issue, not only for Romney but for Republican congressional candidates.

The pledge they should be signing is not only the "no new taxes" one from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (www.atr.org), but a new one not to support any additional spending until unnecessary expenditures are

cut by transferring many government functions to the private sector and retiring those that are not needed.

Tribune Media Services


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The Capital (Annapolis, MD)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Newt Gingrich to end his presidential campaign;
Newt Gingrich to end his campaign for Republican presidential nomination


SECTION: A; Pg.2


LENGTH: 184 words


WASHINGTON (AP) - Newt Gingrich is planning to officially end his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination with an announcement Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

The former House speaker had indicated he would leave the race after he finished poorly in five Northeastern primaries last week.

On Tuesday, Gingrich thanked supporters in a video message posted on his website, saying their "help was vital."

He pledged to work hard to prevent the "genuine disaster" he says would come from re-electing President Barack Obama, but did not mention Mitt Romney, the all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee.

The Obama campaign on Wednesday released an 80-second web video that compiled clips from interviews and debates during the Republican primary where Gingrich criticizes Romney on issues ranging from immigration to his tenure as a venture capitalist. "Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," the ad states.

Gingrich won only two contests - in South Carolina and in Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years. His campaign has reported being more than $4 million in debt.


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CNN Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:29 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3088 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-FAMU-Charges (will update)

Charges have been brought against 13 people after an investigation into the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria in late March and early April, government forces were raiding opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amounted to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama (will update)

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan where he reiterated that U.S. troops will not remain in the country "a single day longer" than necessary.

California-Forgotten-Prisoner

A San Diego college student filed a legal claim Wednesday for damages suffered when he was left handcuffed and without food or water in a Drug Enforcement Agency holding cell for four days last month.

SPORT-Los Angeles Dodgers

Magic Johnson is among the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

Florida-FAMU-Charges

Charges have been brought against 13 people after an investigation into the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.

China-Clinton-Visit

Chinese authorities threatened the family of Chinese activist Chen Guangdeng if he didn't leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, a friend of the activist said Friday.

INTERNATIONAL

China-Clinton-Visit

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said Thursday that U.S. authorities had not fully informed him of what he was facing before his decision Wednesday to leave the U.S. Embassy and that he now wants to leave China.

China-US-Dissident

The deal that led to Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng leaving the U.S. Embassy is an unprecedented move for Beijing, U.S. and Chinese observers said Wednesday.

Al-Awlaki Posthumous Writings

From the grave, Awlaki calls for attacks on U.S. The editor and star contributor may be dead, but that hasn't prevented al Qaeda in Yemen from issuing the eighth and ninth editions of its online English-language magazine Inspire.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch received a strong endorsement from the board of directors of his News Corp. on Wednesday, a day after British lawmakers investigating a phone hacking scandal said Murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international company.

Israel-Gaza-Investigation

Israeli military investigators have ordered an end to a probe into the deaths of 21 members of a Palestinian family during the 2009 military offensive on Gaza, saying there was "no war crime committed."

MONEY-Europe-Unemployment

Unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10.9% in March, another sign of the broad economic weakness and possible recession across the continent.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan where he reiterated that U.S. troops will not remain in the country "a single day longer" than necessary.

POL-Obama-Media-Afghanistan

Hours before the official announcement that President Barack Obama had landed in Kabul, Afghanistan for a surprise visit, the media -- both social and electronic -- were already buzzing with reports about the trip. Had he indeed landed in-country? Was it just a rumor? Should it be reported anyway?

Egypt-Protests

Assailants targeted protesters demonstrating against the exclusion of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing at least 11, medical sources told CNN. At least 100 people were injured, said Hisham Shiha, the deputy minister of health.

India-Ferry-Disaster

Authorities continued their search for bodies Wednesday, two days after one of India's worst ferry accidents claimed at least 100 lives.

China-Clinton-Visit

A Chinese human rights activist who escaped house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing left for a hospital Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the life of a man at the center of a controversy between the United States and China. Chen Guangcheng's presence in the U.S. Embassy prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China. It threatened to overshadow U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders this week.

Syria-Unrest

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

Libya-Moammar-Gadhafi-Daughter

The daughter of deposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi asked international prosecutors to begin investigating her father's and brother's deaths as possible war crimes in a letter submitted Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council

London-mayoral-election

To an outsider, Thursday's contest to elect the next mayor of London would appear to be a fight between two larger-than-life characters -- known best by their first names -- for control of the city's famous red buses

U.S.A.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

Charges have been brought against 13 people after an investigation into the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Dead

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday, according to police. He was 43.

POL-Secret-Service

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has cooperated properly with congressional investigators looking into the prostitution scandal in Colombia last month before President Barack Obama's visit, influential House members said Wednesday.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

Some of the mystery that shrouded Osama bin Laden will be partially lifted as the public gets its first opportunity to read some of the documents seized during the U.S. raid on the al Qaeda founder's hideout in Pakistan one year ago. A selection of the more than 6,000 pages of documents will be made available Thursday on the website of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

Georgia-Hustler-Lawsuit

A federal appeals panel has tossed out a lawsuit against Hustler magazine brought by the family of a slain professional wrestling personality, a case testing privacy concerns and the competing right to publish "newsworthy" material.

US-Health-care-fraud

More than 100 people have been charged and an estimated $450 million in false billings uncovered by federal agents in a nationwide operation that authorities say is the largest bust in recent history.

POL-Yoo-Padilla-Lawsuit

A convicted American terrorist plotter and his mother lost another legal round Wednesday in their efforts to hold accountable a former Bush administration official who issued legal memos supporting harsh interrogation techniques for suspected enemy combatants.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

California-Sandra-Day-O'Connor-Civics

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court after 191 years, is crusading to reverse what she says is an alarming decline in America's knowledge of democracy and announced an initiative Wednesday to educate children across the country.

US-Supreme-Court-Exterior

The Supreme Court building is getting a face-lift to its famous facade, seven years after a chunk of marble fell 100 feet onto the stairs leading to the entrance, where it broke into pieces.

US-Russia-Missile-Shield

The United States does not expect an agreement with Russia this year to settle a dispute about a U.S.-backed plan to place an anti-ballistic missile shield in countries around Europe, according to the senior U.S. government officials leading a U.S. delegation to a missile defense conference in Moscow this week.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived.

New-Jersey-Tanning-Case

A New Jersey mother pleaded not guilty Wednesday to child endangerment charges after being accused of illegally allowing her 6-year-old daughter to tan at a salon, according to prosecutors.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A massive fire tore through a building at the southwest Atlanta film studio of Tyler Perry on Tuesday night. No one was injured, but the blaze caused one building to partially collapse.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Sanford, Florida, city officials have chosen a former Colorado police chief as an interim replacement for the top cop who stepped aside during the furor over February's killing of an unarmed teen.

Florida-Shooting

The judge in the murder case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has denied a prosecution's motion for a gag order, but noted the court could reconsider if attorneys in the case write or say anything considered prejudicial.

SPORT-Buccaneers-Rutgers-Paralyzed-Player

Eric LeGrand's football coach at Rutgers helped him emotionally in the months after his on-field paralysis. Now the coach is symbolically helping him realize his dream of making it to the NFL.

US-Blackout-Report

A massive power outage in September 2011 that left millions of people in California, Arizona and Mexico in the dark was the result of weakness in operational planning and situational awareness, according to an independent report.

ENT-Girls-Actress-Allison-Williams

One of the stars of HBO's controversial new show "Girls" is vowing not to get naked for the camera.

Texas-Wildfires

Two wildfires that have charred 24,000 acres in drought-stricken West Texas threaten 150 homes and 250 other buildings, officials said Wednesday.

SPORT-NFL-Saints-Suspensions

Four former New Orleans Saints players were suspended Wednesday by the National Football League for their roles in the "bountygate" scandal involving bonuses for trying to hurt opponents.

New-York-The-Scream

One might expect a few screams Wednesday evening at Sotheby's auction house in Manhattan. Or a few gasps, at the least. Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is set to hit the auction block at 7 p.m. ET.

TRAVEL-FAA-Bird-Strike-Video

A Delta Air Lines passenger who admitted using an electronic device last month to videotape a bird strike minutes after takeoff has been warned by the Federal Aviation Administration to follow the rules or face a penalty the next time.

POLITICS

POL-Gingrich-Campaign-End

Newt Gingrich announced the suspension of his presidential campaign Wednesday in Virginia, a little less than a year after the former House speaker officially launched his White House bid.

POL-Romney-SuperPAC-Ads

The super PAC backing Mitt Romney's candidacy is back on the air with a major $4.3 million ad campaign beginning Wednesday in nine battleground states.

POL-Romney-Adviser-Departure-Explained

A foreign policy spokesman for the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney left his job in part because he was restricted from speaking publicly, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN on Wednesday.

POL-Tampa-Gun-Ban

The Republican governor of Florida rejected Tuesday a request from Tampa's mayor to issue a temporary ban on firearms during the Republican National Convention, slated to take place at the Tampa Bay Times Forum at the end of August.

POL-Obama-Massachusetts-Senate

President Barack Obama has made his way into the contentious Massachusetts Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren highlighting her ties to the president and Republican Sen. Scott Brown using a recent White House bill signing to prove his bipartisan streak.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

POL-WV-Governor-Obama

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, said in an interview published Wednesday he's unsure if he'll vote for President Barack Obama in the upcoming general election.

POL-Obama-Washington-Fundraisers

President Barack Obama, fresh off a surprise trip to Afghanistan, will attend two fundraisers in Washington Wednesday that will raise major cash for the president's re-election effort

POL-Poll-Wisconsin-Recall

A new poll released Wednesday indicates Republican Gov. Scott Walker is in a tight race with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the likely Democratic challenger in Wisconsin's June 5 gubernatorial recall election.

MONEY

MONEY-Adp-Jobs-Report

Business hiring is slowing. Private companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP, falling far short of the 170,000 jobs economists were expecting.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors digested a weak private-sector jobs report and mostly upbeat corporate results.

MONEY-Calpers-Activist

As Occupy Wall Street rages, Occupy boardroom shows no signs of slowing down.

MONEY-Harvard-Mit-Online

Always wanted to take a Harvard class? Soon you'll be able to do so from the comfort of your own home.

MONEY-Thebuzz

Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds are back below 2%. They really shouldn't be this low. Most fixed income investors agree that's the case. Yet, people keep clinging to long-term securities like Linus Van Pelt does to his baby blue security blanket.

MONEY-Yelp-Earnings

Reviews site Yelp used its status as a newly public company to ramp up its international expansion -- a plan that comes with a steep cost.

MONEY-Time-Warner-Earnings

Media conglomerate Time Warner posted higher first-quarter operating earnings Wednesday, helped by strong results from its movie and television studios.

MONEY-Income-Debt-Inequality

Debt inequality is the new income inequality.

MONEY-Germany-Recession

As recession spreads across Europe, Germany may not be able to avoid being dragged down.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

A $7 million watch shatters Kickstarter records.

MONEY-Cosmetics-Aging-Women

Cosmetics for aging women is a million-dollar market.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa

South Africa's rooibos is a hit with tea lovers across the world.

MONEY-Target-Kindle

Target will soon stop selling the Amazon Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, the retailer confirmed Wednesday.

MONEY-Delta-Refinery

Delta's decision to buy an oil refinery earlier this week is certainly bold, possibly unique and perhaps an inspiration to anyone who wished they could stick it to Big Oil and make their own gas. But, for Delta, it's definitely risky.

MONEY-Calpers-Activist

As Occupy Wall Street rages, Occupy boardroom shows no signs of slowing down.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

Afghanistan-big-picture

By midmorning Wednesday, Air Force One touched down at Andrews Air Force Base. President Barack Obama had returned from a surprise trip to Afghanistan that lasted a day but was meant to mark a transition to the end of the more than decadelong war. There has been much debate about what the speech signifies and what it means for the long-term future of Afghanistan and America's involvement there. The agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that Obama touted, the strategic partnership agreement, is short on specifics and Obama's speech did not lay out any new timetable for the war. While some observers say it's foolish to think the United States will actually leave the country, others say Obama's speech, both its symbolic occurrence and its contents, are signs of tremendous progress. At a minimum, a milestone has been reached despite tense relations. But what it means in practical terms for Americans is unclear, because after most troops leave in 2014, what remains has yet to be negotiated. When Obama spoke of "a future in which war ends and a new chapter begins," what did that mean specifically?

auction-art-islamic-week

London's auction houses hosted a week of sales dedicated to art of the Islamic world

qatar-female-olympics

Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country. When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

FEA-National-Truffle-Day

Do the truffle shuffle! May 2 is National Truffle Day. A little more rare than your average pack of button mushrooms at the grocery store, these underground beauties that seem to magically surface at the foot of trees are definitely special enough to get their own day.

MED-omega-3-memory-loss-alzheimers-study

People who eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may significantly lower their risk of developing memory problems and Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.

COMMENTARY-Frum-Vice-President-Rubio-Jindal

Republicans have a Latino problem. Only about 6% of Latino voters agree that the GOP is the party most concerned for their interests. Nearly half choose the Democrats as the party most concerned for them.

COMMENTARY-suri-obama-afghan-speech

Jeremi Suri: Obama's speech represents start of rapid withdrawal from Afghan war

TRAVEL-Cinco-de-mayo-travel

When celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday, consider a more authentic Mexican experience than simply ordering a margarita and chips and salsa at the local sports bar. Not ready for a trip to Mexico right now? There is plenty of Mexico to explore and celebrate in the United States since much of the Southwest was once part of our neighbor to the south.

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.


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CNN Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:14 PM EST


GOP's 'faux anger' is all the rage


BYLINE: By Maria Cardona, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 935 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist, a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton and former communications director for the Democratic National Committee.

(CNN) -- You would think that President Obama's surprise trip to Afghanistan yesterday and speech to the troops would have quieted -- at least for one night -- the latest installment of the GOP's "Faux Anger Chronicles." While most of the president's critics were silent or praised him for the trip, others didn't disappoint in following along with the fad.

Faux anger: It's all the rage. At least in politics.

The president's speech honored and thanked our troops, reviewed our strength and resolve in Afghanistan and in killing Osama bin Laden -- who planned the 9/11 tragedy in that country -- and also in getting rid of 20 of 30 of al Qaeda's top lieutenants.

It provided a slight break in the action from the GOP temper tantrum that began earlier this week. That one was over the Obama campaign's ad, which had the audacity in using the president's decision to move forward on the raid to bring down Osama bin Laden, no doubt a tremendous accomplishment for the administration and the country. The ad appalled GOP critics because we all know the Republicans would never have "gone there."

Oh wait, they would and they have. Do we remember 9/11? With President Bush holding the megaphone, standing atop the rubble of ground zero? With caskets draped in the U.S. flag? These were not postcards being sold on the street corners of NYC to commemorate the event that changed our lives forever. These were images of President Bush's 2004 campaign ads. Back then of course, Democrats cried foul, and Republicans stood their ground.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The difference now is that Democrats have taken a page right out of the Republican playbook, using strength on foreign policy to remind people of the courageous decision Obama -- a Democrat --made, ordering the raid on the bin Laden compound in Pakistan (more on that later). The Republicans don't much like being shown up on what has historically been their turf.

As I say to my children whenever they throw a temper tantrum: tough noogies. Deal with it. Those who worked for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 and saw their candidate get bloodied by George W. Bush and allies have even harsher words.

If the tables were turned, does anyone think Republicans wouldn't have used this accomplishment? No. Does anyone think that if -- God forbid -- the mission had gone sour, Obama's opponents would not have used it as the No. 1 reason to get him out of office? No.

This is exactly what happened to Jimmy Carter and why it is so bizarre that Mitt Romney actually brought up Carter in his response when asked if he would have ordered the mission to kill bin Laden. We know Jimmy Carter would have, because he did order a difficult mission like this before. Unfortunately, Operation Eagle Claw failed, as did Carter's presidency because of it.

What we don't know is whether Mitt Romney would have ordered the bin Laden raid. According to Mitt Romney in 2008, he actually wouldn't have done so under the exact same circumstances that President Obama said he would and in fact did.

Let's remember that after the George W. Bush administration went into Tora Bora looking for bin Laden and didn't find him, the search took a back seat to going into Iraq and getting Saddam Hussein. Bush actually de-prioritized the search for Osama bin Laden. And this became the line that many Republican candidates would follow in the 2008 campaign.

Before then, in 2007, Mitt Romney had said he would not move heaven and Earth to find Osama bin Laden. He did clarify his statements a couple days later and also in a debate, saying that getting bin Laden was important, but so was focusing on other top tier al Qaeda leaders. But the more damning statement came afterward, when he strongly criticized then-Sen. Obama for saying he would go into Pakistan to get bin Laden without the help of the Pakistanis if he had actionable intelligence to do so. Romney called those statements "ill-timed" and "ill-considered."

Mitt Romney needs to learn that words matter. When he says in no uncertain terms that he would not in fact order a mission in Pakistan without the knowledge of the Pakistanis, and then criticizes his opponent for saying he would, why should we not judge him on exactly those words?

So Mr. Romney, if you would like to now take back those words and concede you were wrong, you should do so. But don't expect the American people to buy into your faux anger when your opponent is questioning how you would have acted when you yourself have provided the words that lead to that legitimate doubt.

Additionally, the Romney campaign and Mr. Romney himself is saying any president would have made the same decision President Obama did. Not true. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he thought it was "gutsy" and one of the most courageous calls he has seen a president make. The intelligence available at the time was 50-50 at best that bin Laden was even in that compound. Vice President Biden said he had advised against it and that in fact the only person in that room that told the president to go was then CIA Director Leon Panetta.

So in the infamous words of the GOP's beloved Newt Gingrich: Spare me the pious baloney. Or at least the faux anger -- even if it is politics' newest fashion craze.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Maria Cardona.


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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 7:27 PM EST


Pro-Romney super PAC back on the air


BYLINE: By Kevin Bohn, CNN Senior Producer


LENGTH: 250 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The super PAC backing Mitt Romney's candidacy is back on the air with a major $4.3 million ad campaign beginning Wednesday in nine battleground states.

The commercials will air on broadcast and cable in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia, the group announced Wednesday.

Interestingly there is no buy in Pennsylvania although the PAC did air $837,000 worth of spots there before Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10.

The group is airing an ad touting Romney's help in aiding the search for a colleague's daughter when she went missing in New York. Romney was heading the venture capital firm Bain Capital at the time.

The PAC's buy comes days after the Obama re-election campaign went up with $834,000 worth of ads in Iowa, Virginia and Ohio battling back on attacks against the Obama administration's energy policies and attacking Mitt Romney's for some of his business practices.

The breakdown of Restore Our Future's buy is: Colorado ($293,000); Florida ($857,000); Iowa ($490,000); Michigan ($465,000); North Carolina ($773,000); New Hampshire ($231,000); Nevada ($278,000); Ohio ($581,000); Virginia ($354,000).

This ad buy goes for two weeks ending May 16.

As Romney's campaign opponents have pulled out, Restore Our Future has removed from its YouTube channel the blistering ads it aired during earlier primary contests which criticized both Santorum and Newt Gingrich as they mounted major challenges to Romney.


LOAD-DATE: May 03, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Updated 3:26 p.m. -- Includes new info on ad buy, tweaks throughout


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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382 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 6:35 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2087 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Florida-FAMU-Charges (will update)

Florida authorities have brought charges against 13 people in what they called the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a prosecutor announced Wednesday. "Robert Champion died as a result of being beaten," State Attorney Lawson Lamar told reporters. "His death is not linked to one sole strike, but is attributed to multiple blows."

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

Controversial Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng left the U.S. Embassy in Beijing under duress Wednesday, a friend of the activist's told CNN, contradicting reports that he departed of his own volition.

China-US-Dissident

The United States managed to get "extraordinary" commitments from China to resolve a standoff over Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, but the incident is unlikely to strain long-term ties between Beijing and Washington, a former State Department official said Wednesday. Yet questions surfaced almost immediately: A friend said Chen left under duress, after Chinese authorities threatened his wife if he chose to stay. One critic says it looks as if the U.S. abandoned Chen. Is that true?

California-Forgotten-Prisoner

A San Diego college students detained after a drug raid was "accidentally left" in a small holding cell without food for several days last month, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The mayor of a Montana college town weighed in Wednesday after the Justice Department said it would investigate whether reported sexual assaults in upcomingthe town were properly investigated.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities and submit to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King.

SPORT-Los Angeles Dodgers

Magic Johnson is among the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

US-Health-Care-Fraud

More than 100 people have been charged and an estimated $450 million in false billings uncovered by federal agents in a nationwide operation that authorities say is the largest bust in recent history.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

China-Clinton-Visit

Chinese authorities threatened the family of Chinese activist Chen Guangdeng if he didn't leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, a friend of the activist said Friday.

INTERNATIONAL

MONEY-Europe-Unemployment

Unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10.9% in March, another sign of the broad economic weakness and possible recession across the continent.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan where he reiterated that U.S. troops will not remain in the country "a single day longer" than necessary.

POL-Obama-Media-Afghanistan

Hours before the official announcement that President Barack Obama had landed in Kabul, Afghanistan for a surprise visit, the media -- both social and electronic -- were already buzzing with reports about the trip. Had he indeed landed in-country? Was it just a rumor? Should it be reported anyway?

Egypt-Protests

Assailants targeted protesters demonstrating against the exclusion of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing at least 11, medical sources told CNN. At least 100 people were injured, said Hisham Shiha, the deputy minister of health.

India-Ferry-Disaster

Authorities continued their search for bodies Wednesday, two days after one of India's worst ferry accidents claimed at least 100 lives.

China-Clinton-Visit

A Chinese human rights activist who escaped house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing left for a hospital Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the life of a man at the center of a controversy between the United States and China. Chen Guangcheng's presence in the U.S. Embassy prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China. It threatened to overshadow U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders this week.

Syria-Unrest

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

Libya-Moammar-Gadhafi-Daughter

The daughter of deposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi asked international prosecutors to begin investigating her father's and brother's deaths as possible war crimes in a letter submitted Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council

London-mayoral-election

To an outsider, Thursday's contest to elect the next mayor of London would appear to be a fight between two larger-than-life characters -- known best by their first names -- for control of the city's famous red buses

U.S.A.

US-Health-care-fraud

More than 100 people have been charged and an estimated $450 million in false billings uncovered by federal agents in a nationwide operation that authorities say is the largest bust in recent history.

MONEY-Adp-Jobs-Report

Business hiring is slowing. Private companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP, falling far short of the 170,000 jobs economists were expecting.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A massive fire tore through a building at the southwest Atlanta film studio of Tyler Perry on Tuesday night. No one was injured, but the blaze caused one building to partially collapse.

US-Blackout-Report

A massive power outage in September 2011 that left millions of people in California, Arizona and Mexico in the dark was the result of weakness in operational planning and situational awareness, according to an independent report.

ENT-Girls-Actress-Allison-Williams

One of the stars of HBO's controversial new show "Girls" is vowing not to get naked for the camera.

Texas-Wildfires

Two wildfires that have charred 24,000 acres in drought-stricken West Texas threaten 150 homes and 250 other buildings, officials said Wednesday.

SPORT-NFL-Saints-Suspensions

Four former New Orleans Saints players were suspended Wednesday by the National Football League for their roles in the "bountygate" scandal involving bonuses for trying to hurt opponents.

New-York-The-Scream

One might expect a few screams Wednesday evening at Sotheby's auction house in Manhattan. Or a few gasps, at the least. Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is set to hit the auction block at 7 p.m. ET.

TRAVEL-FAA-Bird-Strike-Video

A Delta Air Lines passenger who admitted using an electronic device last month to videotape a bird strike minutes after takeoff has been warned by the Federal Aviation Administration to follow the rules or face a penalty the next time.

POLITICS

POL-Obama-Massachusetts-Senate

President Barack Obama has made his way into the contentious Massachusetts Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren highlighting her ties to the president and Republican Sen. Scott Brown using a recent White House bill signing to prove his bipartisan streak.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

POL-WV-Governor-Obama

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, said in an interview published Wednesday he's unsure if he'll vote for President Barack Obama in the upcoming general election.

POL-Obama-Washington-Fundraisers

President Barack Obama, fresh off a surprise trip to Afghanistan, will attend two fundraisers in Washington Wednesday that will raise major cash for the president's re-election effort

MONEY

MONEY-Thebuzz

Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds are back below 2%. They really shouldn't be this low. Most fixed income investors agree that's the case. Yet, people keep clinging to long-term securities like Linus Van Pelt does to his baby blue security blanket.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday, as investors digested a weak private-sector jobs report and mostly upbeat corporate results.

MONEY-Time-Warner-Earnings

Media conglomerate Time Warner posted higher first-quarter operating earnings Wednesday, helped by strong results from its movie and television studios.

MONEY-Income-Debt-Inequality

Debt inequality is the new income inequality.

MONEY-Germany-Recession

As recession spreads across Europe, Germany may not be able to avoid being dragged down.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

A $7 million watch shatters Kickstarter records.

MONEY-Cosmetics-Aging-Women

Cosmetics for aging women is a million-dollar market.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa

South Africa's rooibos is a hit with tea lovers across the world.

MONEY-Target-Kindle

Target will soon stop selling the Amazon Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, the retailer confirmed Wednesday.

MONEY-Delta-Refinery

Delta's decision to buy an oil refinery earlier this week is certainly bold, possibly unique and perhaps an inspiration to anyone who wished they could stick it to Big Oil and make their own gas. But, for Delta, it's definitely risky.

MONEY-Calpers-Activist

As Occupy Wall Street rages, Occupy boardroom shows no signs of slowing down.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

auction-art-islamic-week

London's auction houses hosted a week of sales dedicated to art of the Islamic world

qatar-female-olympics

Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country. When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

FEA-National-Truffle-Day

Do the truffle shuffle! May 2 is National Truffle Day. A little more rare than your average pack of button mushrooms at the grocery store, these underground beauties that seem to magically surface at the foot of trees are definitely special enough to get their own day.

COMMENTARY-Frum-Vice-President-Rubio-Jindal

Republicans have a Latino problem. Only about 6% of Latino voters agree that the GOP is the party most concerned for their interests. Nearly half choose the Democrats as the party most concerned for them.

COMMENTARY-suri-obama-afghan-speech

Jeremi Suri: Obama's speech represents start of rapid withdrawal from Afghan war

TRAVEL-Cinco-de-mayo-travel

When celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday, consider a more authentic Mexican experience than simply ordering a margarita and chips and salsa at the local sports bar. Not ready for a trip to Mexico right now? There is plenty of Mexico to explore and celebrate in the United States since much of the Southwest was once part of our neighbor to the south.

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.


LOAD-DATE: May 03, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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All Rights Reserved



384 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 2:37 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1527 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Mark Bixler - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

Chinese authorities threatened the family of Chinese activist Chen Guangdeng if he didn't leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, a friend of the activist said Friday.

UK-Spy-Mystery-Death (will update)

A British spy found dead at his home in 2010 -- his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub -- was either suffocated or poisoned, but it is unlikely his death will ever be satisfactorily explained, coroner Fiona Wilcox said Wednesday. Gareth Williams' death was "unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she ruled.

Libya-Gadhafi-Daughter-Letter

The daughter of former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi asked international prosecutors to begin investigating her father's and brother's deaths as possible war crimes in a letter submitted Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana. The investigation will look into sexual assault investigations at the University of Montana at Missoula, the Missoula Police Department and Missoula County Attorney's Office.

POL-Secret-Service (will update)

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities and submit to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Florida-FAMU-Charges (Will update)

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign (Will update)

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

China-Clinton-Visit

Chinese authorities threatened the family of Chinese activist Chen Guangdeng if he didn't leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, a friend of the activist said Friday.

INTERNATIONAL

MONEY-Europe-Unemployment

Unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10.9% in March, another sign of the broad economic weakness and possible recession across the continent.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan where he reiterated that U.S. troops will not remain in the country "a single day longer" than necessary.

POL-Obama-Media-Afghanistan

Hours before the official announcement that President Barack Obama had landed in Kabul, Afghanistan for a surprise visit, the media -- both social and electronic -- were already buzzing with reports about the trip. Had he indeed landed in-country? Was it just a rumor? Should it be reported anyway?

Egypt-Protests

Assailants targeted protesters demonstrating against the exclusion of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing at least 11, medical sources told CNN. At least 100 people were injured, said Hisham Shiha, the deputy minister of health.

India-Ferry-Disaster

Authorities continued their search for bodies Wednesday, two days after one of India's worst ferry accidents claimed at least 100 lives.

China-Clinton-Visit

A Chinese human rights activist who escaped house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing left for a hospital Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the life of a man at the center of a controversy between the United States and China. Chen Guangcheng's presence in the U.S. Embassy prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China. It threatened to overshadow U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders this week.

Syria-Unrest

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

U.S.A.

MONEY-Adp-Jobs-Report

Business hiring is slowing. Private companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP, falling far short of the 170,000 jobs economists were expecting.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived. Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A massive fire tore through a building at the southwest Atlanta film studio of Tyler Perry on Tuesday night. No one was injured, but the blaze caused one building to partially collapse.

POLITICS

POL-Obama-Massachusetts-Senate

President Barack Obama has made his way into the contentious Massachusetts Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren highlighting her ties to the president and Republican Sen. Scott Brown using a recent White House bill signing to prove his bipartisan streak.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

MONEY

MONEY-Time-Warner-Earnings

Media conglomerate Time Warner posted higher first-quarter operating earnings Wednesday, helped by strong results from its movie and television studios.

MONEY-Income-Debt-Inequality

Debt inequality is the new income inequality.

MONEY-Germany-Recession

As recession spreads across Europe, Germany may not be able to avoid being dragged down.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

A $7 million watch shatters Kickstarter records.

MONEY-Cosmetics-Aging-Women

Cosmetics for aging women is a million-dollar market.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa

South Africa's rooibos is a hit with tea lovers across the world.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

auction-art-islamic-week

London's auction houses hosted a week of sales dedicated to art of the Islamic world

qatar-female-olympics

Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country. When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

COMMENTARY-Frum-Vice-President-Rubio-Jindal

Republicans have a Latino problem. Only about 6% of Latino voters agree that the GOP is the party most concerned for their interests. Nearly half choose the Democrats as the party most concerned for them.

COMMENTARY-suri-obama-afghan-speech

Jeremi Suri: Obama's speech represents start of rapid withdrawal from Afghan war

TRAVEL-Cinco-de-mayo-travel

When celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday, consider a more authentic Mexican experience than simply ordering a margarita and chips and salsa at the local sports bar. Not ready for a trip to Mexico right now? There is plenty of Mexico to explore and celebrate in the United States since much of the Southwest was once part of our neighbor to the south.

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.


LOAD-DATE: May 03, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



385 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:35 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 1162 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editors Mark Bixler - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

UK-Spy-Bag-Death

Investigators on a coroner's court plan to issue their verdict Wednesday in the bizarre case of a British secret agent whose body was found inside a locked bag in his London home two years ago. The case has riveted Britain. Did a foreign agent kill Gareth Williams? Is a lover to blame for a sex game gone terribly wrong? Could Wililams' reported fetish for confined spaces have played a role? The inquest plans to issue its verdict around 7 a.m. ET.

China-Clinton-Visit (Will update)

The escaped Chinese activist whose refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China has left for a medical facility. The news Wednesday came hours after the arrival in Beijing of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders were in danger of being overshadowed by Chen Guangcheng's presence in the embassy.

Syria-Unrest (Will update)

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Florida-FAMU-Charges (Will update)

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign (Will update)

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORY

China-Clinton-Visit

The escaped Chinese activist whose refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China has left for a medical facility. The news Wednesday came hours after the arrival in Beijing of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders were in danger of being overshadowed by Chen Guangcheng's presence in the embassy.

CNN SHOWCASE

UK-Spy-Mystery-Death - By Laura Smith-Spark

It reads like something from a spy novel. An MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent is found dead at his home, his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub. There is no sign of a break-in or of force having been used against him. The man's Internet history betrays an interest in sex games and bondage. But DNA traces suggest other people may have been in his apartment. The mysterious 2010 death of Gareth Williams, who worked for Britain's foreign intelligence service, is a riddle that has gripped the nation. And at the heart of the mystery is a key question: Could Williams have zipped himself into the bag as part of a bizarre sexual fantasy? Or was the Cambridge-educated math whiz placed there by what family members have suggested are killers versed in the "dark arts" of espionage?

INTERNATIONAL

POL-Afghanistan-Obama

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan where he reiterated that U.S. troops will not remain in the country "a single day longer" than necessary.

India-Ferry-Disaster

Authorities continued their search for bodies Wednesday, two days after one of India's worst ferry accidents claimed at least 100 lives.

China-Clinton-Visit

The escaped Chinese activist whose refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity between the United States and China has left for a medical facility. The news Wednesday came hours after the arrival in Beijing of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose scheduled meetings with senior Chinese leaders were in danger of being overshadowed by Chen Guangcheng's presence in the embassy.

Syria-Unrest

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Egypt-Protests

Assailants targeted protesters demonstrating against the barring of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing five and leaving at least 45 people injured, the health ministry said.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

U.S.A.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived. Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A massive fire tore through a building at the southwest Atlanta film studio of Tyler Perry on Tuesday night. No one was injured, but the blaze caused one building to partially collapse.

POLITICS

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

MONEY

MONEY-Income-Debt-Inequality

Debt inequality is the new income inequality.

MONEY-Germany-Recession

As recession spreads across Europe, Germany may not be able to avoid being dragged down.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

A $7 million watch shatters Kickstarter records.

MONEY-Cosmetics-Aging-Women

Cosmetics for aging women is a million-dollar market.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa

South Africa's rooibos is a hit with tea lovers across the world.


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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:03 AM EST


New Obama Campaign Video: Gingrich v Romney in His own Words


BYLINE: By Jessica Yellin and Paul Steinhauser, CNN


LENGTH: 330 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- The Obama campaign is out with a new web video featuring some of Newt Gingrich's fiercest attacks on Mitt Romney, the same day Gingrich is expected to show support for Romney's candidacy.

The video features clips of Gingrich questioning Romney's candor as a politician, querying why he has a swiss bank account, and in response to a question by Wolf Blitzer at a CNN debate, describing Romney as the most anti-immigrant candidate remaining in the race.

On Romney's record as CEO of Bain Capitol, Gingrich accuses Romney of "looting a company" and driving other businesses to bankruptcy. And it features Gingrich in a Fox News appearance during the GOP primaries saying, "The Romney machine can drive down turnout it can run over opponents with negative ads. It doesn't seem capable of inspiring positive turnout and the result is I think very very worrisome if you're thinking about the Fall campaign."

It ends with CBS' Norah O'Donnell asking Gingrich if he's "calling Mitt Romney a liar"?" Gingrich responds, "yes."

The video's snarky tagline: "Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter."

Gingrich's broadsides echo attacks the Obama campaign has used to try and define Romney - as a flip flopper lacking a core, a former takeover artist who didn't create jobs but gutted companies, and an anti-immigrant politician.

Gingrich would hardly be the first onetime opponent to endorse a rival. Mitt Romney endorsed John McCain in 2008. Sen Hillary Clinton endorsed then-candidate Barack Obama after their bitterly fought contest the same year.

The point of the video is unlikely to change any voters minds. It's more likely intended as an attempt to goad Gingrich into discussing these past statements, reminding those closely watching the race of the past statements, and forcing these topics back into the conversation.

Because the video was released only to political reporters, statements were not immediately available from the Gingrich or Romney campaigns.


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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 6:57 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Overnight Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 465 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Saeed Ahmed - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

China-Clinton-Visit (3:30 a.m.)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing on Wednesday at the start of a visit set to be overshadowed by the case of an escaped Chinese activist who is believed to have taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy.

Syria-Unrest (4 a.m.)

As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks that amount to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry (4:30 a.m.)

The Justice Department has launched a probe into 80 allegations of sexual assault in a city in Montana amid complaints that local law enforcement failed to thoroughly investigate the cases.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad (6 a.m.)

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt-Protests

Men in plainclothes attacked protesters demonstrating against the barring of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing one and leaving dozens injured, witnesses said.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

U.S.A.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived. Florida-FAMU-Charges

Criminal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN. The state attorney's office holds a news conference at 2 p.m. ET.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Campaign

Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A multiple-alarm fire broke out Tuesday night in a building at the Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta, a fire official told CNN.


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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 3:18 AM EST


Romney plays it safe with bin Laden


BYLINE: By Jim Acosta, CNN National Political Correspondent


LENGTH: 756 words


DATELINE: Philadelphia (CNN)


Philadelphia (CNN) -- Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

"I am pleased that President Obama has returned to Afghanistan. Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our President about what is at stake in this war," Romney said in the statement released late Tuesday night.

Romney made no mention of the new security agreement that was signed by the president and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai exactly one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

In his statement, Romney simply warned of the consequences of failure in Afghanistan.

"It would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and a strategic setback for America if the Taliban returned to power and once again created a sanctuary for terrorists. We tolerated such a sanctuary until we lost thousands on September 11, 2001," Romney said.

Romney's restraint throughout the day showed a different side of the Republican contender. Gone were his usual pointed complaints about the president's foreign policy. By appearances, he seemed to be letting the president have his moment.

At a brief news conference outside a New York City fire station, Romney was relatively gentle in his criticism of the president's dramatic use of Monday's White House news conference to draw a contrast with his expected general election rival.

"I'd just recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go into Pakistan and take out bin Laden," the president said.

It was a clear reference to statements Romney made in 2007 when he questioned whether it was worth moving "heaven and earth" to take down the terrorist leader. The former Massachusetts governor later said he would do everything to bring bin Laden to justice.

"I think politicizing it and trying to draw a distinction between himself and myself was an inappropriate use of the very important event that brought America together, which was the elimination of Osama bin Laden," Romney said at the New York news conference.

Romney said his comments in 2007 were intended to demonstrate prudence on the world stage.

"I would have made the same decision the president made,. which was to remove him," Romney told reporters.

He even gave credit where he felt it was due. "You know I think it's totally appropriate for the president to express to the American people the view that he has... that he had an important role in taking out Osama bin Laden," Romney added.

Romney has not always been this charitable. Last December in a speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition, Romney delivered a blistering attack on the president's foreign policy.

"Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. Appeasement betrays a lack of faith in America, in American strength, and in America's future," Romney said in the December speech.

The charge that Mr. Obama has shown weakness on the world stage dates back to the speech Romney used to kick off his 2012 presidential campaign. Romney said the president "traveled around the globe to apologize for America." The fact-checking web site, PolitiFact, later rated Romney's claim as "pants on fire."

Romney has struck a noticeably more cautious public posture ever since the Obama re-election campaign released its controversial ad that questioned the Republican contender's willingness to take out bin Laden.

For days, Romney and his campaign faced an image battle they could not win. As the president was on his way to Afghanistan, Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani were delivering pizzas to firefighters.

Romney did not join the few Republicans in Congress who questioned the timing of the president's trip.

"The White House tells us it is a coincidence that POTUS is in Afghanistan on anniversary of OBL death," tweeted Iowa Republican congressman Steve King. In his tweet, King referred to Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, a pioneer in pro-football end zone celebrations.

After his brief appearance with Giuliani, Romney attended two private fundraisers in the Philadelphia suburbs where he would stay away from the cameras for the remainder of the day.

The day's political challenges were a reminder of the uphill battle Romney faces in removing a "war-time president."

"It's the power of incumbency--accept it. Plus, election is still about the economy," former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted earlier in the day.


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Creators Syndicate


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Piers Morgan Slays Himself in Goldberg Interview


BYLINE: David Limbaugh


SECTION: PIERS MORGAN SLAYS HIMSELF IN GOLDBERG INTERVIEW


LENGTH: 912 words


There was a silver lining for Jonah Goldberg in Piers Morgan's ambush interview of him allegedly concerning his new book, "The Tyranny of Clichés." Jonah couldn't have written a better script to illustrate his book's theme.

Someone really should explain to Morgan that when a host invites a guest to discuss the guest's book, the host ought to at least make a good-faith effort to pretend he has the slightest interest in allowing the author to expound on the book's contents - as opposed to using the author as a prop to indulge the interviewer's own arguments against conservatives and their toxic opinions.

That someone might also inform Morgan that it's a perversion of the Socratic method for an interviewer to badger a guest into admitting the rhetorical premises of the interviewer's opinions rather than lead him through carefully constructed logical arguments to those conclusions - never allowing the guest fully to answer his questions, never listening to his responses, making every one of his follow-up questions a classic non sequitur and putting words in the guest's mouth for the purpose of constructing and then demolishing various straw men.

The central theme of Jonah's book, which he explained in response to the only germane question Morgan posed in the interview, is that though pretty much everyone is ideological, conservatives are honest about it, and liberals are not. Liberals lie about their own ideological proclivities, mostly to themselves but also to others.

Let me briefly unpack the interview to illustrate precisely how accurate Goldberg is and how, during the interview, Morgan became a personification of the book's theme - all without having the slightest clue he was doing so.

Early in the interview, Morgan launched into an accusatory tirade about conservatives' unfair criticism of President Obama for his decision to take out Osama bin Laden. As Goldberg pointed out - in between Morgan's interruptions - most conservative criticism has been directed not at Obama's decision but at his unpresidential gloating about it after promising he wouldn't "spike the football" and at Obama's ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have made a similar decision.

But Morgan seemed hellbent on proving Goldberg's thesis by showing he couldn't get beyond his clichéd thinking to deal with the arguments Goldberg was making instead of those he was projecting on to him. Morgan insisted on mischaracterizing Goldberg's beef with Obama's decision as a knee-jerk ideological Republican reaction. (Morgan refused to grasp that the criticism was over the ad.) "I can't understand how any Republican can genuinely criticize (the decision)," pleaded Morgan.

When he finally did belatedly address Goldberg's actual point, Morgan noted that Obama's ad was fair game because Romney would have done the same to Obama had the tables been turned. Goldberg explained that the ad unfairly took Romney's remark out of context because Romney was comparing the importance of capturing a major figurehead (bin Laden) with otherwise successfully prosecuting the overall war on terror. Of course Romney would have given the kill order against bin Laden had he been presented with it.

When Morgan claimed that Romney's earlier statements implied he wouldn't have spent the necessary money to capture bin Laden, Goldberg shot back that it was a relatively cheap operation. Morgan, visibly shellshocked, demanded to know how much Goldberg thought it cost.

After being waterboarded into answering, Jonah ventured a guess of $50 million, after which Morgan spent the next several minutes sputtering indignantly about how a Republican such as Goldberg could think $50 million is pocket change. "Wow, and that's cheap in the Republican world? ... No wonder the country got into the mess it did," said Morgan, the exasperated fiscal hawk. Voilà, Goldberg's nuanced argument about Romney's actual position was transmogrified by the ideologically clichéd liberal Morgan into some bizarre class-warfare screed.

At one point in the interview, the prey (Goldberg) captured the hunter (Morgan), with Morgan exclaiming, "I'm not batting for Democrats or Republicans," to which Goldberg replied during one of Morgan's rare pauses for oxygen, "If you're not batting for Democrats, it's a wonderful approximation of it." Game, set, match.

You see, Morgan obviously doesn't believe he's displaying a liberal bias. He is, undeniably, lying to himself - again, vindicating Goldberg's argument.

But Morgan wasn't finished. He said, "No, I like to deal with reality." Goldberg may have been thinking to himself, "Wow, he has no idea how thoroughly he is validating my book." For on Page 14, Goldberg described this very liberal mindset: "They hide their ideological agenda within Trojan Horse clichés and smug assertions that they are simply pragmatists, fact finders, and empiricists who are clearheaded slaves to 'what works.'"

Perhaps Morgan didn't get past Page 13 of the book, but you should; it's a fabulous, trenchant, insightful read, about which I shall have more to say later.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book, "Crimes Against Liberty," was No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction for its first two weeks. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM


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Creators Syndicate


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Slinging Mud


BYLINE: Mark Shields


SECTION: SLINGING MUD


LENGTH: 640 words


Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels was characteristically candid when speaking to the Indianapolis Star's Matthew Tully on the nasty tone and shortage of content in the 2012 campaign for the White House. Daniels advised unofficial GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, "You have to campaign to govern, not just to win," before adding: "Spend the precious time and dollars explaining what's at stake and a constructive program to make life better. And as I say, look at everything through the lens of folks who have yet to achieve."

Tully then wrote, "After a pause, Daniels added with disappointment: 'Romney doesn't talk that way.'"

In fact, in 2012, no major candidate has been campaigning that way. According to the Wesleyan Media Project, which analyzes political commercials, while only 9 percent of the ads at this point in the 2008 campaign had been negative, a full 70 percent of the 2012 ads have been negative. Yes, the 1,100 percent increase in spending over four years ago by interest groups, fictitiously independent of any candidate's campaign, has been 86 percent negative, but candidates' own ads, which in 2008 were just 9 percent negative and 91 percent positive, are now, according to Wesleyan's research, 52.5 percent negative.

Romney is obviously not alone in conducting a campaign that seems to have as its overriding objective to discredit, disparage and defeat its opponent(s). The Obama campaign, more than six months before Election Day, is running a TV commercial in battleground states portraying Romney as a profits-before-people plutocrat who, while Massachusetts governor, "outsourced state jobs to a call center in India." After accusing Romney of seeking tax breaks to send American jobs overseas, it concluded, "It's just what you expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account." Not much hope and change in that one.

Because neither presidential candidate is going to accept the limits and restraints imposed by the acceptance of public funds in the general election (something every nominee since Richard Nixon, up until Obama in 2008, had done), you will not be seeing or hearing the legally required disclaimer in the 2012 TV spots, "I'm Mitt Romney/Barack Obama, and I approve of this message."

To save you time, here are a few of the negative statements you will be hearing in the next few months. You can bet on it. And these are from Republicans who publicly back Mitt Romney for president:

"We're not going to beat Barack Obama with some guy who has Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Island accounts, owns shares of Goldman Sachs that forecloses on Floridians and is himself a stockholder in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while he tries to think the rest of us are too stupid to put together the dots to understand what this is all about." - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2012.

"I've never seen a guy change his positions on so many things, so fast on a dime. Everything ... He was pro gun-control. Fine, then he became a lifetime member of the NRA. ... He was pro-mandate for the whole country, then he becomes anti-mandate and takes that page out of his book and republishes the book. I can go on and on." - Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, Dec. 15, 2011.

"Gov. Romney has a career as an investment banker and someone who's a private equity guy on Wall Street. I'm not too sure that commends you well to be president of the United States." - Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, "Kilmeade and Friends," Fox Radio, March 13, 2012.

And that's just a sampling of Republicans negative statements about the Republican standard-bearer. It could be a long, uninspiring six months.

To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

COPYRIGHT 2012 MARK SHIELDS


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Daily News (New York)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
SPORTS EXTRA EDITION


'GRIT & RESILIENCE' Bam praises N.Y.C. in surprise Afghan chat


BYLINE: BY ALISON GENDAR and JOSEPH STRAW NEW YORK DAILY NEWS With News Wire Services


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8


LENGTH: 579 words


PRESIDENT OBAMA declared in dramatic fashion on the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death that Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists - and the defeat of Al Qaeda is "within reach."

Obama flew in secret under the cover of darkness to Afghanistan Tuesday to officially mark the wind down of America's longest war, which began above the skies of New York more than 10 years ago as Bin Laden's terrorists slammed planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

The President saluted the city for inspiring the U.S. through the costly fight against terrorism - and he extolled the resolve of New Yorkers as he urged a better America.

"As we emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it is time to renew America. An America where our children live free from fear, and have the skills to claim their dreams. A united America of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown Manhattan and we build our future as one people, as one nation."

In a nationally televised 11-minute address Tuesday night, Obama vowed the U.S. would end the war in Afghanistan unlike how it was launched - on our terms.

The commander-in-chief inked a 10-year postwar security deal with shaky Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before speaking to a hangar full of raucous U.S. troops, and then the American people via satellite.

"Our goal is not to build a country in America's image," he said in his talk from Bagram Air Base, "or to eradicate every vestige of the Taliban. . . . Our goal is to destroy Al Qaeda, and we are on a path to do exactly that."

"We devastated Al Qaeda's leadership, taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden.

"The goal that I set - to defeat Al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild - is now within our reach," he added.

"We must finish the job we started in Afghanistan and end this war responsibly."

The surprise visit followed a hush-hush 13-hour flight on Air Force One, with reporters aboard stripped of their smartphones as staff tried to stamp out online rumors of the trip, citing security risks.

The stealth six-hour photo op and national address came after a visit Tuesday by GOP rival Mitt Romney to the West Village firehouse of Engine 24/Ladder 5, which lost 11 men on 9/11.

Romney fought to assure voters he would have given the go order on the Navy SEALs' May 1, 2011, lethal Bin Laden raid.

A new Obama ad shows 2007 footage in which the former Massachusetts governor questioned "moving heaven and earth ... to catch one person."

Joined by backer and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Romney accused Obama of exploiting an apolitical victory.

"I think it's totally appropriate for the President to express to the American people that he had an important role in taking out Osama Bin Laden," Romney said.

"But I think politicizing it and trying to draw a distinction between him and myself was an inappropriate use of an event that brought America together," Romney said.

Republicans grumbled that

Obama's trip is a political victory lap funded by taxpayers. Senior administration officials, however, said the trip's timing was dictated by negotiations and a desire to sign off on the deal before an upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

On Monday, that "soaring new tower" to which Obama referred, One World Trade Center, eclipsed the Empire State Building as the city's tallest structure.

jstraw@nydailynews.com


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Daily News (New York)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION


It's a 'killer' ann'y party, & so what?


BYLINE: BY THOMAS M. DEFRANK


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 9


LENGTH: 265 words


WASHINGTON - Of course President Obama has milked the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's demise to bolster his reelection campaign.

So? Why should anyone be surprised? It's what incumbency is all about.

Think George W. Bush wasn't playing politics when he flew onto an aircraft carrier exactly nine years ago Tuesday and informed the American people - prematurely - that the war in Iraq was over.

Republican dyspepsia over Obama's celebratory stagecraft is understandable - but those are the breaks.

Every new President quickly learns that when Air Force One is at your disposal, you use it.

When you aren't so fortunate, you eat pizza at a Manhattan firehouse and talk about how tough you WOULD have been if given the chance to take out the personification of evil in the 9/11 world.

If Mitt Romney were President he'd be emulating Obama in taking advantage of a singular moment of American triumph.

Yet Obama and his handlers couldn't resist piling on, darkly suggesting Romney really wouldn't have taken Bin Laden out. That puts them close to the edge of overplaying their hand.

Based on Romney's prior wishy-washy commentary, it's a reasonable argument to make.

"He's cutting our own commercials for us," said Democratic strategist Mark Siegel.Yet there's a key difference: Obama promised he wasn't going to play this slash-and-burn, business-as-usual game.

But hope and change are dead. Now Obama stands prepared to do what's necessary to get reelected.

So Obama wins this day, but it doesn't change his fortunes in November. The economy, not the heroism of the Navy SEALs, will determine his fate.


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Dayton Daily News (Ohio)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Gingrich to bow out of race today;
New Obama ad released, Romney loses a spokesman.;
ELECTION 2012


BYLINE: From News Services


SECTION: NATION & WORLD; Pg. A5


LENGTH: 217 words


NEW YORK - Newt Gingrich thanked supporters Tuesday, a day before he officially leaves the Republican presidential race, and pledged to work hard to prevent the "genuine disaster" he says would come from re-electing President Barack Obama.

Gingrich says in a video message posted on his website that he will announce his withdrawal from the race this afternoon in Arlington, Va.

"Your help was vital," the former House speaker tells supporters in the nearly two-minute video.

In other campaign developments, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign released a new ad Tuesday accusing Romney of outsourcing jobs and slamming him for keeping money in foreign bank accounts.

The ad says Romney "shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China" when he led the investment firm Bain Capital. And it says Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, "outsourced state jobs to a call center in India."

The campaign was spending about $780,000 to place the ad in markets in the crucial swing states of Ohio, Virginia and Iowa, according to a Republican strategist monitoring the purchase of advertising time. Obama's camp only described the ad placement as "a significant buy."

Romney lost his national security spokesman Tuesday. Richard Grenell resigned after critics questioned his conservatism because he is gay.


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Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


'Newt's greatest hits': new Obama ad compiles clips of Gingrich bashing Romney


BYLINE: Jamshid Ghazi Askar Deseret News


LENGTH: 268 words


Read more: Top 10 moments from Newt Gingrich's GOP presidential bid Newt Gingrich officially ends his presidential campaign on Wednesday, and rumors persist that he might even endorse likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney. On such an occasion, it should come as no surprise that President Barack Obama's campaign wants to ensure no one forgets all those nasty things Newt said out on the campaign trail about Mitt. So on Tuesday the Obama campaign released "Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," an 87-second ad that showcases Gingrich's most audacious critiques of Romney.

"Talk about low-hanging fruit," the Christian Science Monitor's Linda Feldmann wrote. "All the Obama camp needed to do was collect the most pungent of Gingrich?s attacks on Mr. Romney during primary debates and interviews, add a heavy dose of sarcasm and stir." Despite Gingrich's documented history of zealous Romney bashing, some experts believe the former House speaker will still play an important role in the 2012 presidential election. USA Today reported on Tuesday, "Some political analysts say Gingrich ... will play (an) important role in Romney's quest for the White House. 'There are still fences to mend,' Bob Vander Plaats of the Family Leader, a group of social conservatives, (said). 'The base is very inspired to defeat Barack Obama but the base is very uninspired to elect Gov. Romney.'" Newt Gingrich: not a big fan of Mitt Romney The Obama campaign has a new ad out that shows clips of Newt at his contemptuous best, taking shots at Romney over issues like Bain Capitol and Swiss bank accounts.


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The Frontrunner


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Obama Camp's "Swiss Bank Account" Ad Targets Romney


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 406 words


The Huffington Post (5/1, Stein) reported that, taking aim at Mitt Romney, President Obama's campaign on Tuesday launched a new ad titled "Swiss Bank Account," which will run in Iowa, Ohio, and Virginia. In the spot, an announcer says, "As a corporate CEO, [Romney] shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China. As Governor, he outsourced state jobs to a call center in India. He's still pushing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. It's just what you expect from a guy who had a Swiss Bank Account."

The Los Angeles Times (5/1, Memoli, 630K) reported on its website, "The ad buy, which a campaign aide called 'significant,' is at the same time an offensive maneuver meant to try and shape how the public views" Romney "and a defensive one, reacting to another multimillion-dollar television campaign from a leading outside group. The Obama 30-second ad opens by branding a spot from Americans for Prosperity critical of the administration's energy initiatives as 'over the top,' 'erroneous' and 'out of context.' The conservative-backed group had claimed that billions of dollars in stimulus funds actually created jobs overseas."

The Wall Street Journal (5/2, Hook, O'Connor, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) offers a similar report and notes that in response to the Obama ad, Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said, "Unable to defend his failed record of 23 million Americans struggling for work, wasteful boondoggles like Solyndra, skyrocketing national debt, and unacceptably high energy prices, President Obama has once again resorted to attacking Mitt Romney."

Obama Campaign Crafts Map Highlighting Romney's Overseas Bank Accounts.

The Hill (5/1, Easley) reported on its website, "The Obama campaign has used Mitt Romney's 2010 tax returns to create a map of the presumptive Republican nominee's overseas bank accounts. The graphic, published on the Obama campaign website, shows the trusts, funds and partnerships that Romney holds in Bermuda, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Cayman Islands and Australia. ... 'We don't know if [Romney is] using these accounts to avoid paying his fair share in taxes, but we do know that in 2010, Romney's tax rate was a startlingly low 13.9%,' read a message on the Obama campaign website. 'This means Romney pays a lower tax rate than many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other middle-class Americans - even a lower rate than most other millionaires.'"


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The Frontrunner


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Conservative Group Seeking To Shield Identities Of Its Donors


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 139 words


Politico (5/2, Vogel, 25K) reports, "In a move designed to shield the identities of anonymous donors and possibly set the stage for a court fight over disclosure," a GOP "outside group...is unveiling eight proposed ads attacking President Barack Obama and defending Mitt Romney - including an ad that touts 'Romneycare.' American Future Fund - which has already spent $7.5 million on hard-hitting anti-Obama ads in the 2012 cycle - revealed details of the ads in a request for a ruling released Tuesday by the" FEC. The group is asking the agency if it "would be required to reveal the finances behind the ads - including the donors who funded them - if it aired them. The group 'does not want to risk being compelled to violate its donors' privacy expectations, its lawyers wrote in the request, which they filed with the FEC last month."


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The Frontrunner


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Headlines From Today's Front Pages


SECTION: THE BIG PICTURE


LENGTH: 689 words


Los Angeles Times: Obama Signs Afghan Pact, Visits Troops Hepatitis A New Worry For Baby Boomers Rhythm Of The Street Parliamentary Panel Calls Murdoch Unfit To Lead News Corp. On Stage, Off The Strip

Wall Street Journal: News Corp. Blasted In UK Efforts To Relax Gun Exports Face Resistance Chesapeake Board Crimps CEO's Power

New York Times: Obama Signs Pact In Kabul, Turning Page In Afghan War Panel In Hacking Case Finds Murdoch Unfit As News Titan In Pursuit Of Mayor Bloomberg, The Reluctant Endorser Dallas Museum Simmers In A Neighbor's Glare Once An Ambitious Law Firm, Reduced To Grim Dispatches

Washington Post: Launch To Mark New Frontier For NASA In Ariz., Tall Order For A Democratic Hero Obama Signs Pact In Kabul For S. Sudan Abundant Oil Turning Into A 'Curse' Time On Someone's Hands

Chicago Tribune: How Daley Fattened Pension 'New Day' For Afghan Mission Creepy Maybe, Popular Definitely

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Pushing Beyond Prisons Good Day For Gains Obama Sees An End To Combat More 'Serious' Charges For Ex-Chief Fulton's Amnesty Month Begins With A Whimper

Detroit Free Press: The Cipriano Homicide In Kabul, Obama Sees 'Light Of A New Day' Long Delay In Porn Probe At State Office Stirs Outrage More Hospitals In Michigan Look To Care Through Music Facebook Users Can Now Share Organ Donor Status

Houston Chronicle: Obama Sees A 'New Day' On Surprise Afghan Trip Cross-Border Flood Of Kids Alarms Feds Technology In Miniature Makes Big Impression Testifying Tough, Pettitte Admits

Financial Times: Murdoch 'Not fit' To Run Global Company Carbomb Hits Kabul After Obama Visit UBS Shareholders Set To Rebel Over Pay

Washington Times: Obama In Kabul: Afghan War Near An End Fueled Up, No Place To Go Secret Files Missing At National Archives Visitors Pack Heat In Va. Parks Iran Is Top 'Contingency' In Whittled US War Plans Paul Backers Create Delegate Mischief

Story Lineup From Last Night's Network News: ABC: Obama Afghanistan Visit; Economy-Wall Street; Occupy Protests; Cleveland Bomb Plot; UK-Murdoch; Facebook Organ Donor Initiative; Airline Crash Tests; Transportation-Turn Signals. CBS: Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Pakistan-Bin Laden Raid; Panetta-Bin Laden Raid; New York-Terror Trial; Cleveland Bomb Plot; Occupy Protests; Economy-Mixed Signals; UK-Murdoch; Mike Wallace Memorial Service. NBC: Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Politics-Bin Laden Anniversary; Bin Laden Anniversary Interview; Cleveland Bomb Plot; Occupy Protests; UK-Murdoch; Economy-Wall Street; John Edwards Trial; Airliner Crash Test; Health-Sleep-Healthy Weight.

Story Lineup From This Morning's Radio News Broadcasts: ABC: Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Afghanistan-Taliban Negotiations; Afghanistan-Suicide Bombing; Politics-Romney; California-May Day Demonstrations; Labor Department-Wal-Mart. CBS: Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Afghanistan-Suicide Bombing; Cleveland Bomb Plot; Politics-Gingrich; Economy-Auto Sales. NPR: Afghanistan-Suicide Bombing; Obama-Afghanistan Visit; Presidential Politics-New Obama Ad; Seattle-Occupy Protesters Arrested; Labor Department-Wal-Mart; Economy-Auto Sales; Arkansas-Lottery Winner Case.

Story Lineup From This Morning's Network News: ABC: Extreme Weather Forecasts; Obama-Afghanistan Visit; SECSTATE-China; California-May Day Demonstrations; Cleveland Bomb Plot; Trayvon Martin Case; Arkansas-Lottery Winner Case; John Edwards Trial; Philadelphia Tour Boat Accident; FAA-Jet Collision Investigation; UK-Madeleine McCann Search; Deon Sanders Divorce Battle. CBS: China-Human Rights Activist; Obama-Afghanistan Visit; California-May Day Demonstrations; Illinois-Dixon Comptroller On Trial; UK-Murdoch; Princeton Review Accusations; Tyler Perry's Studio On Fire; Facebook-Organ Donor Program; Roger Clemens Trial; FAMU-Hazing Incident; California-Mexican Statue Controversy. NBC: Afghanistan-Suicide Bombing; Obama-Afghanistan Visit; China-Human Rights Activist; Cleveland Bomb Plot; California-May Day Demonstrations; Politics-Gingrich; Economy-Wall Street; Jessica Simpson Gives Birth; John Edwards Trial; UK-Madeleine McCann Search; Bobby Brown Interview; New Jersey-Child Endangerment Case.


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The Frontrunner


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Late Night Political Humor


SECTION: LAST LAUGHS


LENGTH: 670 words


Jay Leno:

"But earlier today, President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. He's in Afghanistan right now. And of course, the Secret Service is not happy. Have you ever been to Afghanistan? Booze is illegal. There's no hookers. Oh, my God. You've got to do your job and guard the President!"

Jay Leno:

"Well have you heard about these new rules? The Secret Service announced that agents will now be assigned chaperones on certain trips. What are you, 14? What is that? I thought the Secret Service was the chaperone."

Jay Leno:

"And German authorities report they have discovered digital files hidden in a porn movie that outlines Al Qaeda's plans for more terrorist attacks. Al Qaeda was hiding their plans in a porn movie. I believe this is the first time that a porn film has ever contained a plot."

David Letterman:

"I don't know how they calculate this but listen to this. Since Osama bin Laden was killed the brand name of Al Qaeda has been damaged. Think about that. Osama bin laden's death has damaged the brand Al Qaeda. That and poor customer service."

David Letterman:

"You know who's in town today? Take a guess. Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney has not been in New York City since he used to anchor the Channel 7 news."

Jimmy Fallon:

"Hey, did you guys see this? During a speech yesterday, President Obama said he's not very good at fixing things around the house. Obama is all right with a hammer, but usually he leaves the screwing to the Secret Service. Get it?"

Jon Stewart:

"So let me get this straight. Republicans, you are annoyed by the arrogance and braggadocio of a wartime President's political ad. You think he is divisively and unfairly belittling his opponents. I see. I have a question. Are you on crack? Were you alive lo, these past ten years? It seems unseemly for the President to spike the football? Bush landed on a [bleep] aircraft carrier with a football stuffed codpiece, he spiked the football before the game had even started!"

Jon Stewart:

"Your Republican caterwauling and outrage is the subject of our new segment: 'You Are Aware That The Frontal Lobe Of The Cerebral Cortex Gives Us The Ability To Store And Recall Past Events As They Occurred, Right?'"

Stephen Colbert:

"Folks, you know, the general election hasn't even officially kicked off but today Barack Obama used taxpayer dollars to campaign in a key swing state-- Afghanistan. We've been fighting there for so long I believe they now get three electoral votes."

Stephen Colbert:

"Obama first addressed the troops at Bagram Air Base then met with Hamid Karzai to sign a security agreement which lasts through 2024. So to those who had 23 years in the Afghan war pool-- you win?"

Stephen Colbert:

"Presidents don't spike the football. You do an end zone dance on an aircraft carrier even if you never found the football! I believe that was aboard the USS Humility."

Jimmy Kimmel

: "One year ago today bin Laden was still alive and Tupac was still dead. Isn't that something? Remember how excited, everyone was cheering, 'We got him, we got him!' Just for the record, we didn't get him, the Navy SEALs got him. I was on my couch eating crescent rolls and watching 'Dance Moms.' The identities of that SEAL Team 6 is still a mystery. That is amazing. If I had killed bin Laden, I don't care what oath I took. I would have gone on a 50 state bragging tour. I would have had my name legally changed to 'I Killed bin Laden Kimmel."

Jimmy Kimmel

: "President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan today to commemorate the anniversary. He gave an inspiring speech to troops, followed by dinner at TGI-I'm Leaving and then got right the hell out of there."

Craig Ferguson:

"Rupert Murdoch got some bad news today. Remember Rupert Murdoch? He's the media mogul who has so much money he makes Mitt Romney look like a hobo. Today British lawmakers said Murdoch was unfit to run a company. I'm like, 'Is that news?' He's 160 years old, out of touch with everything. Of course he's unfit to run a company. But perfect to run a Hollywood studio, or Congress."


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Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Pay Cut Due Lawmakers


BYLINE: Letters


SECTION: A; Pg. 9


LENGTH: 135 words


DATELINE: Lancaster, PA


TO THE EDITORS:

I heard Obama state he would take a pay cut. I am wondering why that was not suggested to the House and Senate, for them all to take a 25 percent pay cut and get insurance that would be comparable to Medicare benefits and less retirement money.

I think we will see a snowstorm in July before anyone in Washington would ever think of doing that.

How many people know that our lawmakers in Washington only work about 100 days a year?

Also, I have seen Mitt Romney's political ad from his business partner, about his daughter being missing in New York. So, Romney closes his business and takes the employees on a plane to New York to search for the girl.

One question for Romney: Would you have done the same for a custodian working for you, had it been his daughter? I think not.

A.K. Hartsough

Lancaster


LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2012


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Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Newt Gingrich to officially end presidential bid


BYLINE: The Lowell Sun


SECTION: BREAKING


LENGTH: 184 words


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newt Gingrich is planning to officially end his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination with an announcement Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

The former House speaker had indicated he would leave the race after he finished poorly in five Northeastern primaries last week.

On Tuesday, Gingrich thanked supporters in a video message posted on his website, saying their "help was vital."

He pledged to work hard to prevent the "genuine disaster" he says would come from re-electing President Barack Obama, but did not mention Mitt Romney, the all-but-certain GOP presidential nominee.

The Obama campaign on Wednesday released an 80-second web video that compiled clips from interviews and debates during the Republican primary where Gingrich criticizes Romney on issues ranging from immigration to his tenure as a venture capitalist. "Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," the ad states.

Gingrich won only two contests -- in South Carolina and in Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years. His campaign has reported being more than $4 million in debt.


LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2012


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The New York Times


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final


Obama Spot Offers a Rebuttal and a Jab at Romney


BYLINE: By JACKIE CALMES


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; AD WATCH; Pg. 17


LENGTH: 530 words


The Obama campaign on Tuesday released a 30-second advertisement, ''Swiss Bank Account,'' that combines a rebuttal of a conservative group's recent anti-Obama ad with a slam at Mitt Romney, the likely Republican nominee. Mr. Romney's record of cutting and outsourcing jobs as a businessman and Massachusetts governor, the ad charges, ''is just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account.'' The Obama ad will run in three battleground states -- Ohio, Virginia and Iowa -- where the anti-Obama ad has also appeared.

THE SCRIPT The ad begins with a man's emphatic voice reading quotes that appear on screen -- ''over the top,'' ''erroneous,'' ''out of context'' -- to describe the anti-Obama ad. The narrator counters, ''President Obama's clean energy initiatives have helped create jobs for projects across America, not overseas.'' The narrator quickly asks, ''What about Mitt Romney?'' and answers, ''As a corporate C.E.O., he shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China. As governor, he outsourced state jobs to a call center in India. He's still pushing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.'' The ad ends with the line about the Swiss bank account.

ON THE SCREEN Whenever the narrator talks about Mr. Romney or big oil, the screen has a black background. First, the ad shows a small, anti-Obama video clip, and alongside are the narrator's words, in white type, rebutting it. Then the words ''Big Oil's New Attack Ad'' whip over the video clip, covering much of it. The screen briefly turns a more pleasing light blue: A color photo of a determined-looking Mr. Obama is next to a map of the United States under the words ''Jobs created by President Obama's clean energy initiatives.'' The map fills with circles denoting locations of job-creating projects. Back to black, as the phrase ''What about Mitt Romney?'' is followed by black-and-white photos of the candidate. Beneath the phrase ''The Romney Record'' are phrases about shipping jobs overseas (on a global map, Mexico and China suddenly pop out in red); outsourcing Massachusetts jobs (a photo of the Massachusetts State House switches to one of India's Taj Mahal); and supporting tax breaks for outsourcing companies (a photo appears of an abandoned plant). Throughout the ad, in small type, are news media citations supporting its assertions.

ACCURACY The Obama campaign provided additional citations from news media and fact-checking groups to vouch for the ad's content. Those sources have repeatedly assailed the statements in the recent ads from two Republican-led groups, Americans for Prosperity and the Iowa-based American Future Fund, as falsehoods. The ad's assertion that ''big oil'' is behind such attack ads is based on the fact that Americans for Prosperity receives some money from Charles and David Koch, who are oil billionaires. The statements about Mr. Romney's jobs record are drawn from past coverage of his career as governor and at the private equity firm Bain Capital. While the Obama ad makes a big deal of Mr. Romney's Swiss bank account, it is careful to use the word ''had'' -- the account was closed as Mr. Romney began his run for president. JACKIE CALMES


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


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The New York Post


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Shameless


BYLINE: Editorial


SECTION: Sports+Late City Final; Pg. 26


LENGTH: 564 words


Never mind spiking the football after Osama bin Laden's death; President Obama has turned his re-election campaign into one big end-zone dance.

And last night, on national TV, he practically claimed "Mission Accomplished."

It's not just premature; it's shameless.

Obama flew to Afghanistan ostensibly to sign a "strategic partnership" agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

But Obama's real point was impossible to miss: to air a dramatic, taxpayer-funded campaign ad with a high-value, if expensive, backdrop - and claim credit for ending two wars in that region.

"Over the last three years, the tide has turned. We broke the Taliban's momentum. We've built strong Afghan Security Forces. We devastated al Qaeda's leadership," the prez boasted. "And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

Are there no depths to which Obama won't stoop to get re-elected?

He spoke of emerging from "a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home." It's time, he said "to renew America." Taxpayers should send him a bill.

Let's stipulate, yet again: Obama deserves gratitude for OK'ing the SEALs' mission.

Right after bin Laden's demise, we wrote: "Three cheers for the president."

We noted that, despite his earlier opposition to Team Bush practices that figured in bin Laden's takedown - i.e., terrorist interrogations and keeping Gitmo open - Obama "chose policy continuation over partisan advantage-taking." The result, we said, was "two bullets in Osama's head - a very good day's work."

The president, for his part, vowed at the time not to "spike the football" - to boast excessively about the deed.

Maybe he should've added: except during election season. In the last few days, he has:

l Launched a campaign ad with Bill Clinton touting the accomplishment - and suggesting, ludicrously, that Mitt Romney wouldn't have made the same call.

l Dispatched Vice President Joe Biden to drive the point home in speeches.

l Bragged about the mission himself and suggested - misleadingly - that in 2007 Romney doubted that killing bin Laden was worth the effort.

"I assume that people meant what they said when they said it," Obama huffed this week, in a clear reference to Romney's '07 remark. "That's been at least my practice."

(Except, perhaps, regarding footballs . . .)

Whatever happened to speak softly and carry a big stick? When it comes to bin Laden, Obama can't seem to shut up.

Too bad. Because, this is one subject where humility is warranted.

For starters, it was SEAL Team 6 that actually dispatched the terror chief, even if the prez gave the OK.

A number of SEALs now are reportedly slamming Obama for using them as "ammunition" for his re-election bid.

As Sen. John McCain - a true American hero - put it: Heroes don't brag.

As for ending the wars in the region, Obama's spin is, let's say . . .sinteresting.

For one thing, Afghanistan's future, particularly with US troops drawing down, remains an open question, to say the least.

Even Iraq's fate is unclear. (And by the way, any success there might have at least something to do with President George W. Bush's surge in 2007 - not that Obama, who opposed it, would note that.)

Trouble is, Obama has little else to crow about. And that's sad news for America - in more ways than one.


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The New York Post


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


O gloating on air over Osama Boasts in hush trip to Afghan


BYLINE: Geoff Earle and Carl Campanile


SECTION: Late City Final Replate; Pg. 5


LENGTH: 1202 words


President Obama yesterday took a 14,000-mile victory lap to Kabul - landing in the Afghan capital under cover of darkness in a brash gesture on the one-year anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death at the hands of Navy SEALs.

"We can see the light of a new day on the horizon," Obama told the nation in a televised address from Afghanistan amid cries from Republicans that he has turned the bin Laden victory into political grist.

Standing in front of hulking military vehicles, Obama gave a pep talk to more than 3,000 troops gathered in a hangar at ­Bagram Air Force Base - where SEALs launched their strike on bin Laden.

"It's going to be broadcast back home during prime time," he told them. "So all I want to do is just say thank you."

Obama invoked bin Laden, as he and his aides have been doing for a week, saying, "Slowly and systematically, we have been able to decimate the ranks of al Qaeda, and a year ago, we were able to ­finally bring Osama bin Laden to justice."

In his address, Obama pointed to the coming end of US military operations in Afghanistan, saying, "Here in the predawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon."

Obama's anniversary visit came a day after he denied conducting any "excessive celebration" to boost his campaign.

Hours after he left Afghanistan, at least six people were killed in an attack in Kabul carried out by a suicide bomber in a car and militants disguised in burqas. The target was a compound housing hundreds of foreign workers, but it was not immediately known if any Americans were victims.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying it was a response to the president's trip.

In other fast-paced developments on the anniversary:

n Mitt Romney, accompanied by former mayor Rudy Giuliani, visited a Greenwich Village fire station that lost 11 firefighters on Sept. 11, 2011.

n Obama signed an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai laying out the basis for the US commitment in Afghanistan past 2014. It doesn't specify troop presence or funding commitment, but lets US forces provide continued training of Afghan security and targeting of al Qaeda.

n The mission was kept under wraps, and the White House ­denied a New York Post report - citing Afghan sources - on the trip yesterday morning.

n The president said he recognized that Americans are "tired of war," but said defeating al Qaeda "is within our reach."

Obama, who just days after the bin Laden raid warned about "spiking the football," has come under fire himself for milking the operation in a campaign ad. 

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took Obama to task for chest beating on bin Laden this week, saying, "You know the thing about heroes, they don't brag."

But McCain yesterday praised Obama's trip, telling CNN, "It's always good when the president goes to where young men and women are in harm's way."

In a sign of the continued security threats in Afghanistan, Obama and Karzai signed the agreement after midnight local time in the presidential palace.

"It would be a saintly act of ­renunciation for Obama not to take political advantage of the killing of bin Laden," said Leo Ribuffo, a history professor at George Washington University.

But, he added, "Any president would have made the same decision. Obama was in a sense lucky that it occurred on his watch. It's not as if he personally did the surveillance or led the team jumping into Pakistan."

For his part, Romney said he'll deliver security to Americans as commander-in-chief, just minutes after he delivered six ­pizzas to the firehouse.

Romney, who was accompanied by Giuliani at Engine 24, Ladder 5, blasted Obama for trying to use the killing of bin Laden for political purposes.

"I think politicizing it and trying to draw a distinction between himself and myself was an inappropriate use of a very important event that brought Americans ­together," Romney said.

He accused Obama of mischaracterizing comments the presumptive GOP presidential nominee made in 2007.

"Of course I would have ­ordered taking out Osama bin Laden," Romney said.

"I said the same thing that Joe Biden [said at the time]. It was naive of the president to say [publicly] he would go into Pakistan" without that country's blessing.

Romney faced another foreign- policy controversy yesterday. His national security adviser, Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, ­announced his resignation after social conservatives who oppose gay rights objected to his appointment, The Washington Post reported.

---

Dancing in the end zone

President Obama seems to have forgotten his own advice. Just days after Osama bin Laden was killed one year ago, he said, "We don't have to spike the football." That advice went out the window as Team Obama kicked off a football-spiking spree:

1. Obama gave an interview to NBC's "Rock Center" last Wednesday inside the super-secure White House Situation Room for a special episode on killing bin Laden that aired last night.

2. Vice President Joe Biden, speaking Thursday, said, "On this gut issue, we know what President Obama did. We can't say for certain what Governor Romney would have done."

3. Spokesman Josh Earnest on Thursday defended the NBC interview: "What the president did . . . and what he has done many times before over the course of the last year is talk about that mission and talk about the success of that mission."

4. A campaign ad released Friday has former President Bill Clinton saying, "Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there and it hadn't been bin Laden. Suppose they'd been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible . . . He took the harder and more honorable path." The ad then asks: "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?"

5. At the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday, Obama alluded to the mission to set up a joke. "Last year at this time - in fact, on this very weekend-we finally delivered justice to one of the world's most notorious individuals." Then Donald Trump's photo flashed on the screen.

6. Strategist Robert Gibbs said on NBC Sunday, "Osama bin Laden no longer walks this planet today because of [Obama's] brave decision and the brave actions by our men and women in the military-and, quite frankly, Mitt Romney said it was a foolish thing to do a few years ago."

7. Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on CNN Sunday, "It was a tough decision . . . When the time came for him to make a momentous decision like that, he took the action that did bring bin Laden to justice."

8. Brennan, at a press briefing Monday, said Obama made "one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory."

9. At a press conference Monday, Obama denied there had been "excessive celebration" of the anniversary, saying, "I said that I would go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him-and I did. If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, then I'd go ahead and let them explain it."

10. Obama flew to Afghanistan yesterday for an unannounced visit on the anniversary of the killing. At 13,912 miles round trip, it's arguably the longest victory lap ever.

geoff.earle@nypost.com


LOAD-DATE: May 2, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: -Saluting Himself: President Obama makes a secret trip to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan yesterday, where he visited troops and made a televised address to the United States on the one-year anniversary of the Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden. [Reuters]-Osama bin Laden.-President Barack Obama as a football player spiking the ball. [NY Post photo composite]


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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406 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION


SECTION: NATIONAL; NATION; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 689 words


GAY ROMNEY AIDE STEPS DOWN

Richard Grenell, whom Mitt Romney chose last month as his presidential campaign's national security and foreign policy spokesman, stepped down from his post Tuesday, suggesting that the conservative backlash over his sexuality prevented him from being effective in his role.

In a statement provided to The Washington Post, Mr. Grenell, who is openly gay, said: "While I welcomed the challenge to confront President [Barack] Obama's foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign." He added: "I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team."

Shortly after Mr. Romney announced that Mr. Grenell would join his team, Mr. Grenell was forced to remove entries from his Twitter account that some considered offensive. Mr. Grenell came under fire for a series of snarky tweets aimed at women, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow; and Callista Gingrich, the wife of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

NO GUN BAN IN TAMPA FOR GOP CONVENTION

TAMPA, Florida -- Florida's governor has refused a request to prohibit the carrying of guns in downtown Tampa during the Republican National Convention in August.

The city's mayor had written to Rick Scott asking for an executive order that would override state and federal laws allowing people with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms. He and other officials are worried about people carrying guns in such a politically charged atmosphere.

But in a letter dated Tuesday, the Republican governor said banning guns in all of downtown would infringe on citizens' constitutionally protected rights to legally arm themselves.

Mr. Scott wrote, "It is unclear how disarming law-abiding citizens would better protect them from the dangers and threats posed by those who would flout the law."

PRO-ROMNEY GROUP READIES 9-STATE ADVERTISEMENTS

NEW YORK -- An independent group backing Republican Mitt Romney is spending nearly $4 million on ads in nine battleground states.

An organization that tracks TV spending by political campaigns says the Romney-aligned Restore Our Future has bought television ad time in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and New Hampshire.

The pro-Romney group was by far the biggest advertiser during the Republican presidential primary, spending more than $53 million on ads attacking Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich after each one emerged at different points as Mr. Romney's chief conservative rival.

NEW BARRIERS GOING IN ON NYC HIGHWAY WHERE 7 DIED

NEW YORK -- New York's Transportation Department says it's addressing some safety concerns on a stretch of highway where an accident killed seven people.

Commissioner Joan McDonald says new concrete barriers will be installed on the outside travel lane on three Bronx River Parkway viaducts in New York City.

One of those viaducts is 60 feet over the Bronx Zoo, where an SUV landed on Sunday, killing seven members of a Bronx family.

Police said the SUV hit the median, crossed three lanes and hit a 2-foot-high concrete curb.

100,000 FACEBOOK USERS USE NEW ORGAN DONOR OPTION

ATLANTA -- An organ donation group says more than 100,000 people used a new Facebook feature the first day to declare they are donors.

The new option was announced Tuesday by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to boost the number of potential organ donors. It allows Facebook users to add organ donor along with other personal information on the site.

Donate Life America, the group working with Facebook, said more than 100,000 users had added their donor status by Tuesday night.

The feature also provides a link to state registries so people can officially sign up to be a donor. By Wednesday morning, 18,000 Facebook users had used the link.

But a spokeswoman said they don't know how many of those 18,000 followed through and registered.


LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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The Record (Bergen County, NJ)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
AE Edition


AN AMERICAN VICTORY


SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 429 words


ONE YEAR ago, in a bold course of action, American special ops forces converged on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and killed the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the firefight that followed. The raid has been lauded for courage and determination, an example of can-do American spirit and the product of thorough training. That raid was ordered by President Obama.

Bin Laden's death brought about a momentary show of unity in this country. At least for a day or two, there were no "red state" Americans or "blue state" Americans; there were only Americans who had vowed on Sept. 11, 2001, to track down the perpetrators of the attacks that dealt so much horror and misery.

On the anniversary of bin Laden's killing, however, and even as we mark this week the rising of One World Trade Center as the tallest building in New York City, we are back to our rabid partisan ways. Obama, a Democrat, has been touting the killing of bin Laden as proof of his willingness to make the hard call and has used it in campaign ads as he begins the presidential race against presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Republicans see the Obama ads as politicking at its worst.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," Sen. John McCain said in a statement. In the end, though, Obama is right: The killing of bin Laden occurred on his watch. In a climate where Republicans have criticized the president on every front and questioned his nerve as commander in chief, the GOP's outrage comes off as petty and hypocritical.

On Tuesday, Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to announce a new, long-term relationship with the two countries, which the president outlined in a prime-time speech from Bagram Air Force Base. The speech, timed with the anniversary of bin Laden's death, marks an important transition for this nation's commitment, which will include a U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan until 2024. Significantly, though, with 23,000 U.S. troops set to rotate home by autumn, Obama used the speech to highlight America's "shift to a support role" while also announcing an "enduring partnership" with the Afghan people.

How much leeway voters give Obama in his relative chest-beating on the bin Laden killing remains to be seen. The commander in chief's actions, though, are sometimes about politics and policy. We have no doubt that if McCain were president, he would be doing much the same thing.


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
State Edition


Romney must move to the center


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A-08


LENGTH: 804 words


Romney must move to the center

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

It has been an interesting Republican presidential primary season featuring Mitt Romney along with appearances by Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman Jr., Tim Pawlenty, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Perhaps with the exception of Ron Paul, all of the candidates expressed socially conservative, Tea Party values to win primaries held in socially conservative states.

The new challenge for Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, is to move toward the center on the economy, health care (especially women's health care), education, energy, entitlements (Social Security and Medicare), environment, gun control, foreign affairs and immigration so as to attract independent voters and moderate Republicans without alienating his conservative base.

The often nasty fight for the Republican presidential nomination may have seriously damaged Romney's image among the voters that he needs. He must face these issues and find solutions in the months ahead.

Martin H. Cohen.

Glen Allen.

Reader enjoys Woody's writing

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I enjoy Paul Woody's style of writing. Even if the sports columnist is writing about a sport or a person that I may have no real interest in beforehand, Woody somehow is able to pull me in and offer an insight that either entertains or intrigues me.

Thanks, Paul.

Jim Dawson.

Midlothian.

The opposite of faith is disobedience

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

President Obama is a true socialist following the Enlightenment philosophies of the 17th and 18th centuries. This human secularist ideology believes that the government is supreme and absolute, that God and his divine providence are at most secondary to the state and its will for the people.

Obamacare is the first step in eliminating freedom of religion. Eventually socialist states discriminate against or abolish religion altogether. Let's not forget the Russian revolution in 1917 or Nazi Germany in the 1930s. A person of faith believes that faith is exercised by trust in God first. That person entrusts him- or herself to God, not the state. The opposite of faith is disobedience. Socialism is opposed to our faith in God and our complete freedom to practice that faith.

Vito Cortese.

Louisa.

Americans impatiently wait for next election

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The word oath can mean a solemn declaration of commitment to future action or a vow, pledge of one's word of honor.

When one enters the American military, he takes an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. That pledge means he will put himself in harm's way to not only abide by the Constitution but to defend and protect it. This obligation runs the gamut from the officer protecting the rights of a defendant in a court martial to the combatant on the field. The service member may have to sacrifice life or limb to uphold his vow to defend the Constitution.

Our senators and representatives in Congress "shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this Constitution," according to Article VI of that document. They too promise to put themselves at risk for an idea that has given more freedom to more people than any other political document in history.

How does the courage of our legislators compare with the valor of our splendid military? We must use the term contrast rather than compare, as is disgustingly illustrated by the growing list of unchallenged abuses by the executive branch of the U.S. government.

Many members in both the House and Senate are fearless and tireless defenders of the freedoms that are in harm's way. Their courage is largely neutralized by others who fail to lead. Those in chief positions of power who fail to defend the Constitution and our way of life would be subjected to court-martial were they in the military. Millions of Americans impatiently wait for these politicians (they are far from being statesmen) to demonstrate a fraction of the honor of our Armed Forces who swear to the same oath.

Bill Goode.

Waverly.

Bill Clinton as spokesman is curious choice

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

How ironic that the Obama campaign is using Bill Clinton in a campaign ad praising Obama's courage in killing Osama bin Laden. This is the same President Clinton who twice stopped the CIA from attacking and killing the head of the terrorist group. This was before 9/11 but after several earlier attacks by al-Qaida.

This is the same Clinton who managed to send a large number of cruise missile at a few empty tents in Afghanistan and an aspirin factory in Africa. And of course, these courageous attacks happened on the same day that Monica Lewinski was testifying before a grand jury about inappropriate conduct with the president.

Will the Obama re-election campaign announce it is entitled to the multimillion-dollar reward for killing bin Laden?

Stephen Eckhardt.

Henrico.


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
State Edition


Battle for Virginia begins;
Obama, Romney bringing their messages this week


BYLINE: WESLEY P. HESTER; Richmond Times-Dispatch


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A-01


LENGTH: 456 words


Virginia's battleground status will be on full display over the next few days with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney stumping in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads today and Thursday and President Barack Obama holding a rally Saturday in Richmond.

Following a campaign stop in Chantilly this morning,Romney will hold an event Thursday in Portsmouth with Gov. Bob McDonnell.

McDonnell, who has campaigned with Romney in other states, is rumored to be on Romney's short list of vice presidential prospects.

The two will visit Crofton Industries, a commercial diving and marine construction company.

To greet Romney, Obama's campaign on Tuesday launched a television ad attacking Romney that will air across Virginia and in two other critical swing states -- Ohio and Iowa.

The ad, titled "Swiss Bank Account," repudiates criticism of the president from the oil industry and accuses Romney of shipping jobs overseas as a CEO and Massachusetts governor.

"It's just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account," the ad says.

Amanda Henneberg, Romney's Virginia campaign spokeswoman, quickly fired back.

"With the worst job-creation record in modern history and the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, President Obama is trying to distract Americans from the real issues with a series of sideshows," she said.

Recent polls in Virginia, which Obama won in 2008, have shown the president with an edge.

But in a conference call Tuesday, state and national Republicans said they were optimistic given McDonnell's victory in 2009 and last year's legislative elections, which allowed Republicans to establish full control of the legislature.

David Rexrode, executive director for the Republican Party of Virginia, said Republicans had "revamped their entire operation" since 2008.

Rexrode added that he expects Romney, with the support of the RPV, to "fight for every vote in every locality" like they did in 2009 with the governor's race.

Representatives from the Republican National Committee rolled out a new social media tool, the Social Victory Center, which allows Republican activists to connect with voters, share information and organize events through Facebook.

The Obama campaign, meanwhile, was announcing events that will be held today across the state where special floor tickets to the Saturday rally at Virginia Commonwealth University would be available.

In Richmond, state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, and local Obama supporters will be phone-banking today at 7 p.m. at the Obama for America field office at 408 E. Main St.

whester@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6976

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The Salt Lake Tribune


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


THE RACE: Gas price drop may offer political bonus


BYLINE: By Tom Raum


SECTION: NEWS; National; World; Local


LENGTH: 398 words


BC-US--The Race,333

THE RACE: Gas price drop may offer political bonus

AP Photo ORDR105, DCPM110, NHJC101

Eds: With AP Photos.

EDITOR'S NOTE -- With 190 days left until Election Day, here are insights into today's highlights in U.S. politics

By TOM RAUM

Associated Press

You wouldn't know it from campaign rhetoric, but gasoline prices have been trending down.

Six months out, polls show the presidential race is very close and that the frail economy and jobs still top voter worry lists. Thus even a small drop in gas prices could generate big political ripples.

Generally, any slide in gas prices should benefit President Barack Obama more than presumptive GOP challenger Mitt Romney, and vice versa.

After flirting with $4 a gallon earlier this spring, the recent national average of $3.83 a gallon is down eight cents from a month ago

The drop hasn't registered politically yet. Each party is blaming the other for high pump prices.

Republicans fault Obama for policies they claim are restricting U.S. oil production and pushing up energy costs, including his blocking the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. They also say he's taking credit for production increases that owe much to his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. "No matter how Obama spins it, gas costs too much," says an ad by Crossroads GPS, a Republican super PAC.

Romney laments that gas prices just "go higher and higher" under the Democratic president.

Obama wants to give regulators more muscle to deter price manipulation by speculators, whom he says "can reap millions while millions of American families get the short end of the stick." He also blasts GOP opposition to ending tax breaks for oil and gas companies.

Gas prices are falling partly because slowing economic growth in the U.S. and China and ongoing debt woes in Europe are easing demand for petroleum products. Also, cars are more fuel efficient and Americans are driving less.

Gasoline on average is still 55 cents higher than it was on Jan. 1. But in politics as in economics, the trend can be the friend.

----

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/tomraum . For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also followhttps://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign:https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012 . Alt Heads:

THE RACE: Gas price drop may offer political bonus


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GRAPHIC: Police appears at roadblock on Doc's Drive , Friday, April 27, 2012 in Grantham, N.H. James Perriello has been charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife, Natalie Periello, inside their home Thursday night, with their four children present. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)


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Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas)


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


LENGTH: 1032 words


BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - On a swift, secretive trip to the war zone, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday night that after years of sacrifice the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan is winding down just as it has already ended in Iraq. "We can see the light of a new day on the horizon," he said on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death and in the midst of his own re-election campaign.

"Our goal is to destroy al-Qaida, and we are on a path to do exactly that," Obama said in an unusual speech to America broadcast from an air base halfway around the world.

He spoke after signing an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai setting post-war promises and expectations. With two armored troop carriers as a backdrop, Obama made his remarks in the midst of his endeavor to win re-election as U.S. president and commander in chief.

NATION

DOW JONES AVERAGE HITS HIGHEST MARK SINCE '07: The Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level in more than four years.

The fastest growth in U.S. manufacturing in 10 months gave stocks a lift Tuesday. Orders, hiring and production all rose in April.

The Dow added 66 points to 13,279, its highest close since Dec. 28, 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose eight points to 1,406. The Nasdaq composite climbed four to 3,050.

All 10 industry groups within the S&P 500 were higher, led by energy companies. Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 6 percent on reports that the company will replace its chairman, Aubrey McClendon.

STINGING GAS SENDS MAY DAY PROTESTERS FLEEING: Hundreds of activists across the U.S. joined the worldwide May Day protests Tuesday, with Occupy Wall Street members in several cities leading demonstrations and in some cases clashing with police.

In Oakland, Calif., stinging gas sent protesters fleeing a downtown intersection where they were demonstrating. It was unclear whether police fired the gas, but officers took four people into custody.

Black-clad protesters in Seattle used sticks to smash small downtown windows and ran through the streets disrupting traffic.

In New York, police in riot gear lined the front of a Bank of America, facing several dozen Occupy activists marching behind barricades. "Bank of America. Bad for America!" they chanted.

NYC MAN CONVICTED IN THWARTED SUBWAY BOMB PLOT: In what authorities called the most serious terror threat since the Sept. 11 attacks, a New York City man was convicted Tuesday of plotting with two of his former classmates at a Queens high school to attack the subways as suicide bombers.

A jury deliberated less than two days before finding Adis Medunjanin guilty of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, attempting to commit an act of terrorism and other terrorism charges. At trial, the jurors had heard the first-time testimony from admitted homegrown terrorists about al-Qaida's determination to strike America on its home turf.

The former classmates, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, testified the three men sought terror training after falling under the influence of inflammatory recordings of U.S.-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki that they downloaded and listened to on their iPods.

FBI SAYS 5 MEN CHARGED IN OHIO BRIDGE BOMB PLOT: Five men described by federal authorities as anarchists who were angry with corporate America and the government have been charged with plotting to bomb an Ohio bridge.

The men were arrested Monday night after unknowingly working with an FBI informant for months. They were charged with conspiracy and trying to bomb property used in interstate commerce.

All five had initial appearances in Cleveland federal court Tuesday afternoon and were ordered jailed without bond pending a hearing Monday.

The target of the plot was a bridge that carries a state highway over part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in the Brecksville area, about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland.

ROMNEY SAYS OBAMA SHOULDN'T USE BIN LADEN IN CAMPAIGN: Republican Mitt Romney said Tuesday that it was "totally appropriate" for President Barack Obama to claim credit for taking out Osama bin Laden a year ago, but his decision to politicize a unifying event for the country wasn't.

Obama's re-election campaign has used his decision to order the U.S. military raid that ended with the 9/11 mastermind's death to suggest that Romney wouldn't have made the same call. Romney, the president's all-but-certain Republican challenger in the fall election, said he would have made the same decision.

Marking the anniversary at a New York City firehouse that lost 11 men on Sept. 11, 2001, Romney said he understood the president's desire to take credit for killing one of the world's most-wanted men.

GPS SUGGESTS RACING YACHT HIT ROCKS OFF MEXICO: A website that tracks boats by GPS shows that an American yacht mysteriously destroyed during a Pacific Ocean race left a track landing on the rocky shore of an island off Mexico's northern coast.

The GPS track potentially undercuts the theory of a collision with a ship.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said Tuesday in San Diego that investigators haven't recovered the GPS device from the yacht, but they would consider the coordinates it recorded.

Tracking information shows the yacht landing on Mexico's Coronado Islands about 3:30 a.m. Topeka time Saturday at a speed of about 6 knots.

WORLD

UK LAWMAKERS SAY RUPERT MURDOCH UNFIT TO LEAD COMPANY: A committee of British lawmakers called Rupert Murdoch unfit to run his global media empire - a finding that reflects just how deeply the phone hacking scandal born of his defunct News of the World has shaken the relationship between the press and politics.

The divisive ruling Tuesday against Murdoch, his son James and three of their executives also exposed the waning influence of the media tycoon and could jeopardize his control of a major broadcaster.

Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee - a panel that scrutinizes the standards of Britain's press and sports authorities - began an inquiry amid disclosures about widespread tabloid hacking of voice mail, concerns over bribes paid to police for scoops and politicians who may have overstepped the bounds by cozying up to people in the company.

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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 12:00 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 925 words


Va., Mass., Nev. head top Senate races

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Republicans would have a net gain of three U.S. Senate seats if the election were today, Politico's assessment of the chambers most competitive races indicated.

With six months until Election Day, the GOP appears ready to win Nebraska, North Carolina and Missouri, an outcome that would leave the chamber evenly divided, the Washington publication said.

Meanwhile, the Democrats' best chances of siphoning seats from Republicans are in Massachusetts and Nevada, although Politico said the Democrats' advantages in the two states were within the margins of error.

However, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told The Hill last week that "[Maine] is ours," indicating a belief that independent candidate Angus King will caucus with the Democrats should he win.

Politico's Top 10 most competitive races for April, released Monday, are Virginia, Massachusetts, Nevada, Montana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Florida and North Dakota.

Political ads hit swing state airwaves

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Swing states voters are being hit by ads targeting the two main U.S. presidential candidates, in what observers say will be a long battle of the airwaves.

President Obama's campaign took a double-barrel swipe at presumptive Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the latest ad salvo, attacking Romney for his now-closed Swiss bank account and the outside group, Americans for Prosperity, that sponsored an ad the Obama camp said was erroneous.

Americans for Prosperity is one of several conservative independent groups underwriting television commercials in presidential battleground states, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The groups' ad buys provide breathing room for the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee to raise money as they put together field operations.

"We're going to spend tens of millions in this period, when the campaign and the party committees aren't fully ready to take over," said Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity president.

Phillips said the organization didn't coordinate with the Romney campaign or the Republican Party.

Americans for Prosperity said it plans to spend $151 million for television and field operations during this campaign, and expect to spend 80 percent of its TV budget before Labor Day, the Times said.

Democratic-aligned independent groups also are beginning to come to Obama's defense, the Times said. The pro-Obama Super PAC, Priorities USA Action, run by two ex-White House staffers, made a recent a $1 million buy in Nevada and Colorado.

Many of the groups targeting Obama are tax-exempt advocacy organizations that don't have to reveal their donors and run issue ads that don't explicitly call for a candidate's defeat or election. The Times said independent fact-checkers found many ads were either misleading or flat-out false.

Colombia prostitutes questioned in scandal

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Secret Service says it's interviewed most of the women involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal and none appear to have ties to terror groups.

Officials said they've questioned 10 women and plan to question the other two women soon, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The Secret Service says 135 of 175 agents and officers deployed to Colombia for President Obama's trip to last month's Summit of the Americas stayed at the Hotel Caribe, where the scandal occurred.

The 10 women said they were paid for their encounters.

A Secret Service report given Thursday to the congressional committee investigating the scandal said nine of the 12 Secret Service employees allegedly involved in the scandal have successfully completed polygraph exams. Three employees, whoever, have not cooperated with requests to take exams, CNN reported.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York., told CNN the three agents were among the first to lose their jobs in the scandal. One agent said in the polygraph test that did not realize the woman was a prostitute and threw her out of the room when she said she wanted to get paid. King said the agent has not been fired.

Food stamp cuts may slow Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- House Republicans are calling for major cuts to U.S. food stamps, presenting an obstacle to passage of a 2012 farm bill, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

The 2013 budget passed by the U.S. House calls for massive spending cuts in the food stamp program that would hurt the poor who use food stamps and result in farmers losing $20 billion in direct income from the program, The Hill reported Wednesday.

"That's obviously just not going to happen," he told The Hill in an interview this week.

He said it will be a challenge finding common ground between the proposals put forward by the Senate, the president and the House. While the Senate's and President Obama's proposals are fairly closely aligned, the House's proposed $200 billion of cuts in both commodity, conservation and nutrition programs will need some work, he said.

Vilsack said House Agriculture Committees Reps. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and Collin Peterson, D-Minn., "may have their work cut out for them."

The Hill said Vilsack praised the House version of the farm bill for ending the system of direct cash payments to farmers.

"The fact that we are getting away from direct payments, getting to a system that is much more defensible out in the countryside, is certainly something the president has called for and certainly a positive," Vilsack was quoted as saying.


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May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:10 AM EST


Political ads hit swing state airwaves


LENGTH: 300 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, May 2


Swing states voters are being hit by ads targeting the two main U.S. presidential candidates, in what observers say will be a long battle of the airwaves.

President Obama's campaign took a double-barrel swipe at presumptive Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the latest ad salvo, attacking Romney for his now-closed Swiss bank account and the outside group, Americans for Prosperity, that sponsored an ad the Obama camp said was erroneous.

Americans for Prosperity is one of several conservative independent groups underwriting television commercials in presidential battleground states, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The groups' ad buys provide breathing room for the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee to raise money as they put together field operations.

"We're going to spend tens of millions in this period, when the campaign and the party committees aren't fully ready to take over," said Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity president.

Phillips said the organization didn't coordinate with the Romney campaign or the Republican Party.

Americans for Prosperity said it plans to spend $151 million for television and field operations during this campaign, and expect to spend 80 percent of its TV budget before Labor Day, the Times said.

Democratic-aligned independent groups also are beginning to come to Obama's defense, the Times said. The pro-Obama Super PAC, Priorities USA Action, run by two ex-White House staffers, made a recent a $1 million buy in Nevada and Colorado.

Many of the groups targeting Obama are tax-exempt advocacy organizations that don't have to reveal their donors and run issue ads that don't explicitly call for a candidate's defeat or election. The Times said independent fact-checkers found many ads were either misleading or flat-out false.


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The Washington Post


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
Regional Edition


Race to the shallow end


BYLINE: Ruth Marcus


SECTION: EDITORIAL COPY; Pg. A17


LENGTH: 793 words


Maybe it's a hangover - metaphorical, not literal - from the partying of White House Correspondents' Association dinner weekend, but this is feeling like the most vacuous presidential campaign in memory.

Okay, there's a lot of competition in the vacuity derby. This is not the first presidential campaign to feature ponderous hand-wringers, including yours truly, bemoaning the substance-free nature of the political debate.

But the 2012 campaign is striking for the jarring mismatch between the seriousness of the country's problems and the vagueness of the candidates' policy prescriptions.

During the 2000 race, the New Republic's (now New York magazine's) Jonathan Chait decried the "dumbing-down" of the election.

"Eight years ago, candidates waved graphs and 10-point plans," Chait wrote. A policy manifesto was the price of admission.

By contrast, he lamented, the 2000 candidates competed to appear anti-intellectual (this came more naturally to some than others). Their quest to demonstrate fuzzy qualities like "authenticity" and "character" (in the wake of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky) triumphed over serious policy discussions.

Here's the difference between 2000 and 2012: Back then, the flight from substance seemed affordable. The seriousness of 1992 was appropriate for the times, with the country emerging from a painful recession. Eight years later, the economy was booming, the budget was in surplus and Osama bin Laden was unknown to most Americans.

And by current standards, ideological differences between the presidential candidates were muted in 2000. Al Gore and George W. Bush differed most sharply on how best to spend the supposed surplus, and Bush, hard as it may be to recall, advertised himself as a different kind of conservative - compassionate and bipartisan.

The 2012 campaign combines the policy vacuousness of 2000 with the somber setting of 1992 - except that the current environment, foreign and domestic, is much worse.

To take just one measure: In 1992, federal debt held by the public was under $3 trillion, or 48 percent of the gross domestic product. By the end of this year, it is expected to exceed $11.5 trillion, or 74 percent of GDP. The problem of skyrocketing federal spending on entitlement programs, evident in 1992, remains, infuriatingly, unresolved - and, by dint of dithering, that much harder to fix.

The 2008 Obama campaign has been rapped, deservedly, for campaigning on gauzy platitudes. Yet the 2008 race was, in retrospect, gratifyingly specific - specific enough that I was constructing spreadsheets of competing budget promises.

Now, the president who proclaimed in his inaugural address that "the time has come to set aside childish things" is campaigning with dog jokes and a "Pet Lovers for Obama" Facebook group.

The Obama campaign just unveiled an un-illuminating new slogan, "Forward." Compared to what - "Sideways"? Or, as my colleague Alexandra Petri wondered, "Was 'Reply-All' taken?"

Granted, a president running for reelection has a record on which to be judged; his policy proposals are embedded in budget submissions. But President Obama has been decidedly, deliberately obscure about the road ahead - even the foreseeable issue of how to handle the looming "taxmageddon" moment of expiring tax cuts and spending sequester.

Instead, his new campaign ad, attacking Romney as a heartless outsourcer, ends with the tag line, "It's just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account."

Meanwhile, Romney is running a campaign so substance-free that his primary stump speech featured long chunks of reciting verses from "America the Beautiful," a scene of over-the-top emptiness straight out of a Christopher Buckley parody.

Romney's policy specifics are heavy on yummy dessert (tax cuts across the board), light on unappetizing spinach (and paid for by eliminating what tax benefit?). He vows spending cuts to tackle the deficit but won't say where.

He promises to repeal "Obamacare" but offers little about what then to do about either rising health care costs or the growing number of Americans without health insurance. He says he would tackle Medicare spending by switching to a "premium support" model of giving seniors a fixed sum to buy coverage - but omits the crucial detail of how fast these vouchers would grow.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels(R), shortly after endorsing Romney, offered some wise advice. "You have to campaign to govern, not just to win," Daniels said. "Go ahead and have the confidence in the voters to explain the fix we're in and then tell them with some specificity what we can do to get out of it in a way that's good for everybody."

Obama and Romney are campaigning to win. Governing, unfortunately, is an afterthought.

ruthmarcus@washpost.com


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The Washington Post


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
Regional Edition


BYLINE: Jennifer Rubin;


SECTION: EDITORIAL COPY; Pg. A17


LENGTH: 523 words


Behind the exit of Romney's aide

Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, resigned Tuesday in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.

Several people have told me that senior campaign officials and respected Republicans not affiliated with the campaign had contacted Grenell over the weekend to try to persuade him not to leave. In the weeks since Grenell's hiring was announced, the campaign did not put him out to comment on national security matters and did not use him on a foreign policy conference call with journalists. People familiar with the situation told me that Grenell decided to resign because he felt he was being kept under wraps at a time when national security issues, including the president's ad concerning Osama bin Laden, were front and center.

Despite the controversy Grenell's hiring sparked in social media and conservative circles, there was no public statement of support for Grenell by the campaign and no supportive social conservatives were enlisted to calm the waters.

Grenell declined to comment Tuesday beyond a statement that noted in part: "[M]y ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team."

Recent reports in two conservative publications, National Review and the Daily Caller, reflected the uproar among some social conservatives over Grenell's appointment. Although Grenell also raised the ire of liberal commentators with tweets about certain prominent women - that have since been deleted from Twitter - none of the people I spoke with mentioned the tweets as a factor in his decision to resign. Writing in National Review on Friday, Matthew J. Franck asked: "Suppose Barack Obama comes out - as Grenell wishes he would - in favor of same-sex marriage in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. How fast and how publicly will Richard Grenell decamp from Romney to Obama?"

The argument that Grenell could not be openly gay and serve on a GOP presidential campaign was belied by the fact that Grenell's past jobs include working for such foreign policy figures as the George W. Bush administration's ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.

The pressure from social conservatives over Grenell's appointment and the Romney campaign's reluctance to send him out as a spokesman while controversy swirled left Grenell essentially without a job.

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades. . . said Tuesday afternoon: "We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill."

This was perhaps too subtle a retort to those calling for Grenell's head, reminding them that Grenell was hired to advise not on gay issues but on foreign policy matters.


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The Washington Post


May 2, 2012 Wednesday
Met 2 Edition


Bin Laden anniversary has Obama balancing roles of commander, campaigner


BYLINE: Dan Balz


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A06


LENGTH: 1169 words


Rarely has a president blended the role of commander in chief with that of campaigner in chief quite as vividly as President Obama has done in the days surrounding the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.

Five days ago, his reelection campaign triggered a partisan debate over whether he had unduly politicized bin Laden's killing by releasing an advertisement that not only trumpeted that achievement but also pointedly questioned whether presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney would have had the courage to make the same decision.

As that debate raged, the president, acting as commander in chief, landed in Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon for an unannounced visit to the war zone. There, he signed a new security agreement with President Hamid Karzai that outlines a partnership between the two countries that will continue after U.S. combat forces end their mission in 2014.

The president's trip muted, at least for a few hours, the partisan exchanges over whether his campaign had crossed a line with its bin Laden video. At the same time, it suggested that between now and November, the president will point to his management of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the administration's efforts to significantly degrade al-Qaeda, as major successes of his first term.

Yet the visit was also a reminder that Obama is keenly aware that he is dealing with a war-weary nation when it comes to Afghanistan. In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, two-thirds of Americans said they think the decade-long battle there has not been worth the costs it has incurred; nearly half the country feels strongly that way. Even a majority of Republicans hold a negative view of the conflict.

Obama's message Tuesday night in his nationally televised speech was tailored to directly address that sentiment. It was an effort to say that progress has been made and that the end is coming, however slowly, while trying to assure the Afghans that the United States will not cut and run once the combat mission ends. He said the United States must see this battle through to a successful conclusion, although not one that involves nation-building.

"We have traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war," he said. "Yet here, in the predawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. The Iraq war is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfill our mission in Afghanistan while delivering justice to al-Qaeda."

Obama has sought to strike that balance on Afghanistan ever since he decided to increase the number of U.S. troops there. The details of the new strategic agreement will be important: how many troops will remain in Afghanistan, for how long and under what terms. None of those was immediately available.

Economic issues, not foreign policy concerns, are expected to dominate the general-election debate between Obama and Romney and will largely determine its outcome. On those issues, the president remains vulnerable, particularly if there are signs of stagnation or slippage in the fragile economic recovery.

Foreign policy has been a brighter spot for the president. In contrast to the economy, an area in which more Americans disapprove of his actions than approve, Obama's ratings on foreign policy have been generally higher. Even so, Romney has signaled his determination to challenge Obama's record overseas. He has been a sharp critic of the administration's handling of Iran as well as the way the president has dealt with Israel.

For Obama, nothing abroad has been as successful or dramatic as the killing of bin Laden a year ago. The raid carried out by Navy SEALs led to a temporary surge in Obama's approval ratings. It was inevitable that the administration and the president's reelection campaign would seek to highlight the accomplishment on its first anniversary.

But the way they did it opened up the president to criticism that nothing was beyond using for pure political advantage. Former president George W. Bush drew criticism for an ad early in the 2004 campaign that showed briefly a video clip of remains being carried from the site of the World Trade Center. It was considered too political and disrespectful.

Obama's ad, which relied heavily on testimony from former president Bill Clinton, was an assertion of the president's nerve and leadership - and there's no question, based on the evidence, that he approved the risky mission over the objections of some of his most senior advisers.

But only the president and his team can explain why they chose to mark the anniversary of the killing in this way, rather than letting others speak for them. And why they decided that this was the time to ding Romney on whether he would have gone after bin Laden is another puzzlement, for in doing so, they gave Republicans an opportunity to cry foul at a moment when the nation might have collectively celebrated the demise of a terrorist.

The president's trip to Afghanistan, by contrast, was carefully orchestrated, from the secret flight into Bagram Air Base to his emotional remarks to U.S. troops to his somber speech to the nation. Not surprisingly, even some who had been sharply critical of the bin Laden video - including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) - praised the president for making the trip and negotiating a new agreement.

Romney responded with an evenhanded statement, saying: "I am pleased that President Obama has returned to Afghanistan. Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our President about what is at stake in this war. Success in Afghanistan is vital to our nation's security. It would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and a strategic setback for America if the Taliban returned to power and once again created a sanctuary for terrorists."

Obama's visit once again demonstrated the power of a commander in chief to shape events and change the conversation. The timing added drama, although none is ever needed when a president lands in a war zone under the veil of secrecy. Its purpose underscored the long continuum that began in the days after 9/11 and the difficulties the United States has encountered there.

What the aftermath of the visit will bring is only partly predictable. Romney has long been critical of Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan, particularly the pace of withdrawing the surge forces. The reaction to the Obama campaign video about the bin Laden raid showed the sensitivities of Romney and the Republicans to the president's desire to make foreign policy one of his major advantages in November.

But for a day, Obama commanded the stage and spoke to and for the nation, a powerful display of the advantages available to any president, particularly in an election year.

balzd@washpost.com

For previous columns by Dan Balz, go to postpolitics.com.

More on this story:

Obama makes surprise trip to Afghanistan

Video | Obama to troops: War is winding down

Photos | President Obama's visit to Afghanistan


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The Washington Times


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Obama in Kabul: Afghan war near an end;
Lauds troops for sacrifices


BYLINE: By Susan Crabtree and Dave Boyer THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, PAGE ONE; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 1204 words


Looking to deliver on his 2008 campaign promise to extricate the U.S. from two wars, President Obama on Tuesday night mapped out an agreement for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In a prime-time address from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama called for an end to an era of war.

"My fellow Americans, we have traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war," the president said. "Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. The Iraq War is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfill our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al Qaeda.

"This time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end," Mr. Obama said.

The president, who campaigned in 2008 on a promise to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, thanked the troops for their service, sacrifice and resilience and said an American renewal is within reach because of them.

"Time and again, they have answered the call to serve in distant and dangerous places," he said. "In an age when so many institutions have come up short, these Americans stood tall. They met their responsibilities to one another and the flag they serve under. I just met with some of them and told them that, as commander in chief, I could not be prouder. In their faces, we see what is best in ourselves and our country."

Mr. Obama also had strong words for the Taliban, which in recent weeks dropped out of negotiations with the U.S. for a transition agreement.

"Many members of the Taliban - from foot soldiers to leaders - have indicated an interest in reconciliation," he said. "A path to peace is now set before them. Those who refuse to walk it will face strong Afghan security forces, backed by the United States and our allies."

Mr. Obama arrived in Afghanistan under cover of darkness Tuesday on the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, part of a surprise, around-the-globe trip that added drama to what was already a politicized mission.

After midnight in Kabul, Mr. Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a 10-page strategic partnership agreement cementing a U.S. support role in Afghanistan for a decade after 2014, when NATO forces are planning to end their combat mission and seriously curtail their presence in the country.

Immediately after signing the agreement, the president took time to meet with the troops and deliver a nine-minute, off-the-cuff speech to an audience of 3,200 service members who were waiting in a hangar for several hours late in the evening before being told Mr. Obama was on his way.

It was the first time Mr. Obama publicly invoked bin Laden's death since arriving in Afghanistan.

"We did not choose this war. This war came to us on 9/11," he said. "Because of the sacrifices now of a decade - a new greatest generation - not only were we able to blunt the Taliban's momentum, not only were we able to drive al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, but slowly and systematically we have been able to decimate the ranks of al Qaeda. And a year ago, we were finally able to bring Osama bin Laden to justice."

At the mention of bin Laden, the crowd responded with a rousing "hoo-ah."

The president also acknowledged the difficult struggle troops and their families still face on a daily basis.

"I know it's still tough. I know the battle's not yet over. Some of your buddies are going to get injured, and some of your buddies may get killed, and there's going to be heartbreak and pain and difficulty ahead. But there's a light on the horizon because of the sacrifices you've made."

The timing of the trip, on the anniversary of bin Laden's slaying a year ago in Pakistan by a Navy SEAL team, only amplified complaints that Mr. Obama is using the raid for political gain. His campaign last week released an ad questioning whether likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney would have approved the bin Laden mission, prompting harsh criticism from the right and the left that Mr. Obama was playing politics with an event that should bring Americans together.

On Monday, Mr. Obama dismissed criticism that he or his campaign is exploiting the anniversary.

"I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here," Mr. Obama said.

Senior administration officials brushed aside those questions during a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon before the president's televised remarks to the nation, arguing that the timing of the trip was driven by the negotiations over the Strategic Partnership Agreement and by the desire of both presidents to sign the agreement in Afghanistan before the NATO summit in Chicago this month.

The president also wanted to spend time with the troops on the anniversary of bin Laden's death, the officials said.

"It was always the president's intention to spend the anniversary with the troops," one official said.

At least 33 U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in April, making it the deadliest month this year. U.S. officials insist security has improved in Afghanistan since the troop buildup Mr. Obama ordered at the end of 2009, but there have been a series of deadly incidents in recent months, including riots following the burning of Korans at Bagram, an American base, and a protracted gun- and rocket-propelled-grenade battle in Kabul's embassy district a little more than two weeks ago.

The agreement between Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai allows the U.S. military continued access to Afghanistan after a significant drawdown in 2014 and a handover of control for the country's security to Afghan forces.

Last year, the president withdrew 10,000 troops from Afghanistan and an additional 23,000 are slated to leave by the end of the summer.

After 2014, the U.S. military in the country will be allowed only to train Afghan forces or continue to pursue al Qaeda terrorists. The agreement does not specify the number of troops anticipated in drawdowns leading up to the 2014 transition or afterward.

In his televised remarks, the president said only that reductions "will continue at a steady pace," and he pledged Afghans will be "fully responsible for the security of the country."

"We will not build permanent bases in this country, nor will we be patrolling its cities and mountains," he said. "That will be the job of the Afghan people."

Mr. Romney did not immediately react to the speech, although several prominent Republicans praised the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement.

"This is a day I have been looking forward to for over two years," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who serves on the Armed Services Committee."I am confident that with proper implementation, this will help secure our nation and allies from future attacks using Afghanistan as a staging area."

But critics on the left, many of whom supported Mr. Obama's election because of his promise to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during his first term, remained disenchanted after the speech.

"We are pleased to continue to hear President Obama express his support for ending the war in Afghanistan," said Win Without War Coalition Coordinator Stephen Miles. "The time to bring our troops home is now."


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The White House Bulletin


May 2, 2012 Wednesday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 538 words


President. The Huffington Post reported that, taking aim at Mitt Romney, President Obama's campaign on Tuesday launched a new ad titled "Swiss Bank Account," which will run in Iowa, Ohio, and Virginia, and accuses Romney of shipping US jobs to Mexico, China and India. ... On its front page, the New York Times reports both Obama and Romney have been working "to score the endorsement of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, whose name is all but synonymous with Wall Street clout and nonpartisan politics," with Romney meeting with him yesterday morning and the Obama team arranging several meetings last week. ... Politico reports, "The pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future" began securing ad time in eight states yesterday, and it appears the buy covers air time from May 3-16. ... The Washington Post reports that Richard Grenell, who Romney selected "last month as his presidential campaign's national security and foreign policy spokesman, stepped down from his post Tuesday, suggesting that the conservative backlash over his sexuality prevented him from being effective in his role. ... USA Today reports Newt Gingrich, who's expected to drop out of the GOP presidential race today, "said in an interview with USA TODAY that he will embrace Mitt Romney's candidacy Wednesday" and the two will likely hold a joint event in the next few weeks.

Governors.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a group estimates that $42 million has already been "spent and raised" in the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall, which the paper says means the total money in the race has "already surpassed the previous record for a single political race in Wisconsin - and the primary hasn't even been held yet."

Senate.

Bloomberg News reports that Americans for Tax Reform leader Grover Norquist is expected to endorse state Treasurer Richard Mourdock over Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar in the GOP primary today. ... The Boston Herald reports, "Desperately scrambling to validate" Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's (D) "Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career, the Harvard Law professor's campaign last night finally came up with what they claim is a Cherokee connection - her great-great-great-grandmother," which would make Warren 1/32 Cherokee. ... The AP reports Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) yesterday endorsed Rep. Chris Murphy over former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz in the Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Liberman (I). Meanwhile, the Hartford (CT) Courant reports state Rep. William Tong dropped out of the contest and also endorsed Murphy.

House.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Rep. William Lacy Clay (D), who's facing a primary challenge from Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) in the re-drawn MO1 district, on Tuesday announced that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) is backing his reelection bid, which the paper calls a "mighty blow" to Carnahan. ... The Staten Island Advance reports NY13 Rep. Michael Grimm (R) "is off the Independence Party ballot after Board of Elections commissioners voted 10-0 to accept a clerk's report that said" the Congressman "did not gather enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot."


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Associated Press Online


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 12:49 AM GMT


In Kabul, Obama highlights foreign policy record


BYLINE: CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 883 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama answered political taunts with presidential muscle Tuesday, addressing the nation from Kabul as Republicans said he's overdoing the celebration of Osama bin Laden's death one year ago.

The president's secret flight to Afghanistan where he signed off on details for withdrawing U.S. troops from the decade-long war there was the type of campaign counterpunch that may play out many times in his re-election battle against Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama began his visit at the same air base where Navy SEALs launched their daring raid on bin Laden's house in Pakistan.

Timing his pre-dawn speech in Kabul for evening viewing back home, Obama brought attention to his three chief foreign policy achievements: ending the Iraq war roughly as he promised in 2008; killing bin Laden, whose terrorist organization killed nearly 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001; and setting a timetable for ending the increasingly unpopular Afghanistan war.

Both political parties agree the Nov. 6 election will hinge mainly on the U.S. economy. Before the campaign gets fully engaged, however, Obama is using his presidential prerogatives and risking new complaints of political exploitation to make his strongest possible case on military and diplomatic fronts.

"One year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden," Obama said in his 10-minute speech in front of empty armored personnel carriers. "The goal that I set - to defeat al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild - is within reach."

Republicans, and even some liberal allies, said Obama's team went too far last week in releasing a campaign video suggesting Romney would not have ordered the risky nighttime raid on bin Laden's suspected compound. But some Democratic strategists defended the strategy.

Obama "is in an unusually strong position, thanks to keeping his promises on Afghanistan and Iraq, overseeing the killing of Osama bin Laden and otherwise keeping America strong and secure," said Doug Hattaway, who worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign against Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. "The economy will remain top of the list for most people," Hattaway said, "but it definitely helps to highlight his successes in this area."

Vice President Joe Biden launched the political argument last week.

"Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," Biden said in a campaign speech. "You have to ask yourself, if Gov. Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan in reverse?"

The double-barreled taunt hit Romney's criticism of the administration's auto industry bailout and the mixed signals Romney gave in 2007 about the lengthy hunt for bin Laden.

Romney first told The Associated Press that it was not worth "moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." He later said of bin Laden, "We'll move everything to get him," but it's not "all about one person."

Romney said this week "of course" he would have approved the raid on bin Laden's compound. "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order," he said.

Democrats said the mention of Carter underscored precisely the political risk Obama was willing to take. A 1980 Carter-approved attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Tehran ended in disaster in an Iranian desert, with helicopters destroyed, eight servicemen dead and the United States deeply embarrassed.

"It's very important for people to understand that this was a gutsy political call," said former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., who now heads the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Facing conflicting predictions about the bin Laden raid's chances for success, Obama showed "a combination of deliberation and decisiveness" that Americans like, Perriello said.

Some Republicans, however, have sharply criticized the president's references to bin Laden's death.

"Barack Obama is not only trying to score political points by invoking Osama bin Laden, he is doing a shameless end-zone dance to help himself get re-elected," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost to Obama in 2008.

Writer Arianna Huffington, usually an Obama ally, joined in. She told "CBS This Morning": "Using the Osama bin Laden assassination, killing, the great news that we had a year ago, in order to say basically that Obama did it and Romney might not have done it ... to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do."

Like most former governors who run for president, Romney has scant foreign policy experience. He has said Obama is too faint-hearted in defending Israel and in warning Iran and North Korea about the potential consequences of their nuclear ambitions.

Democratic strategists say relatively few voters will base their November ballots on such claims.

While Obama was flying to Kabul Tuesday, Romney visited the lower Manhattan site where hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center's towers in the 2001 terror attacks.

"It's totally appropriate for the president to express to the American people the view that he has that he had an important role in taking out Osama bin Laden," Romney said. "I think politicizing it and trying to draw a distinction between himself and myself was an inappropriate use of the very important event that brought America together."


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Associated Press Online


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 2:01 PM GMT


Gingrich to abandon presidential run on Wednesday


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 125 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


As Newt Gingrich prepared to abandon his presidential bid, President Barack Obama saw it as an opportunity to swipe at Mitt Romney.

Obama's re-election campaign on Wednesday released an 80-second web video of clips from the Republican primaries in which Gingrich criticizes Romney Obama's likely Republican opponent on issues from immigration to his tenure as a venture capitalist.

"Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," says the ad's tagline.

Gingrich planned to formally announce Wednesday afternoon that he is suspending his campaign.

The former House speaker won primaries in just two states South Carolina and Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years.

His campaign also has reported more than $4 million in debt.


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Associated Press Online


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 4:47 PM GMT


THE RACE: Obama flexes presidential muscle in race


BYLINE: By TOM RAUM


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 353 words


We just saw a raw display of the power of the presidency in an election year.

Mitt Romney and other Republicans may gripe that President Barack Obama tries to politicize the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces.

But only Obama could secretly take Air Force One to Kabul to sign a strategic-partnership accord with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and meet with U.S. troops on the anniversary of bin Laden's death.

Heading into a long lull before the late-August GOP convention, the presumptive GOP nominee may find it hard to keep himself in the headlines. Obama just has to do presidential things to seize attention.

Also, Obama makes full use of the Internet to pound home campaign themes.

The official White House web site ( www.whitehouse.gov) quickly declared: "The Way Forward in Afghanistan. During a surprise visit to Afghanistan, President Obama discusses a historic strategic partnership that will help guide our future relationship with the country." Naturally, there's a video link.

Also highlighted on the site: "We Can't Wait" trumpeting how Obama is using executive orders to bypass a lethargic Congress; and "Don't Double My Rate," reinforcing his appeal to extend a rate cut on federally backed student loans due to expire in July.

Meanwhile, Obama's re-election campaign Wednesday released an 80-second web video of clips of Newt Gingrich criticizing Romney timed to coincide with Gingrich's exit from the race. The former House speaker is "frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," the ad taunts.

Romney's more subdued web site ( www.mittromney.com) features a request for contributions and an appeal to "help me fight for the America we love."

Appearing Wednesday in Chantilly, Va., Romney focused on the economy. Under Obama "the pain continues," he said.

It's hard to compete with Air Force One.

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012.


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Associated Press Online


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 10:21 PM GMT


Battle begins between Obama, Republican super PACs


BYLINE: By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1086 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


It's on.

Independent groups favoring Mitt Romney already are launching TV advertisements in competitive states for the November general election, providing political cover against President Barack Obama's well-financed campaign while the Republican candidate works to rebound from a bruising and expensive nomination fight. Some conservative organizations also are planning big get-out-the-vote efforts, and Romney backers are courting wealthy patrons of his former GOP rivals.

Taken together, the developments underscore how dramatically the political landscape has changed since a trio of federal court cases most notably the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling paved the way for a flood of campaign cash from corporations and tycoons looking to help their favored candidates.

"Citizens United has made an already aggressive anti-Obama movement even more empowered," said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. "There's now a regular Republican line of attack on Obama, even when the Romney campaign is taking a breather, raising money and preparing for the general election."

The general election spending and advertising has only just begun. Voters in roughly a dozen hard-fought states will be inundated with TV ads, direct mail, automated phone calls and other forms of outreach by campaign staff members and volunteers pleading for their votes. While Obama and Romney both will spend huge amounts of money in the coming months, an untold additional amount will come from outside organizations called super PACs that can collect unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals.

Already, Obama's campaign has spent $3.6 million on commercials in key battlegrounds in the weeks since Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.

Its latest ad depicts Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive, as a corporate raider who once maintained a Swiss bank account. The president had $104 million on hand at the end of March, giving his campaign a 10-1 advantage over Romney who had just $10 million his campaign bank at the same time.

But Obama is unlikely to receive anywhere near the kind of financial backup Romney is already getting from outside groups. The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action has raised just $10 million since its inception, and few other Democratic-leaning groups have signaled they plan to compete with the pro-Romney efforts.

The latest of these comes from Restore Our Future, a super PAC run by former Romney advisers.

The group announced Wednesday it will go up with $4.3 million in ads this week in nine states that will be key to winning the White House. The ad, "Saved," describes Romney's efforts that helped lead to the rescue of the teenage daughter of a colleague after she disappeared in New York for three days.

ROF was by far the biggest advertiser during the Republican nominating contest, spending $36 million on ads attacking Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. The group has raised more than $51 million since its inception.

Its initial general election push follows a $1.7 million, three-state ad buy from Crossroads GPS. That group's spot attacks Obama's energy policies. And it is an arm of American Crossroads, a super PAC with ties to President George W. Bush's longtime political director Karl Rove and one of the most prolific spenders in the 2010 cycle that put the House in Republican hands. The two Crossroads groups have already raised $100 million collectively for 2012 and plan to spend as much as $300 million to defeat Obama and other Democrats.

Americans for Prosperity, a conservative-leaning independent group backed by the billionaire energy tycoons Charles and David Koch, dropped $6.1 million on ads in eight general election swing states last week hitting Obama for allowing millions in federal stimulus money to be directed to green energy companies overseas. The group spent $6.5 million earlier this year on ads criticizing Obama over Solyndra, a California-based solar energy company that went bankrupt despite a $535 million federal loan guarantee.

AFP president Tim Phillips said the group planned to raise $100 million and that slightly less than half would go to advertising. Much of the remaining amount, he said, would be used for field operations like rallies, bus tours, canvassing, phone banks and micro-targeting.

AFP boasts chapters in 34 states and its field operations have included annual conservative conferences.

Phillips cited Florida, where the group now has a staff of 20 and has promoted bus tours assailing Obama and Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.

"We use our rallies to let people know how their president and their senators and congressmen are voting on key issues," Phillips said. "A rally focusing on government over-spending can be as effective as a media buy."

The Romney campaign, by contrast, has not run its own TV ads since former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum dropped out of the GOP nomination fight in April.

Senior Romney aides said they are closely tracking the super PAC ad buys from allies but insist there is no coordination between the campaign and the outside groups.

At the same time, Romney's team also is working to improve relations with Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, billionaires who almost single-handedly financed super PACs supporting Romney's opponents during the nomination fight.

Representatives of ROF and other Romney backers have reached out to Adelson, a casino mogul who contributed about $20 million to a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich. But Adelson has not yet given money to the pro-Romney efforts, and a person close to him said he doesn't want to be a campaign distraction and may give money only to groups like Crossroads GPS and other nonprofit advocacy organizations not required to disclose their donors.

Friess, who helped bankroll a super PAC supporting Santorum, has said he would back Romney and has spoken to Romney supporters.

Romney's campaign concedes that the super PAC activity alleviates financial stress as he works to add staff and raise campaign cash.

His aides are also noting Priorities USA Action's slow start compared to the pro-Romney groups. The disparity is fueling a quiet confidence among Romney advisers who believe that his super PAC support will significantly narrow Obama's current 10-to-1 cash advantage.

(equals)

Associated Press Writers Jack Gillum, Steve Peoples and Stephen Braun in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at http://www.twittter.com/bfouhy


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


May 2, 2012 Wednesday 9:07 PM GMT


US Sen. Brown calls for bipartisanship, civility


BYLINE: By BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press Writer


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 644 words


DATELINE: BOSTON


Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown called for an end to partisan sniping in Washington on Wednesday, repeating a frequent campaign theme of bipartisanship and civility in government even while his race against likely Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren took on an increasingly harsh tone.

In a speech to students and faculty at Bunker Hill Community College, Brown touted several bills he sponsored that passed with bipartisan support and his willingness to appear at President Barack Obama's side during signing ceremonies.

Brown, who took office in 2010 after winning a special election to fill the seat of the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, lambasted a bitterly partisan Washington environment in which Democrats and Republicans constantly question each other's motives and "look at each other as enemies who need to be defeated at all costs."

"We want people with convictions and backbone, not a bunch of pushovers who agree on everything because they believe in nothing," Brown said. "But unfortunately, too many people in Washington would rather have a good brawl than pass a good bill."

The race between Brown and Warren, a Harvard Law School professor and consumer advocate, has been decidedly uncivil in recent days, as the campaigns have clashed on a range of topics from their respective personal wealth to Warren's claim of some Native American ancestry.

While the harshest rhetoric of late has come from campaign surrogates and not the candidates themselves, Brown speaking to reporters minutes after Wednesday's speech accused the Democrat of taking an "elitist attitude" toward solving the nation's problems.

"The way she is approaching things in terms of knowing better than others, how to do things, the fact that the federal government can do things better than individual businesses and individuals," Brown said. "I think there is an elitist attitude there in the way she is communicating to us as citizens and telling us how do things, who should be taxed, who should not be taxed."

Democrats scoffed at Brown's appeal for bipartisanship, saying he is closely aligned with GOP interests in Washington and pointing to reports that his campaign fund has been buoyed by wealthy Wall Street donors.

"Scott Brown's claim that he's bipartisan is as phony as his $675 barn coat," said John Walsh, the state Democratic party chair, in a statement. "Backed by a nearly $3 million Wall Street campaign fund, Scott Brown is teaming up with national Republicans to help the Republican Party take over the Senate so they can repeal Obamacare, Wall Street reform and more."

Brown said Democratic criticism of his fundraising falls on "deaf ears" because Warren and other Democrats have raised money from Wall Street interests as well.

Total campaign donations in the contest have already topped $30 million, according to an Associated Press review, making it the most expensive U.S. Senate race in the nation with the election still more than six months away.

In his speech, Brown reiterated his claim to be among the most bipartisan of senators on Capitol Hill, a position that could appeal to voters in Massachusetts, where Republicans are heavily outnumbered by Democratic and Independent voters.

Brown touted his ability to cross party lines to win passage of several bills, including one that bars insider stock trading by members of Congress.

The address was also designed to emphasize a campaign theme of "Americans First" that echoes a radio ad Brown unveiled on Tuesday. In that 60-second ad, Brown says that one of his proudest days was standing with Obama as he signed Brown's "Hire A Hero" bill, which offers tax credits to businesses that hire veterans.

While Brown strongly supports Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, he has frequently referenced his willingness to work with Obama, who has high favorability ratings in Massachusetts.


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The Associated Press


May 3, 2012 Thursday 07:07 PM GMT


THE RACE: Obama, Romney playing to strengths


BYLINE: By TOM RAUM, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 356 words


The latest polls show more Americans trust Democratic President Barack Obama on national security and that GOP challenger Mitt Romney holds a slight edge on handling the economy.

Usually, it's the other way around for Democrats and Republicans. Now it's hard to tell the hawks from the doves.

Americans are bone weary of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also, they're worried by the nation's drawn-out economic pains and high joblessness.

Both the incumbent and his presumptive GOP challenger are mindful of these sentiments, and are playing to their own perceived strengths.

That's why Romney a former corporate chief has been focusing on economic issues while Obama lately has stressed the importance of U.S. military might and protecting Americans from harm, notably his decision to move against Osama bin Laden. It's a delicate balancing act as he also brings home American troops from overseas.

Romney on Thursday was campaigning in Portsmouth, Va., with Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who was set to endorse him after a long delay. Romney's topic: helping the economy with more energy exploration and development.

Obama carried Virginia in 2008 and it's again a top battleground.

Romney has been mocking Obama's new campaign slogan, "Forward."

"It's like, forward, what, over the cliff?" he asks. The GOP Super PAC "American Crossroads" has produced an ad called "Backward" in which an announcer states, "The only thing moving forward is the national debt."

It's hard for Obama to boast about the economy right now, since recent reports suggest private-sector job creation has slowed from its pace earlier this year. So Obama's campaign is blasting Romney for keeping money in a Swiss bank account and suggesting he shipped jobs overseas.

Romney counters that Obama is "attacking success" and "dividing the American people."

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012.


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The Associated Press


May 3, 2012 Thursday 07:09 PM GMT


Romney, Mormons brace for a mean political season


BYLINE: By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1413 words


DATELINE: SALT LAKE CITY


As 20,000 Mormons streamed from the church conference center, a ragtag group of protesters stood across the street shouting that the Latter-day Saints were going to hell. Mormon families, who had gathered here for two days of speeches and spiritual guidance called General Conference, ignored the hecklers or laughed and kept walking.

This, after all, is a church accustomed to much worse.

Yet, even with a resilience built over nearly two centuries as outsiders, church members are anxious about what's ahead. Republican Mitt Romney is about to become the first Mormon nominee for U.S. president on a major party ticket. That will give them a chance like no other to explain their tradition to the public, but the church's many critics will have a bigger platform, too. And the vetting will take place amid the emotion of what may well be a nasty general election.

"People who have opposed Mormonism forever will use this as an opportunity," said Robert Millet, a religion scholar at Brigham Young University who co-founded a pioneering evangelical-Mormon dialogue. "I don't know if we're ready for this kind of deluge."

At the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, officials are preparing to defend the church.

It's an effort that began before Romney officially announced his first, ultimately unsuccessful, 2008 bid for the GOP nomination. Mormon officials met with journalists around the country about the church's nonpartisanship. Leaders were worried that any statements they made to clarify doctrine would give the impression of aiding Romney.

That concern continues this election season. LDS officials have emphasized repeatedly that the church doesn't communicate with the Romney campaign. In a lengthy statement on their main website, Mormon leaders say the church does not "endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms."

The Latter-day Saints have been running a multimillion-dollar series of ads, called "I'm a Mormon," since 2010, to dispel stereotypes by telling the stories of individual Mormons. To avoid any appearance that the ads were meant to help Romney, the church didn't buy ad time in Iowa and some other markets with early primaries, said Michael Purdy, an LDS national spokesman. At the General Conference last month, led by the highest authorities of the church, there was no mention of the election across the pulpit.

"We're just going to do what the church does, regardless of the election," Purdy said.

The neutrality message can be a hard sell since Mormons are known to be overwhelmingly Republican and more socially conservative than many other Americans. The impression was reinforced by Mormon contributions of money and volunteers for Proposition 8, the 2008 California measure to bar same-sex marriage. (LDS officials say they were advocating for a moral, not a partisan, issue.)

The church has long contended with conspiracy theories of Mormon plots to take over America claims that have only increased with Romney's prominence. If the former governor wins the White House, however, several political scientists predict LDS officials would be more likely to pull back from any policy debates to avoid an appearance of undue influence, even when Mormons have a clear interest.

"There is a good chance that the main way a lot of leaders of the church will respond to the election of a Mormon to the presidency will be to stay as quiet and uninvolved in politics as possible and put as much daylight as possible between that president and the institutional church," said Russell Arben Fox, a political scientist at Friends University in Wichita, Kan., and a Mormon writer. "They're a global church and have responsibilities all around the world. For them to appear to be lining up behind a Mormon president and endorsing his policies would just be bad for the church."

Despite their fears, Mormons acknowledge that Romney's nomination will be a milestone like none before for the church.

Organized in 1830, Latter-day Saints were persecuted from their earliest days for their doctrine and support for polygamy, which Mormons renounced in 1890. A mob assassinated founder Joseph Smith in 1844, sending Mormons fleeing into the unsettled Mountain West. Theological differences with other faith groups about scriptures, the nature of God and heaven provided fodder for anti-Mormon bias over the years. Christian groups challenged the Mormon assertion that the church is part of traditional Christianity. One such group, the Utah Lighthouse Ministry, operates just a few miles from Temple Square, the Salt Lake City complex at the heart of the faith.

Steve Shaw, a political scientist at Northwest Nazarene University and co-author of "The Presidents and Their Faith," compares this election to the 1960 campaign of John F. Kennedy, who confronted religious bias to become the first Roman Catholic president. Kennedy's election marked a move for Catholics more firmly into the American mainstream, a potential shift for Mormons as well in 2012. When Romney became the presumptive nominee last month, the liberal-leaning Mormon blog, "By Common Consent," posted an article titled, "Excited about Romney, Despite Myself."

"If Mr. Romney is elected, when he is sworn into office in January 2013, the history of Mormonism in this country clearly would enter a new chapter," Shaw said.

Christian groups with a competing emphasis on evangelizing worry about a flood of Mormon converts if Romney prevails over President Barack Obama. With 14.4 million members, the church is among the fastest-growing in the world, supported by a full-time missionary force of about 55,000 young people.

Yet, with Romney in the Oval Office, the popularity of the church could fall as well as rise.

Internally, while the church has indeed been gaining new members, it has also been losing some others: A number of younger Mormons have become disillusioned about LDS doctrine and history. Outgoing LDS church historian, Elder Marlin K. Jensen, confirmed that trend in a talk last November at Utah State University. Leaders worry that religion issues raised by the general election could exacerbate the problem. The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, or FAIR, a volunteer Mormon anti-defamation group, said its "Ask an Apologist" web feature has been especially busy with queries from Mormons struggling with questions from their children.

"It's forced a lot of members of the church to examine their beliefs and how they talk with their kids," said FAIR's president, Scott Gordon.

In surveys of non-Mormons, only a small minority say they are familiar with the church. Romney, a lifelong church member and one-time top LDS leader in the Boston area, will be their introduction. However, Romney rarely speaks about his faith while campaigning and would probably be no more forthcoming as he tried to navigate Washington and survive for a second term. The most visible member of Mormonism might end up practicing his religion in private.

But first, the church has to get to November.

FAIR has started a new website called MormonVoices.org, to combat misinformation about the church that could result from attention to the faith sparked by Romney's candidacy. Kyle Jarrett, who lives in Washington, said leaders of his LDS ward, or local congregation, organized an information session for church members on potential issues about Mormonism in the general election.

"It's a new thing for us, to hear our religion being talked about in a roundtable on MSNBC," said Jarrett, 30, who works for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Events over the past decade have helped prepare Mormons for the spotlight. They handled the exposure that came with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Last year brought the monster hit "The Book of Mormon," a Broadway satire about missionaries in Uganda. The church didn't protest. Instead, leaders who are asked for comment often use the line, "You've seen the show. Now read the book."

Now, Mormons are bracing for the onslaught of attention as Romney tries to break what pundits call a "stained-glass ceiling" for the presidency.

"I honestly look forward to having the public see an LDS member live life in full public view," said Alison Moore Smith, a Mormon Republican from Lindon, Utah, and founder of the blog MormonMomma.com. "While many (Mormons) are worried about the heightened scrutiny, most seem to have a `finally they will see what we're really like' attitude."


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The Associated Press


May 3, 2012 Thursday 11:42 PM GMT


Virginia profile rises in presidential contest


BYLINE: By STEVE PEOPLES and KASIE HUNT, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1177 words


DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH, Va.


Move over Ohio and Florida. Virginia is becoming the hottest new battleground in this year's race for the White House.

Shifting demographics have President Barack Obama fighting for another win in this Southern state four years after he became the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Virginia in more than four decades. Republican rival Mitt Romney is banking on buyers' remorse as he works to prove that Obama's unlikely 2008 victory was a fluke.

Six months before Election Day, both sides concede that Virginia is truly up for grabs. And the outcome here could have dramatic consequences for Romney especially.

"This may well be the state that decides who the next president is," Romney told supporters Thursday in coastal Portsmouth, Va. "You're going to hear it all, right here in Virginia."

Already, Romney allies and Obama's campaign are pouring money into television ads. And, by week's end, each candidate will have visited the state.

Romney spent two days campaigning here this week, his first Virginia trip since becoming his party's presumptive presidential nominee. Obama will be in the state on Friday and Saturday what his aides are calling his first formal day of campaigning before traveling to Ohio.

Four years ago, Obama executed a winning strategy by registering and turning out scores of minorities and young voters who long had sat on the political sidelines.

This year, Virginia perhaps more so than any other state will test whether he can cobble together a similar winning coalition amidst shifting demographics and despite a challenging economic environment.

Virginia has swung dramatically right in the years since the Democratic president took office so much so, that Romney aides suggest that the state has become a linchpin in their national path to victory.

"It's an important key in the overall map," Romney's political director, Rich Beeson, said.

Republican insiders go further, saying that it's hard to see Romney reaching the 270 electoral votes needed without the 13 that Virginia provides.

Indeed, an Obama win here could prove devastating for Romney, whose team understands the challenge of unseating a sitting president who has tremendous financial and organizational advantages. Already, Obama has established a comprehensive ground game in Virginia, with more than 13 offices spread across the state. Romney, who spent most of the year consumed by a bitter and expensive Republican primary, has yet to open one.

Beeson said Thursday that the Romney campaign would be "up and running" in Virginia in the "next week or two."

The Obama campaign argues that the stakes are higher here for Romney.

"We can win without Virginia, but we don't think we need to," said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina. "The truth is we have several pathways to get to 270 electoral votes."

Virginia's prominent role in the 2012 presidential election follows a decade of political and demographic changes that make this fall's outcome difficult to predict.

Although Democrats had not aggressively competed in a Virginia presidential contest for a generation, Obama carried the state by 6 percentage points over Republican John McCain in 2008, based on an outpouring of the state's high African American vote and heavy turnout in the metropolitan Washington area. Before Obama, no Democrat had won Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Republican George W. Bush had carried it easily, by 8 percentage points, in 2000 and 2004.

"Over the last 10 years, there has been a progression. It has gone from solidly red to trending blue to settling right in the middle. It's about the most-purple shade of purple you can find," said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee.

Virginia has a high black-voter base. But the state is also home to a growing number of younger, well-educated voters flocking to northern Virginia, the region where Obama is credited with winning the state and that makes it competitive again in 2012.

Obama carried the metropolitan Washington area of northern Virginia by 260,000 votes, about the same margin as he carried the entire state. Obama is hoping again to turn out big numbers in burgeoning suburbs such as Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, to offset the rising GOP tide elsewhere, where Romney is hoping he will prevail.

The political battle has already begun on the state's airwaves.

While Romney has yet to buy any ads directly, the pro-Romney group, Restore Our Future, has spent $354,000 in Virginia on a television advertising campaign that began running statewide Thursday. The ad highlights Romney's role in helping to find his business partner's lost daughter.

The Obama campaign spent $270,000 for a new ad its third so far in Virginia that began running statewide this week and accuses Romney of sending jobs overseas during his business career, reminding voters that the former Massachusetts governor had a Swiss bank account.

Virginia-based Republican strategist Chris LaCivita suggests that Obama is likely worried about his chances in Virginia if he's already using attack ads. But like others here, he says it's too early to make any predictions.

"To assume Virginia is going to go Republican is a dangerous thing to do," he said.

Women's issues, especially the recent debate over birth-control coverage by health insurance, play a disproportionate role in the northern part of the state, with its bustling suburbs. The rural economy, social issues and military policy are a problem for Obama in the more traditionally conservative parts of Virginia, such as the southeast, in places like Hampton Roads, where Romney campaigned this week.

Obama's team says it expects disproportionate turnout among the state's black voters. However, neither campaign is expecting the same record turnout that helped elect Obama the nation's first African American president.

Romney is banking on Virginia's recent Republican momentum to continue.

Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has endorsed Romney, won election in 2009. The following year, Virginia Republicans made gains in the U.S. House, and last year in the state legislature.

Romney aides are bracing for resistance in crucial northern Virginia to the candidate's proposed 10-percent cut in the federal workforce. Virginia, and especially northern Virginia, is home to the nation's highest concentration of federal workers.

Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie, a former Virginia GOP chairman, joined Romney Thursday as he campaigned in Portsmouth, a port town with a significant industrial base and a large military presence. "This is going to be a hard-fought state," Gillespie said, dismissing polls that show Obama slightly ahead of his Republican challenger.

New polling, however, suggests that Obama is ahead of Romney. The Washington Post released results Thursday giving Obama a 7-point lead, 51 percent to 44 percent, among registered voters.

The winner in Virginia, however, could win a much larger prize.

"If Obama wins Virginia, I think he wins the election," said Elleithee, the Democratic strategist.

Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont contributed to this report.


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May 3, 2012


A few reasons why Barack Obama is the Hypothetical President


BYLINE: Cheney Free Press staff


LENGTH: 659 words


Plenty of Americans believe that the president's rhetoric runs counter to facts, but actually, it's the president's own counter-factual arguments that matter most.

Which is to say, nearly the entire case for President Barack Obama's second term is based on not what has happened but what could, would or might under different circumstances. Things, as you've surely heard from one official after the next, would have been a whole lot worse without the president's guidance.

When the Obama campaign intimates that Mitt Romney would have been less decisive to knock off Osama bin Laden "Which path would Romney have taken?" a campaign video pretends to ponder we aren't seeing anything new. This is another Obama hypothetical.

Libyan intervention without congressional approval? We averted a future atrocity. The passage of Obamacare? We avoided higher infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy. The president has, by his own account, prevented countless disasters and tackled an incalculable number of problems that don't exist yet.

Without a hypothetical, after all, there is no room for the false choice. Do you want an apocalypse or Cash for Clunkers?

Then there is economic policy. On this, we have Obama's shiny new 17-minute campaign documentary, "The Road We've Traveled," masterpiece of counterfac-tual scaremongering brought to us by Academy Award winners Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") and Tom Hanks ("Bachelor Party").

The film's plot revolves around a brave soul thrust into the un-equaled historical turmoil (well, a bad recession) who, with no thought to his own well-being, sends hundreds of billions of your dollars to politically favored institutions on the say-so of an economic theory. Without this very specific policy, deployed by this very president, the United, States would have surely crumbled.

(I know this because in "The Road We've Traveled," Hanks uses a grave tone to communicate this to me.)

If he's not acting, then Hanks is placing an immense amount of faith into the state. Put it this way: When the administration attached specifics to one of its counterfactu-al arguments the stimulus it made an embarrassing prediction about job gains with/without the policy. The administration didn't come close when it came to the number, yet the president said, "Here are some things I know for certain: In the absence of the stimulus, I think our recession would be much worse."

Not "might" or "may" but rather the president, like the fundamentalists and ideologues he pretends can only exist among his fanatical detractors, knows this for certain. Obama even stated around this time that there was "no disagreement" on the matter of his Keynesian stimulus even though 200 economists took to the pages of The New York Times in an ad to say otherwise, and thousands of others disagreed.

Obama may be Nostradamus, but counterfactual arguments, fortunately, can be deployed both ways and by anyone. For instance: Doing nothing would have been more effective than doing something stupid. Without the stimulus, we'd be out of this mess already. Passing free market-oriented reforms would have allowed this recovery to resemble the "Reagan recovery" of the '80s. And so on.

As a political matter, "Things could have been worse, you know" is a far cry from "Hope." That's probably why the Obama campaign has settled on the slogan "Forward." That's not to say that the counterfactual tactic is unusual in politics we are after all, engaging in some serious guesswork but rarely is the justification for re-election based almost entirely on a gigantic hypothetical. When there is no tangible accomplishment to grab, I guess you're left with few alternatives.

David Harsanyi is a columnist and senior reporter at Human Events. Follow him on Twitter @da-vidharsanyi. To find out more about David Harsanyi and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators. com.


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CNN Wire


May 3, 2012 Thursday 10:27 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2646 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Samira Jafari - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

New-York-Chamberlain-Death

A New York Grand Jury has declined to indict a white police officer who shot and killed an ailing black veteran in his own apartment, the Westchester County District Attorney's said Thursday.

US-OBL-Documents-Critic

The tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks provided al Qaeda a platform from which to re-shape its image in the global media, Osama bin Laden wrote in documents recovered from his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan. The documents provide a glimpse of the al Qaeda leader as media opportunist and critic.

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic firestorm, reiterated his intention to leave China and said he expects U.S. assistance. "I believe they will help me," he told CNN in an interview early Friday, but declined to elaborate.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial (will update)

John Davis, a former aide to John Edwards, testified Thursday about answering a knock on his hotel door and being told by a campaign videographer that she and Edwards were in love.

POL-Congress-Holder-Contempt (will update)

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee is moving to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate in the panel's investigation of the controversial "Operation Fast and Furious" weapons sting.

Texas-Deion-Sanders-Charge

Police in suburban Dallas are recommending ex-football star Deion Sanders face a charge that could land him in prison for a year, after a dispute last week that led to his estranged wife's arrest, authorities said Thursday.

Massachusetts-Missing-Girl

A family in northeast Massachusetts is hunting desperately for answers, days after a 2-year-old girl went missing on a beach -- a case police say has no signs of an abduction, though they can't rule it out.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

China-Clinton-Visit

Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic firestorm, reiterated his intention to leave China and said he expects U.S. assistance. "I believe they will help me," he told CNN in an interview early Friday, but declined to elaborate.

CNN SHOWCASE

POL-Obama-China --By Tom Cohen

Iran, Syria, and now China. President Barack Obama faces a third front of vulnerability on his administration's record of defending human rights with the muddled situation involving activist Chen Guangcheng. With his re-election campaign just hitting full stride, Obama hoped to capitalize on foreign policy successes such as last year's raid that killed Osama bin Laden to blunt Republican attacks on the sluggish U.S. economic recovery.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria-Unrest

Syrian security forces unleashed a deadly push on a prominent university to clamp down Thursday on student dissent, the opposition said.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor should receive an 80-year sentence for his conviction of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone's civil war, the chief prosecutor in the international court case recommended Thursday.

Mexico-Journalists-Killed

Two of four dismembered bodies found Thursday morning in the eastern state of Veracruz and bearing signs of torture have been identified as journalists, Mexican authorities said.

Russia-Dagestan-Explosions

At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in twin blasts late Thursday in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson have been summoned to testify next week before a judge-led inquiry investigating phone hacking and news media ethics.

Greenland-Glaciers

Greenland's glaciers are sliding into oceans at a faster pace than previously known, but they may contribute less to an expected rise in global sea level than feared, scientists reported Thursday.

Egypt-Protests

Hundreds of demonstrators extended their sit-in outside Egypt's defense ministry into a sixth day on Thursday as organizers called for mass protests following violence that killed 11 people.

France-Election-Debate

France's two presidential contenders sparred over the economy and traded personal insults in their one head-to-head debate ahead of Sunday's run-off vote.

UK-young-royals

The former British Prime Minister, Sir John Major, has credited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Catherine, with reinvigorating interest in the British monarchy.

South-Africa-Rape

Four minors accused in a brutal videotaped gang rape of a mentally disabled teenager were released on $67 bail Thursday, their lawyer said.

Yemen-Drone-Strike

A U.S. drone hit an al Qaeda training site in southern Yemen, killing 13 suspected militants, three security officials said.

UK-Media-Corruption-Arrest

A former police officer was arrested Thursday by officers investigating alleged corrupt payments to police and public officials by the media, in an inquiry linked to a phone-hacking scandal, the Metropolitan Police said.

Venezuela-US-Interpol

A former Venezuelan judge -- a fugitive in his home country who was last known to be in the United States -- stands to become a source of contention between the two nations.

Venezuela-Chavez

With his health in question and speculation rampant about his future, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has named 10 Venezuelans to an influential commission.

Iran-Hunger-Strike

A prominent Iranian literary translator imprisoned since January on unknown charges has suspended his hunger strike after 28 days, a source close to the family said Thursday.

U.S.A.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

A coroner is expected Thursday to release the cause of death of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau, though the findings will probably do little to answer questions swirling since he was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Florida-FAMU-Hazing

Eight of the 13 people facing hazing charges after the death of a Florida A&M University band member had turned themselves in by Thursday afternoon, a state police spokeswoman said.

Florida-Hazing-Charges

Nine men have been charged with hazing for their alleged part in an initiation rite into a University of Florida fraternity earlier this year.

SPORT-NFL-Lawsuit

More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents-Drones

The dire impact of CIA drone missile strikes against suspected terrorists in Pakistan certainly did not go unnoticed by Osama bin Laden, prompting the al Qaeda leader to repeatedly warn associates to take appropriate security measures, according to documents seized during the raid on the al Qaeda leader's Pakistan compound last year.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

A trove of never-before-seen letters by Osama bin Laden portray the terrorist leader as an irritated boss chiding his underlings for mistakes yet sure that they could pull off elaborate attacks against the United States. U.S. Navy SEALs took the correspondence after they killed bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan compound in May 2011. On Thursday, the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, released 17 letters totaling 175 pages, with more documents to be made public later.

Bin-Laden-Documents-Plots

Osama bin Laden ordered suicide squads to be created in Pakistan and Afghanistan for the sole reason of tracking down President Obama and Gen. David Petraeus, who was then the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to a letter written by bin Laden in May of 2010. The letter, released by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, published some of the documents captured in the bin Laden raid last May. A review of the letters released publicly Thursday offer insight into the top leader's thinking and planning as he remained hidden from global view but still tried to have a hand in directing his organization, al Qaeda.

Bin-Laden-Documents-Affiliates

After years of isolation at his Abbottabad compound, Osama bin Laden's frustration was growing. He couldn't rein in groups that had taken the al Qaeda name but took little or no notice of "headquarters." He seemed even envious of their freedom to operate and of the money they had, and he was still yearning to get operatives into the United States. Among the letters seized during the Abbottabad raid a year ago and released Thursday by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point, there's plentiful evidence that bin Laden was distressed by the behavior of affiliates in Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan -- and especially the casualties among Muslim civilians they were inflicting.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

John Davis, a former aide to John Edwards, testified Thursday about answering a knock on his hotel door and being told by a campaign videographer that she and Edwards were in love.

New-York-Niagra-Wallenda

Renowned high-wire walker Nik Wallenda has announced he will attempt to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada on June 15, the first person to do so in more than a century.

US-National-Archives-Recordings

A former employee of the National Archives was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison for stealing rare recordings from the government to sell on the Internet.

Tennessee-School-Blast

A pair of makeshift bombs blew up Thursday inside a Memphis, Tennessee, high school, sending one person to a hospital and two into police custody, officials said.

MED-Premature-Babies-Ranking

There are few places that illustrate the fragility of life better than a neonatal intensive care unit. Premature babies, hooked up to tubes and monitors, their tiny legs sticking out of the smallest of diapers: it's a sight can bring tears to your eyes and a prayer to your lips. One in 10 children are born prematurely every year around the world. That comes to about 15 million babies. You may think developing countries like Belarus and Libya have more preemies than the United States. Think again. A new study - the first of its kind - ranks preterm birth rates around the globe. The United States comes in at 131 on the list of 184 countries.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

A trove of documents the U.S. Navy SEALs took from the Pakistan compound where they killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was published Thursday morning on the website of the Combating Terrorism Center.

MED-Controversial-Flu-Study-Released

The first of two controversial studies about a mutated form of the potentially lethal H5N1 bird flu virus was finally published Wednesday after months of debate over whether release of the research could pose a biosecurity threat.

POLITICS

POL-NOAA-Ad-Pulled

In the wake of the GSA convention scandal that is still reverberating across the government, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday abruptly pulled a help-wanted ad for a magician to appear at a leadership training event for its staff in the Washington area next month.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Endorsement

A day after a seemingly lukewarm embrace of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich said Thursday he had fully endorsed the former Massachusetts governor and would enthusiastically campaign on his behalf.

POL-Romney-Virginia-Election

The importance of the presidential vote in Virginia was not lost on Mitt Romney when he appeared in the state on Thursday beside popular Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, ahead of President Barack Obama's official re-election launch in the state on Saturday.

POL-Campaign-Ads-Negative

If you think the current race for the White House seems more negative than the 2008 presidential campaign, a new study indicates you're right.

POL-Indiana-Senate-Race

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major conservative, pro-business group, is showing its support for Sen. Dick Lugar with hundreds of thousands of direct mail pieces, just days before the longtime senator faces his biggest primary challenge in 35 years.

POL-Obama-Romney-Women-Voters

The Obama campaign renewed its focus on women voters Thursday with a stepped up attack on Mitt Romney.

POL-Kirk-Hospital-Release

Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois will be released from the hospital after suffering a stroke in January, according to a Thursday press release.

POL-Congress-Holder-Contempt

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee is moving to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate in the panel's investigation of the controversial "Operation Fast and Furious" weapons sting.

POL-Wisconsin-recall-impact

When voters in Wisconsin decide whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker next month, they'll also be shaping the dialogue going into the fall.

MONEY

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks stumbled Thursday, as investors digested conflicting economic data ahead of Friday's all-important jobs report.

MONEY-Facebook-Ipo-Price

It's the day techies and investors have been waiting for: Facebook set a price range of $28 to $35 per share for its initial public offering. It also upped the maximum size of its offering to $13.6 billion, up from its previous $5 billion estimate.

MONEY-Facebook-Ipo-Zuckerberg

Let's hope Mark Zuckerberg has deep pockets in his hoodie. The Facebook CEO plans to sell 30.2 million shares of his stake in the social network when it publicly offers its stock later this month. If the company's IPO prices at the top of its $28 to $35 per-share range, Zuckerberg would pocket a "cool" $1.1 billion.

MONEY-Spirit-Airlines-Fees

Spirit Airlines will raise its fee for carry-on bags to up to $100, becoming the first U.S. airline to charge so much for a service that most other airlines offer for free.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Sec-Inquiry

Chesapeake Energy, which along with its embattled CEO Aubrey McClendon has been in the spotlight for a controversial compensation program, said Thursday that it was facing an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MONEY-Home-Buying

Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market.

MONEY-Ecb

European Central Bank officials voted Thursday to hold interest rates steady, even as the euro area economy slides towards recession. But ECB president Mario Draghi appeared to hint that there could be rate cuts in the future.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

US-CNNHeroes-Kabban-child-refugees

Khalid Yohana was 7 years old when war reached his hometown of Mosul, Iraq. For years, even the simplest activities, like walking to school, were an ordeal. "It was too scary to go outside much," Yohana, now 16, remembers. "If you walk on the street ... you're nervous you'd get killed." A group of men once tried to kidnap his father, a chef at a Baghdad restaurant that catered to Americans. The attempt failed, but a threatening letter arrived at his family's home that same night. "They warned us to get out of the country or they would kill us. ... I was really scared," Yohana said.

ENT-Ray-Harryhausen-Book-Throwback

It's hard to think of today's action-packed blockbusters or fantasy/science-fiction films being made without computer-generated visual effects. Can you imagine Andy Serkis performing as Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" franchise without a rendered mask that mirrors his facial expression?

TRAVEL-china-airport-cheerleaders

While some Chinese travelers storm the tarmac when flights get delayed, others might wish their flights never take off -- assuming they're flying from the northeast China city of Dalian. To entertain waiting passengers, Dalian International Airport recently recruited a squad of cheerleaders to perform kicks, jumps and splits in the airport's main hall.

COMMENTARY-Rushkoff-Google

Why reining in Google is good for us.


LOAD-DATE: May 04, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



433 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 3, 2012 Thursday 3:05 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3641 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Mark Bixler - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

UK-Phone-Hacking

Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, who served as spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, have been summoned to testify next week before a committee investigating phonehacking and news media ethics, the committee said Thursday.

Florida FAMU Hazing (will update)

A third suspect wanted in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University turned himself in at a county jail in Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. The suspect, Bryan Jones, is one of 13 suspects charged Wednesday after an investigation into the November 2011 death of drum major Robert Champion.

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

The Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States.

POL-US-China-Activist

First Iran, then Syria and now China. President Barack Obama faces a third front of vulnerability on his administration's record of defending human rights with the muddled situation involving blind activist Chen Guangcheng.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents (will update)

The United States published several documents online Thursday that it seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

Venezuela-Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez named the members of a council that could manage the country in the event that he becomes incapacitated.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian forces raided a university Thursday, the opposition said, the latest sign of continuing attacks despite a truce implemented three weeks ago and the presence of United Nations monitors in the country.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

China-Clinton-Visit

The Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

The United States published several documents online Thursday that it seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

CNN SHOWCASE

SPORT-Seau-Death-Chargers By Lateef Mungin

Grieving for a fellow player is, sadly, nothing new for members of the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Legendary linebacker Junior Seau, who was found dead Wednesday of an apparent suicide, is now the eighth player from that team to die.

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt-Protests

Hundreds of demonstrators extended their sit-in outside Egypt's defense ministry into a sixth day on Thursday as organizers called for mass protests following violence that killed 11 people.

France-Election-Debate

France's two presidential contenders sparred over the economy and traded personal insults in their one head-to-head debate ahead of Sunday's run-off vote.

South-Africa-Rape

Four minors accused in a brutal videotaped gang rape of a mentally disabled teenager were released on $67 bail Thursday, their lawyer said.

Yemen-Drone-Strike

A U.S. drone hit an al Qaeda training site in southern Yemen, killing 13 suspected militants, three security officials said.

UK-Media-Corruption-Arrest

A former police officer was arrested Thursday by officers investigating alleged corrupt payments to police and public officials by the media, in an inquiry linked to a phone-hacking scandal, the Metropolitan Police said.

SPORT-Football-Italy-Fiorentina-Rossi-Attack

Tensions often run high in top-level sports, but it is rare to see a team's coach physically attack one of their own players. However, that was the bizarre situation in an Italian soccer match on Wednesday -- and it has cost Fiorentina coach Delio Rossi his job.

SPORT-Football-Real-Ajax-Juventus

Real Madrid sealed a record-extending 32nd La Liga title after Wednesday's 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao maintained an unassailable seven-point lead over arch rivals and defending Spanish champions Barcelona with two matches to play.

MONEY-australia-murdoch-review

The Australian media regulatory agency is "digesting" the blistering report from British lawmakers that said News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international company.

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

The Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States.

Chen-Guangcheng-Transcript

CNN transcript of interview with Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng

China-US-Dissident

The deal that led to Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng leaving the U.S. Embassy is an unprecedented move for Beijing, U.S. and Chinese observers said Wednesday.

Al-Awlaki Posthumous Writings

From the grave, Awlaki calls for attacks on U.S. The editor and star contributor may be dead, but that hasn't prevented al Qaeda in Yemen from issuing the eighth and ninth editions of its online English-language magazine Inspire.

Venezuela-US-Interpol

A former Venezuelan judge -- a fugitive in his home country who was last known to be in the United States -- stands to become a source of contention between the two nations.

Nigeria-Attack

Thirty-four people were killed and 30 wounded in an attack on a cattle market in Nigeria's northern Yobe state, a government official briefed on the investigation said Thursday.

U.S.A.

SPORT-NFL-Lawsuit

More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL.

MED-Ethicist-Safer-Drugs-Children

What if most of the drugs your doctor gave you were untested, forcing him or her to guess at the correct medication and dosage -- making you an unwitting research subject whenever you took a pill?

MED-Listeria-Outbreak-Investigation

On a sunny morning early last September, Susanna Gaxiola fed her husband a healthy breakfast of fresh cantaloupe in their Albuquerque, New Mexico, home. Her husband, Rene, a Pentecostal pastor and minister, had been fighting a rare blood cancer and he was eating fresh cantaloupe and other fruit daily.

MED-California-Mad-Cow

Two farms have been quarantined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the agency continues to investigate last month's discovery of mad cow disease at a California dairy farm.

New-York-The-Scream

A pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Dead

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday, according to police. He was 43.

POL-Secret-Service

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has cooperated properly with congressional investigators looking into the prostitution scandal in Colombia last month before President Barack Obama's visit, influential House members said Wednesday.

SPORT-Baseball-Dodgers-Sale

The Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball, ushered in a new era of ownership Wednesday while ending a dismal chapter of ownership under Frank McCourt, who baseball's commissioner described as "looting" the club of $190 million to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

Georgia-Hustler-Lawsuit

A federal appeals panel has tossed out a lawsuit against Hustler magazine brought by the family of a slain professional wrestling personality, a case testing privacy concerns and the competing right to publish "newsworthy" material.

US-Health-care-fraud

More than 100 people have been charged and an estimated $450 million in false billings uncovered by federal agents in a nationwide operation that authorities say is the largest bust in recent history.

POLITICS

POL-RNC-Obama-Messaging

"Hope and Change." It was the highly successful slogan from Barack Obama's 2008 campaign for the White House. While President Obama has replaced his 2008 slogan with "Forward" for his re-election bid, Republicans are using a variation of the old slogan to attack the president.

POL-Jindal-VP

Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday vaguely responded to questions about him serving as vice president on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012.

POL-Biden-DC-Fundraiser

Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled attend a campaign fundraising event at a private home in Washington, DC on Thursday.

POL-Romney-Obama-Poll

Mitt Romney gained ground on President Barack Obama in the key states of Florida and Ohio over the past month, according to a poll of the battleground states released Thursday.

POL-Obama-Romney-Women-Voters

The Obama campaign renewed its focus on women voters Thursday with a stepped up attack on Mitt Romney.

POL-Gingrich-Campaign-End

Newt Gingrich announced the suspension of his presidential campaign Wednesday in Virginia, a little less than a year after the former House speaker officially launched his White House bid.

POL-Romney-SuperPAC-Ads

The super PAC backing Mitt Romney's candidacy is back on the air with a major $4.3 million ad campaign beginning Wednesday in nine battleground states.

POL-Romney-Mocks-Obama

Mitt Romney poked fun at President Barack Obama's new campaign slogan while speaking at a fundraiser on Wednesday.

POL-Romney-Adviser-Departure-Explained

A foreign policy spokesman for the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney left his job in part because he was restricted from speaking publicly, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN on Wednesday.

POL-Tampa-Gun-Ban

The Republican governor of Florida rejected Tuesday a request from Tampa's mayor to issue a temporary ban on firearms during the Republican National Convention, slated to take place at the Tampa Bay Times Forum at the end of August.

POL-Obama-Massachusetts-Senate

President Barack Obama has made his way into the contentious Massachusetts Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren highlighting her ties to the president and Republican Sen. Scott Brown using a recent White House bill signing to prove his bipartisan streak.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

POL-WV-Governor-Obama

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, said in an interview published Wednesday he's unsure if he'll vote for President Barack Obama in the upcoming general election.

POL-Obama-Washington-Fundraisers

President Barack Obama, fresh off a surprise trip to Afghanistan, will attend two fundraisers in Washington Wednesday that will raise major cash for the president's re-election effort

POL-Poll-Wisconsin-Recall

A new poll released Wednesday indicates Republican Gov. Scott Walker is in a tight race with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the likely Democratic challenger in Wisconsin's June 5 gubernatorial recall election.

MONEY

MONEY-Verizon-iPhone-Sales

Want to buy an iPhone? Verizon would really, really like you to consider an alternative.

MONEY-Jobless-Claims

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, a welcome sign after claims had previously risen four weeks in a row.

MONEY-GM-Earnings

General Motors reported strong first-quarter earnings on good results in its domestic market Thursday, but its bottom line took a hit from rising losses and special charges in Europe.

MONEY-ECB

European Central Bank officials voted Thursday to hold interest rates steady, even as the euro area economy slides towards recession.

MONEY-Bunker-Homes

Edward Peden and Dianna Ricke-Peden built their dream home in an unusual location -- an old underground missile bunker in rural Kansas. Nearly 20 years later, they have turned that first step into a thriving real estate business.

MONEY-Walmart-Humankind-Water

HumanKind Water, a bottled water company that touts its social conscience, won the most votes -- and the top prize -- in Wal-Mart's "American Idol"-like contest.

MONEY-Home-Buying

Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market. With home prices down 34% nationally since 2006 and mortgage rates at historic lows, homes have never been more affordable -- but it won't stay this way for much longer.

MONEY-Retailers-Debit-Cards

With every swipe of a customer's debit card, small businesses and other retailers must pay transaction fees to the card issuer. But those fees have been sliced almost in half, due to a government cap that was imposed last year, according to a Federal Reserve report released this week.

MONEY-Unemployment-Rate

There are far more jobless people in the United States than you might think. While it's true that the unemployment rate is falling, that doesn't include the millions of nonworking adults who aren't even looking for a job anymore. And hiring isn't strong enough to keep up with population growth.

MONEY-eco-business-sustainability-grade

Tech giants Apple and Google may get an unofficial A grade when it comes to stock price, but they can only manage a D grade when it comes to sustainability.

MONEY-Adp-Jobs-Report

Business hiring is slowing. Private companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP, falling far short of the 170,000 jobs economists were expecting.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors digested a weak private-sector jobs report and mostly upbeat corporate results.

MONEY-Green-Mountain

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares plummeted Thursday after the company reported quarterly revenue that missed estimates and lowered its guidance for 2012.

MONEY-Nouriel-Roubini-Iran

Nouriel Roubini gives an audience no shortage of scenarios to keep them up at night, but his number one worry right now is the looming threat of Iran building nuclear weapons. Specifically, it's the risk of a confrontation between Israel and Iran, or the United States and Iran, Roubini told Michael Milken in front of hundreds of onlookers at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles Wednesday.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY-bergen-bin-laden-document-trove

There is no better way for historians to assess Osama bin Laden's thinking and the real state of al Qaeda as it was understood by its leaders in the years after 9/11 than the "treasure trove" of more than 6,000 documents that were recovered by the U.S. Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a year ago.

COMMENTARY-Bergen-bin-Laden-lair

We climbed the stairs to the third floor, where Osama bin Laden died early in the morning of May 2, 2011. I stepped into the bedroom where he was killed and looked up at the ceiling, where you could still see the patterns of blood that had spurted from bin Laden's head when the bullet fired by a U.S. Navy SEAL tore through the terrorist leader's face.

ENT-Avengers-Review-Charity

A celebration of specialness, Joss Whedon's slick blockbuster "The Avengers" presents what may be the ultimate team: half a dozen Marvel Comics superheroes for the price of one.

COMMENTARY-Ling-Chinese-dissident

On Wednesday night, Chen Guangcheng's cell phone stopped working. The only means that the blind Chinese human rights lawyer, his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children had of connecting with those outside Beijing Chaoyang Hospital was cut off.

COMMENTARY-Brooks-bridge-homegrown-terrorists

Monday's arrest of five men accused of aiming to bomb an Ohio bridge raises disturbing questions about the attraction to violence of some contemporary anarchists. But it also offers critical lessons to Americans about the nature of the domestic terrorist threat they face---a threat more diverse in its ideological origins than commonly appreciated.

Travel-Louisville-Travel-Kentucky-Derby

For about two minutes on Saturday, millions of eyes will focus on Louisville, home of Kentucky's most feted affair, that blissfully short sporting event that comes with its own cocktail.

Philippines-Pagpag-Slums

Felipa Fabon waits outside a local fried chicken restaurant in Manila. Crouching near feral cats and rubbish bins, she isn't there to meet friends for dinner, but to search through the diner's trash bags.

TRAVEL-sweden-lapland-travel-guide

You'd be forgiven for not knowing, but the end of April marks a very important date in the Swedish calendar. "Walpurgis Eve" celebrates the transition from winter to summer. Every year bonfires are lit, songs are sung and it's not unheard of for parties to go on late into the night. Why such jubilation? Because the Nordic winters are dark, cold, long and cruel. Meanwhile, the summers -- while hardly exotic -- are bright and full of opportunities that are otherwise prohibited by the fearfully inhospitable climate. Nowhere is this truer than in the far north of Sweden, where temperatures range from minus 40 C (minus 40 F) in the winter to plus 30 C (86 F) in the summer.

Philippines-Ballet

Jessa Balote is 14-years-old and training to be a professional ballerina in Manila. It is a task that takes enormous amounts of dedication for even the most determined of young women, but Balote's challenge is nothing compared to life outside the dance studio where she has to support her entire family.

Afghanistan-big-picture

By midmorning Wednesday, Air Force One touched down at Andrews Air Force Base. President Barack Obama had returned from a surprise trip to Afghanistan that lasted a day but was meant to mark a transition to the end of the more than decadelong war. There has been much debate about what the speech signifies and what it means for the long-term future of Afghanistan and America's involvement there. The agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that Obama touted, the strategic partnership agreement, is short on specifics and Obama's speech did not lay out any new timetable for the war. While some observers say it's foolish to think the United States will actually leave the country, others say Obama's speech, both its symbolic occurrence and its contents, are signs of tremendous progress. At a minimum, a milestone has been reached despite tense relations. But what it means in practical terms for Americans is unclear, because after most troops leave in 2014, what remains has yet to be negotiated. When Obama spoke of "a future in which war ends and a new chapter begins," what did that mean specifically?

TRAVEL-philippines-tourism-campaign

The Philippines Department of Tourism has a lot to boast about. The country has beautiful beaches, great scuba diving and a culture that is known for its hospitality. What it doesn't have is a lot of money for a global tourism campaign.

auction-art-islamic-week

London's auction houses hosted a week of sales dedicated to art of the Islamic world

qatar-female-olympics

Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country. When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

FEA-National-Truffle-Day

Do the truffle shuffle! May 2 is National Truffle Day. A little more rare than your average pack of button mushrooms at the grocery store, these underground beauties that seem to magically surface at the foot of trees are definitely special enough to get their own day.

MED-omega-3-memory-loss-alzheimers-study

People who eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may significantly lower their risk of developing memory problems and Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.

US-My-View:-Students-With-Hearing-Loss-Benefit-From-Mix-Of-Technology,-Teaching

I grew up in an era where technology was just becoming available, and affordable, for families to have in the home. At age 4, I would sit in my dad's lap and play Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo system (and nearly broke my dad's nose while moving the controller to make Mario jump!) A few years later I was spending my Saturday mornings playing role-playing games on our very own DOS operating system personal computer. As I grew, so did my love for technology. Thankfully, with the right guidance, I was able to recognize the importance of traditional learning as well as learning with the aid of technology, and was able to keep a balance between the two.

COMMENTARY-Frum-Vice-President-Rubio-Jindal

Republicans have a Latino problem. Only about 6% of Latino voters agree that the GOP is the party most concerned for their interests. Nearly half choose the Democrats as the party most concerned for them.

COMMENTARY-suri-obama-afghan-speech

Jeremi Suri: Obama's speech represents start of rapid withdrawal from Afghan war.

TRAVEL-Cinco-de-mayo-travel

When celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday, consider a more authentic Mexican experience than simply ordering a margarita and chips and salsa at the local sports bar. Not ready for a trip to Mexico right now? There is plenty of Mexico to explore and celebrate in the United States since much of the Southwest was once part of our neighbor to the south.

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.


LOAD-DATE: May 04, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



434 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 3, 2012 Thursday 7:28 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 3186 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Ed Payne - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Syria-Unrest (4 a.m.)

Gunfire erupted in northwest Syria early Thursday, the opposition said, the latest sign of continuing attacks despite a cease-fire implemented three weeks ago and the presence of United Nations monitors in the country.

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

The Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

SPORT-Seau-Death-Chargers By Lateef Mungin

The death of legendary linebacker Junior Seau, as sad as it is for some, is nothing new for his remaining teammates of the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Seau is now the eighth player of that team to die young.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

The mother of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion said Wednesday she had been hoping more severe charges would be filed in her son's death, which authorities said was the result of hazing.

China-Clinton-Visit

Chinese authorities threatened the family of Chinese activist Chen Guangdeng if he didn't leave the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, a friend of the activist said Friday.

INTERNATIONAL

MONEY-australia-murdoch-review

The Australian media regulatory agency is "digesting" the blistering report from British lawmakers that said News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international company.

China-Clinton-Visit (will update)

The Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States.

Chen-Guangcheng-Transcript

CNN transcript of interview with Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng

China-US-Dissident

The deal that led to Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng leaving the U.S. Embassy is an unprecedented move for Beijing, U.S. and Chinese observers said Wednesday.

Al-Awlaki Posthumous Writings

From the grave, Awlaki calls for attacks on U.S. The editor and star contributor may be dead, but that hasn't prevented al Qaeda in Yemen from issuing the eighth and ninth editions of its online English-language magazine Inspire.

Syria-Unrest

A six-point peace plan for Syria negotiated by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan is not being upheld, an opposition group said Wednesday.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch received a strong endorsement from the board of directors of his News Corp. on Wednesday, a day after British lawmakers investigating a phone hacking scandal said Murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international company.

Israel-Gaza-Investigation

Israeli military investigators have ordered an end to a probe into the deaths of 21 members of a Palestinian family during the 2009 military offensive on Gaza, saying there was "no war crime committed."

MONEY-Europe-Unemployment

Unemployment in the eurozone rose to 10.9% in March, another sign of the broad economic weakness and possible recession across the continent.

POL-Afghanistan-Obama

President Barack Obama marked the first anniversary of the death of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden with an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, signing a long-awaited strategic partnership agreement meant to set the conditions of an American withdrawal from the war-torn nation.

POL-Obama-Media-Afghanistan

Hours before the official announcement that President Barack Obama had landed in Kabul, Afghanistan for a surprise visit, the media -- both social and electronic -- were already buzzing with reports about the trip. Had he indeed landed in-country? Was it just a rumor? Should it be reported anyway?

Egypt-Protests

Assailants targeted protesters demonstrating against the exclusion of a presidential candidate in Cairo early Wednesday, killing at least 11, medical sources told CNN. At least 100 people were injured, said Hisham Shiha, the deputy minister of health.

Philippines-pirates

It was over seven months ago, but Antonio Plaza Orozco clearly remembers when he was struck by the butt of the AK-47 and feeling the heat of the gunman's breath as he hissed: "I will cut your neck, I will throw you overboard." Orozco was the senior crewman aboard the Mattheos 1 when it was boarded by nearly a dozen pirates off the west coast of Africa.

India-Ferry-Disaster

Authorities continued their search for bodies Wednesday, two days after one of India's worst ferry accidents claimed at least 100 lives.

Myanmar-Suu-Kyi-Parliament

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule.

Libya-Moammar-Gadhafi-Daughter

The daughter of deposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi asked international prosecutors to begin investigating her father's and brother's deaths as possible war crimes in a letter submitted Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council

London-mayoral-election

To an outsider, Thursday's contest to elect the next mayor of London would appear to be a fight between two larger-than-life characters -- known best by their first names -- for control of the city's famous red buses

U.S.A.

MED-California-Mad-Cow

Two farms have been quarantined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the agency continues to investigate last month's discovery of mad cow disease at a California dairy farm.

SPORT-Seau-Death-Chargers By Lateef Mungin

The death of legendary linebacker Junior Seau, as sad as it is for some, is nothing new for his remaining teammates of the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Seau is now the eighth player of that team to die young.

New-York-The-Scream

A pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.

Florida-FAMU-Charges

The mother of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion said Wednesday she had been hoping more severe charges would be filed in her son's death, which authorities said was the result of hazing.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Dead

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday, according to police. He was 43.

POL-Secret-Service

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan has cooperated properly with congressional investigators looking into the prostitution scandal in Colombia last month before President Barack Obama's visit, influential House members said Wednesday.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

Some of the mystery that shrouded Osama bin Laden will be partially lifted as the public gets its first opportunity to read some of the documents seized during the U.S. raid on the al Qaeda founder's hideout in Pakistan one year ago. A selection of the more than 6,000 pages of documents will be made available Thursday on the website of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

SPORT-Baseball-Dodgers-Sale

The Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball, ushered in a new era of ownership Wednesday while ending a dismal chapter of ownership under Frank McCourt, who baseball's commissioner described as "looting" the club of $190 million to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

Georgia-Hustler-Lawsuit

A federal appeals panel has tossed out a lawsuit against Hustler magazine brought by the family of a slain professional wrestling personality, a case testing privacy concerns and the competing right to publish "newsworthy" material.

US-Health-care-fraud

More than 100 people have been charged and an estimated $450 million in false billings uncovered by federal agents in a nationwide operation that authorities say is the largest bust in recent history.

POL-Yoo-Padilla-Lawsuit

A convicted American terrorist plotter and his mother lost another legal round Wednesday in their efforts to hold accountable a former Bush administration official who issued legal memos supporting harsh interrogation techniques for suspected enemy combatants.

Montana-Rape-Inquiry

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a probe into allegations that up to 80 complaints of sexual assault over three years were not investigated thoroughly in a college town in Montana.

California-Sandra-Day-O'Connor-Civics

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court after 191 years, is crusading to reverse what she says is an alarming decline in America's knowledge of democracy and announced an initiative Wednesday to educate children across the country.

US-Supreme-Court-Exterior

The Supreme Court building is getting a face-lift to its famous facade, seven years after a chunk of marble fell 100 feet onto the stairs leading to the entrance, where it broke into pieces.

US-Russia-Missile-Shield

The United States does not expect an agreement with Russia this year to settle a dispute about a U.S.-backed plan to place an anti-ballistic missile shield in countries around Europe, according to the senior U.S. government officials leading a U.S. delegation to a missile defense conference in Moscow this week.

New-York-Subway-Plot

A look at how the New York subway plot was conceived.

New-Jersey-Tanning-Case

A New Jersey mother pleaded not guilty Wednesday to child endangerment charges after being accused of illegally allowing her 6-year-old daughter to tan at a salon, according to prosecutors.

ENT-Tyler-Perry-Fire

A massive fire tore through a building at the southwest Atlanta film studio of Tyler Perry on Tuesday night. No one was injured, but the blaze caused one building to partially collapse.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Sanford, Florida, city officials have chosen a former Colorado police chief as an interim replacement for the top cop who stepped aside during the furor over February's killing of an unarmed teen.

POLITICS

POL-Gingrich-Campaign-End

Newt Gingrich announced the suspension of his presidential campaign Wednesday in Virginia, a little less than a year after the former House speaker officially launched his White House bid.

POL-Romney-SuperPAC-Ads

The super PAC backing Mitt Romney's candidacy is back on the air with a major $4.3 million ad campaign beginning Wednesday in nine battleground states.

POL-Romney-Mocks-Obama

Mitt Romney poked fun at President Barack Obama's new campaign slogan while speaking at a fundraiser on Wednesday.

POL-Romney-Adviser-Departure-Explained

A foreign policy spokesman for the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney left his job in part because he was restricted from speaking publicly, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN on Wednesday.

POL-Tampa-Gun-Ban

The Republican governor of Florida rejected Tuesday a request from Tampa's mayor to issue a temporary ban on firearms during the Republican National Convention, slated to take place at the Tampa Bay Times Forum at the end of August.

POL-Obama-Massachusetts-Senate

President Barack Obama has made his way into the contentious Massachusetts Senate race with Democrat Elizabeth Warren highlighting her ties to the president and Republican Sen. Scott Brown using a recent White House bill signing to prove his bipartisan streak.

POL-Secret-Service

Three of the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the Colombia prostitution scandal refused to cooperate with authorities by submitting to a polygraph test, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-New York.

POL-Romney-Obama-Trip-Response

Mitt Romney bit his tongue and played it safe. He waited until hours after the president's speech from Afghanistan to release a statement on what was undoubtedly a turning point in the U.S. war against al Qaeda.

POL-Obama-Gingrich-Ad

In a pre-emptive strike on the day Newt Gingrich signals support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, the Obama campaign releases a video Wednesday which features instances of Gingrich criticizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

POL-WV-Governor-Obama

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, said in an interview published Wednesday he's unsure if he'll vote for President Barack Obama in the upcoming general election.

POL-Obama-Washington-Fundraisers

President Barack Obama, fresh off a surprise trip to Afghanistan, will attend two fundraisers in Washington Wednesday that will raise major cash for the president's re-election effort

POL-Poll-Wisconsin-Recall

A new poll released Wednesday indicates Republican Gov. Scott Walker is in a tight race with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the likely Democratic challenger in Wisconsin's June 5 gubernatorial recall election.

MONEY

MONEY-eco-business-sustainability-grade

Tech giants Apple and Google may get an unofficial A grade when it comes to stock price, but they can only manage a D grade when it comes to sustainability.

MONEY-Adp-Jobs-Report

Business hiring is slowing. Private companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued Wednesday by payroll-processing company ADP, falling far short of the 170,000 jobs economists were expecting.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors digested a weak private-sector jobs report and mostly upbeat corporate results.

MONEY-Green-Mountain

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares plummeted in late trading Wednesday after the company reported quarterly revenue that missed estimates and lowered its guidance for 2012.

MONEY-Nouriel-Roubini-Iran

Nouriel Roubini gives an audience no shortage of scenarios to keep them up at night, but his number one worry right now is the looming threat of Iran building nuclear weapons. Specifically, it's the risk of a confrontation between Israel and Iran, or the United States and Iran, Roubini told Michael Milken in front of hundreds of onlookers at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles Wednesday.

MONEY-Calpers-Activist

As Occupy Wall Street rages, Occupy boardroom shows no signs of slowing down.

MONEY-Harvard-Mit-Online

Always wanted to take a Harvard class? Soon you'll be able to do so from the comfort of your own home.

MONEY-Thebuzz

Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds are back below 2%. They really shouldn't be this low. Most fixed income investors agree that's the case. Yet, people keep clinging to long-term securities like Linus Van Pelt does to his baby blue security blanket.

MONEY-Yelp-Earnings

Reviews site Yelp used its status as a newly public company to ramp up its international expansion -- a plan that comes with a steep cost.

MONEY-Time-Warner-Earnings

Media conglomerate Time Warner posted higher first-quarter operating earnings Wednesday, helped by strong results from its movie and television studios.

MONEY-Income-Debt-Inequality

Debt inequality is the new income inequality.

MONEY-Germany-Recession

As recession spreads across Europe, Germany may not be able to avoid being dragged down.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

A $7 million watch shatters Kickstarter records.

MONEY-Cosmetics-Aging-Women

Cosmetics for aging women is a million-dollar market.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa

South Africa's rooibos is a hit with tea lovers across the world.

MONEY-Target-Kindle

Target will soon stop selling the Amazon Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, the retailer confirmed Wednesday.

MONEY-Delta-Refinery

Delta's decision to buy an oil refinery earlier this week is certainly bold, possibly unique and perhaps an inspiration to anyone who wished they could stick it to Big Oil and make their own gas. But, for Delta, it's definitely risky.

MONEY-Calpers-Activist

As Occupy Wall Street rages, Occupy boardroom shows no signs of slowing down.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

Philippines-Ballet

Jessa Balote is 14-years-old and training to be a professional ballerina in Manila. It is a task that takes enormous amounts of dedication for even the most determined of young women, but Balote's challenge is nothing compared to life outside the dance studio where she has to support her entire family.

Afghanistan-big-picture

By midmorning Wednesday, Air Force One touched down at Andrews Air Force Base. President Barack Obama had returned from a surprise trip to Afghanistan that lasted a day but was meant to mark a transition to the end of the more than decadelong war. There has been much debate about what the speech signifies and what it means for the long-term future of Afghanistan and America's involvement there. The agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that Obama touted, the strategic partnership agreement, is short on specifics and Obama's speech did not lay out any new timetable for the war. While some observers say it's foolish to think the United States will actually leave the country, others say Obama's speech, both its symbolic occurrence and its contents, are signs of tremendous progress. At a minimum, a milestone has been reached despite tense relations. But what it means in practical terms for Americans is unclear, because after most troops leave in 2014, what remains has yet to be negotiated. When Obama spoke of "a future in which war ends and a new chapter begins," what did that mean specifically?

TRAVEL-philippines-tourism-campaign

The Philippines Department of Tourism has a lot to boast about. The country has beautiful beaches, great scuba diving and a culture that is known for its hospitality. What it doesn't have is a lot of money for a global tourism campaign.

auction-art-islamic-week

London's auction houses hosted a week of sales dedicated to art of the Islamic world

qatar-female-olympics

Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country. When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

FEA-National-Truffle-Day

Do the truffle shuffle! May 2 is National Truffle Day. A little more rare than your average pack of button mushrooms at the grocery store, these underground beauties that seem to magically surface at the foot of trees are definitely special enough to get their own day.

MED-omega-3-memory-loss-alzheimers-study

People who eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may significantly lower their risk of developing memory problems and Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.

COMMENTARY-Frum-Vice-President-Rubio-Jindal

Republicans have a Latino problem. Only about 6% of Latino voters agree that the GOP is the party most concerned for their interests. Nearly half choose the Democrats as the party most concerned for them.

COMMENTARY-suri-obama-afghan-speech

Jeremi Suri: Obama's speech represents start of rapid withdrawal from Afghan war.

TRAVEL-Cinco-de-mayo-travel

When celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday, consider a more authentic Mexican experience than simply ordering a margarita and chips and salsa at the local sports bar. Not ready for a trip to Mexico right now? There is plenty of Mexico to explore and celebrate in the United States since much of the Southwest was once part of our neighbor to the south.

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.


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The Frontrunner


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Offering "Tepid Support" For Romney, Gingrich Suspends His Campaign


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 1243 words


The CBS Evening News (5/2, story 9, 0:25, Pelley, 6.1M) reported, "In the presidential race today, Newt Gingrich made the long-awaited announcement that he's giving up his fight for the Republican nomination. He gave a less-than-ringing endorsement to his once-bitter rival Mitt Romney, suggesting only that Romney is better than the Democratic alternative, President Obama."

ABC World News (5/2, story 7, 0:30, Sawyer, 8.2M) reported that Gingrich "did not endorse Mitt Romney. But he said you can laugh at his idea to bring a lunar colony on the moon, but he still believes in it. Now that he has more free time he is going to take it up again and you have not heard the last of it."

NBC Nightly News (5/2, story 3, 2:35, Williams, 8.37M) reported that Gingrich "finally suspended his bid for the GOP nomination today after leaving behind some memorable moments in the campaign that seemed for a while there like it was not going to end."

The AP (5/3) reports that Gingrich, who "bowed out of the race more than $4 million in debt and his reputation perhaps damaged," called on "conservatives to rally behind Romney as a better alternative than Obama. 'This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical, leftist president in American history,' Gingrich said."

The Wall Street Journal (5/3, Williamson, Yadron, Subscription Publication), noting that Gingrich failed to offer an official endorsement of Romney, points out that Rick Santorum has also yet to formally back the former Massachusetts Governor. The Washington Times (5/3, McLaughlin, 77K) says that Gingrich offered a "tepid endorsement of Mr. Romney," encouraging conservatives to back the former Massachusetts Governor over Obama. The Washington Post (5/3, Sonmez, 553K) similarly says that Gingrich "delivered a tepid endorsement of...Romney that could best be summed up as the following: the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The Hill (5/2, Sink) reported on its website, "The tepid support will likely do little to endear Gingrich to the" GOP "after a grueling primary campaign, and is particularly puzzling considering the $4 million in debt the Gingrich campaign reportedly holds. According to multiple reports, the Romney campaign and" the RNC "indicated they would help Gingrich retire the outstanding balance, but such an offer seems likely predicated on hard work to support the Romney campaign."

Still, Bloomberg News (5/2, Davis, 1M) reported, Romney "praised Gingrich...following his announcement, saying he 'has brought creativity and intellectual vitality to American political life.' 'Although he long ago created an enduring place for himself in American history, I am confident that he will continue to make important contributions to our party and to the life of the nation,' Romney said in a statement."

USA Today (5/3, Camia, 1.78M) reports that Claremont McKenna College government professor John Pitney "said Gingrich won't be playing a 'traditional leadership role' in the Republican Party but can be useful to Romney. 'There are few other Republicans who can really excite a Republican audience the way Newt can, despite everything that has happened in the campaign,' Pitney said. 'He can really get Republican audiences on their feet and motivated, and that's an asset Romney can tap.'"

The New York Times (5/3, Seelye, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that Gingrich "is a stark example of how the dream of being president -- or at least a candidate with benefits -- can be dashed." Continuing on with his bid, despite "winning only two states," Gingrich "was scorned by many in his own party. He had criticized Mr. Romney so pointedly ('Are you calling Mitt Romney a liar?' 'Yes.') that the Obama campaign has produced an entire Gingrich-based anti-Romney video that could make any eventual Gingrich endorsement of Mr. Romney look like a joke." Through April, Gingrich "had a campaign debt of $4.3 million. And his consulting company has filed for bankruptcy, a casualty of Mr. Gingrich's absence while he ran for president."

Politico (5/3, Gibson, 25K) reports that Gingrich "called the campaign a 'truly wild ride,' and while thanking family and supporters, he singled out wealthy casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his family, who nearly single-handedly bankrolled the pro-Gingrich super PAC that kept him in the game. Going forward, Gingrich said: 'Callista and I are going to focus on a series of key issues ... and try to educate and move policies in Washington, D.C. Probably central to this is a deep commitment to American exceptionalism.'"

The Los Angeles Times (5/3, West, 630K) reports, "In a rare self-deprecating aside," Gingrich -- announcing he was suspending his bid -- "referred to his campaign vision of a human colony on the moon by remarking that his wife, Callista, who nodded affirmatively as he spoke, had pointed out to him 'approximately 219 times, give or take three, that 'moon colony' was probably not my most clever comment in this campaign. I thought, frankly, that in my role of providing material for 'Saturday Night Live,' it was helpful,' Gingrich said." The Financial Times (5/3, Kirchgaessner, Subscription Publication, 448K) and Roll Call (5/3, Trygstad, Subscription Publication, 19K) also have reports.

In his Washington Post (5/3, 553K) column, Dana Milbank says that in Gingrich on Wednesday "formally departed the GOP primary race in much the manner in which he ran his campaign: discursive, chaotic and utterly devoid of self-control. For 23 desultory minutes in an overheating conference room, Gingrich...spoke, in no particular order, of Capt. John Smith in 1607, mining asteroids, his novels about George Washington, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Ellis the Elephant, the Strait of Hormuz, Alzheimer's disease, Chinese bondholders, Todd Palin, electromagnetic pulses, radical Islamists, C-SPAN, his high school years, Nixon, Carter, Reagan (both Ronald and Michael), the civil service, the Civil War, autism, holograms, the Soviet Union, nanoscale science, the Federalist Papers and Herman Cain. He had little to say about the one thing people in the room cared about most -- whether he would endorse Mitt Romney."

Rollins: In Exit Speech, Gingrich "Epitomized A Sore Loser."

The Hill (5/2, Heinze) reported on its website, "Veteran GOP strategist and Fox News analyst Ed Rollins had harsh reactions to Newt Gingrich's presidential race departure speech Wednesday. 'It was one of the worst farewells that I've ever seen,' Rollins said. 'He's now going to see all of his words come back in the commercials.'" Of Gingrich, Rollins added, "I think, to a certain extent, he epitomized a sore loser. This is a tough game, but he epitomized a sore loser.'"

Obama Camp Releases Web Video Highlighting Gingrich's Criticism Of Romney.

The Hill (5/2, Cohn) reported on its website that President Obama's "campaign deployed an unusual surrogate to attack...Mitt Romney in a new Web video: Republican Newt Gingrich. The video released Wednesday, titled 'Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter,' details a long list of attacks by the former House Speaker on Romney's business experience, Swiss bank account, immigration policy and accusations of dishonesty and an inability to rally the party." A "press release sent out with the video asks the question: 'Will Newt Gingrich throw his support behind Mitt Romney or will he begrudgingly fall in line with everyone else?'"


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The Frontrunner


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Obama, Romney Camps Focusing Heavily On Virginia


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 203 words


The battleground state of Virginia is drawing plenty of attention from the campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney, according to Politico (5/3, Martin, Burns, 25K), which notes that the President "will make Richmond the site of his kick-off campaign rally this Saturday and, as he often does, will motorcade across the Potomac Friday for an official event in northern Virginia, this one devoted to student loans at an Arlington high school." Romney, meanwhile, stumped "Wednesday in northern Virginia and" today will campaign "in Hampton Roads." Romney "will also be in Lynchburg to speak to graduates of Liberty University next week. Both campaigns are also moving swiftly to build their organizations" in the state. Politico adds, "The action on the ground is mirrored on the air ? Obama's campaign and Romney's super PAC are already broadcasting commercials in the state."

The AP (5/3) reports that Obama and Romney each collected "about $1 million from Virginia donors the first three months of this year. Obama had slight edge, collecting $992,208 to Romney's $989,398. That's according to data from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, an independent tracker of cash in state politics."


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The Frontrunner


May 3, 2012 Thursday


USA Today Says Early Ads Portend "Nasty Election."


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 168 words


USA Today (5/3, 1.78M) editorializes, "The presidential election is six months off, but the attack ads -- short on truth, long on demonization -- have already begun. President Obama has one set to air in battleground states that accuses presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney of encouraging companies to ship jobs overseas," following on "one that questioned whether Romney would have been willing to go after Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan. ... Romney, for his part, aired a blatantly misleading ad last fall built around a clip of Obama saying, 'If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.' ... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the portents of the nasty election that every observer is predicting."

Karl Rove, in his column for the Wall Street Journal (5/3, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), says the President and his campaign undercut the bump the President got from the anniversary of the bin Laden raid when they repeatedly implied that Mitt Romney might not have approved the mission.


LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2012


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The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.)


May 3, 2012 Thursday


SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; A; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 1089 words


Candidate seeks to set record straightI am compelled to respond to a misleading op-ed about my record by the Durham County Republican Party. The facts should set the record straight.When I was elected in 1988, the tax rate in Durham County was 98.6 cents per $100 valuation. Currently it is 74.59 - a drop of 24 cents. That drop has occurred due to the steady increase in the tax base and the strong fiscal management within the county over the past 24 years.

Durham County has consistently been one of the leading counties in the state for both tax base and job growth. In fact, we have been recognized nationwide for having one of the most resilient economies in the country.In addition, while I chaired the board between 2002 and 2008, we partnered with the city on the two catalytic projects - American Tobacco and DPAC - that have helped to ignite downtown revitalization. We built the South parking deck for American Tobacco and provided the increase in the hotel occupancy tax to fund the Durham Performing Arts Center. Also, in 2004, the Triangle Metro Center, the largest mixed-use development in the county's history, was approved on a 5-0 vote near a future commuter rail stop in RTP. Plans called for 2,285 dwelling units, 250,000 square feet of retail, 675,000 square feet of office space and a 250-room hotel.The fact is that Durham County has experienced robust growth and a lowering of the tax rate during my tenure on the board.Ellen ReckhowDurham County Board of Commissioners vice chairwomanDurham is not for saleDon't buy into the hype and empty promises of The Durham Partnership for Progress. They are a front for Southern Durham Development and can't deliver on jobs, transportation, or lower taxes. Two of their candidates (Brenda Howerton and Michael Page) have voted to raise taxes. These out-of-town players are trying to buy the election so they can push their development (or whatever is on their agenda) down our throats, make a bundle and leave town. If they care so much about Durham, why don't any of them live here? Let these people know that Durham is not for sale.Vote for the best county government money can't buy. Vote for Ellen Reckhow, Fred Foster, Wendy Jacobs and Will Wilson. They'll represent everyone, not special interests.Carol YoungDurhamSupport candidates not in thrall to developersI keep getting postcards telling me that if I vote for certain candidates my taxes will go down. Who are these postcards from? The 751 South developers' Super PAC. I've lived in south Durham for most of my life and I've seen a lot of development in that time. Funny, my taxes haven't gone down at all. I'm a little wary of candidates who believe that erecting a mini-city on our major reservoir is going to lower my taxes and improve my quality of life. I'm very wary when those candidates seem to be wholly in thrall to the 751 developers. That's why I'm supporting county commissioner candidates who will answer to the citizens, not to a Super PAC. Vote for Fred Foster, Wendy Jacobs, Ellen Reckhow, and Will Wilson.Nancy HerndonDurhamDon't let developer choose elected officialsFirst, Southern Durham Development funds its own SuperPAC which endorses - surprise! - the folks who have voted them entitlements worth millions of dollars for their SuperDevelopment (and the one challenger who promises to keep voting for more). Now comes the Republican Party-in the guise of a Cary stockbroker-supporting those same four characters. Mr. Republican doesn't think Durham voters can think for themselves. The best part? According to them, unless you vote for Southern Durham Development's candidates, "Durham will be just like Chapel Hill"! You can almost make out the words "pinko commies" between the lines. Logic and reason are not in the Republican toolbox. Do you want Southern Durham Development to pick your County Commission candidates? How about Republicans? Vote Democratic: Vote Ellen Reckhow, Fred Foster, Wendy Jacobs and Will Wilson.Don MoffittDurhamVote for candidates who foster positive qualitiesOur household has now received its fifth 6-by-11-inch mailer from Southern Durham Development LLC (the 751 South developers) supporting the three county commissioners who have pushed to create this development, despite the fact that it would be located squarely within the watershed for Durham and Raleigh, and would require us to abandon our existing rules about what can be built in a watershed to accommodate it.These commissionerssee LETTERS/page a7 have ignored their own planning commission; they've ignored the recommendations of water quality experts; they've ignored the objections of nearby residents; they've disregarded the irregularities in the project's approval process. When the city council voted against extending water and sewer to it, these three commissioners offered the developers the use of the county's own upland waste system, literally demonstrating their willingness to pump sewage uphill to get 751 South to happen.These three commissioners (Michael Page, Brenda Howerton, and Joe Bowser), undoubtedly otherwise decent people, have now become a hazard to the health of the Durham area. Durham has grown because it has clean water, great universities and community colleges, beautiful open spaces, and now, again, the beginnings of a vibrant downtown. We need county commissioners who will foster these qualities, not compromise them. Please vote for Ellen Reckhow, Wendy Jacobs, Will Wilson, and Fred Foster for a new county commission.J.R. Smith Jr.Rougemont Vote Foushee for N.C. HouseValerie Foushee has a strong background in schools and education issues. I will vote for Foushee to join the North Carolina House of Representatives because she is also a person with a well-rounded view of our state and the economy as well. I encourage all to elect Valerie Foushee to represent us in the N.C. House.Lynne KaneChapel HillVote is for candidate, not spouseConcerning the controversy about Ann Romney and whether she has worked hard raising children or whether she hasn't ever worked on a time clock - or how much Michelle Obama makes now or how much she made before her husband was president - the last I heard, I wasn't going to be voting for either of these women; their names aren't on the ticket. I am deciding whether to vote for one of their husbands. I don't care what professions their wives pursued, whether they are considered professional or a homemaker, or whether their husbands wear boxers or briefs. Let's get back to the point, here.Kyle SimpsonDurham


LOAD-DATE: May 23, 2012


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Investor's Business Daily


May 3, 2012 Thursday
NATIONAL EDITION


The Great Job Outsourcer


SECTION: ISSUES & INSIGHTS; EDITORIALS; Pg. A14


LENGTH: 675 words


Jobs: The same president who used stimulus dollars to build electric cars in Finland and sought to be Brazil's best oil customer now complains the GOP nominee built his career outsourcing jobs. At least he created some.

President Obama's re-election campaign released an ad Tuesday saying Mitt Romney "shipped American jobs to places like Mexico and China" when he led the investment firm Bain Capital.

The $780,000 ad buy in the key swing states of Ohio, Iowa and Virginia was in response to an ad by the free-market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) noting the administration's penchant for wasting taxpayer money in support of green energy companies, particularly those overseas or with foreign owners.

Among other things, AFP noted, the Obama administration approved a plan by electric car company Fisker to use part of its $529 million federal stimulus loan guarantee to build its manufacturing facility, and the 500 jobs it supports, in Finland.

Now comes Obama's counterattack -- an odd charge since he seeks to block the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada that would create 20,000 jobs fast and hundreds of thousands of jobs in an economic ripple effect.

This is also an administration that applauded the U.S. Export-Import Bank's plan to loan Brazil's state-run Petrobras $2 billion, with the promise of more to follow, at a time when Obama was railing against tax incentives for U.S. oil companies and still is.

With an offshore drilling ban in effect off both coasts, Alaska's continental shelf, ANWR and much of the Gulf of Mexico, with a de facto moratorium covering the rest, Obama told the Brazilians: "We want to help you with the technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers."

Obama's forced dependence on foreign oil -- while we leave vast reserves in the ground -- has resulted in the acceleration of the greatest transfer of job-creating wealth overseas in history to the tune of hundreds of billions annually.

Why we can't be our own best energy company, keeping jobs and cash here, is the fault of a president beholden to groups opposed to any American oil drilling.

Recently, Government Motors, aka GM, whose international headquarters are in Shanghai, announced it would be developing an electric car platform with its longtime Chinese partner, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. (SAIC).

Obama has no problem with that.

As part of doing business in China, GM, which became virtually a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.S. government, must share its taxpayer-subsidized technology with Beijing as a cost of doing business there, including the tech used in the heavily subsidized Chevy Volt.

State-of-the-art battery technology developed by Ener1, which had a $118 million stimulus funded credit line before it went bankrupt -- and was supposed to rejuvenate the American auto industry -- is now owned outright by Boris Zingarevich, a Russian businessman with ties to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

One of the administration's latest green boondoggles is a $773 million loan for Severstal North America to expand and retool the old Rouge steel mill in Dearborn, Mich., to make high-strength steel needed to make lighter, more fuel-efficient cars.

The problem is that this kind of steel is already being produced in sufficient quantities, including by Severstal, and the company getting the loan is owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov. As one of the world's richest men with a net worth estimated at $19 billion, he hardly should be the recipient of our subsidy.

Mitt Romney and Bain Capital oversaw the creation of tens of thousands of jobs by companies like Staples, Sports Authority and Domino's Pizza.

Obama would maintain the highest corporate tax rate in the world, a job-outsourcing energy policy, expand job-killing regulations, impose job-killing ObamaCare and the Buffett Rule, which would penalize job-creating risk takers and entrepreneurs.

It is Obama who is outsourcing American jobs and downsizing the American economy.


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Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)


May 3, 2012 Thursday


It's nonsense


BYLINE: The Lowell Sun


SECTION: EDITORIALS


LENGTH: 402 words


The Sun could care less if Democrat Elizabeth Warren is 1/32nd Cherokee Indian or whether Scott Brown, who opposes Obamacare, enrolled his daughter on his health-care plan, courtesy of President Obama's new national law.

We don't care who ate dog as a child (Obama in Indonesia) or who put a pet dog in a kennel carrier and strapped it to a car's roof during transit (Mitt Romney).

Where are these irrelevant stories coming from, and why do they matter?

Well, obviously they matter to some, because we believe the candidates, if they aren't the source, certainly know of political operatives who are planting the stories. They want to incite the "haters" out there in both parties -- and make new ones if they can.

What a despicable way to win votes and "inform" the electorate. Inform them about what?

It's a tit-for-tat political world, and a sorrier one than we've seen in years. It's not just happening on the national level either. It's everywhere, state and local levels too.

Gov. Deval Patrick, for crying out loud, is calling Americans who oppose illegal immigration "racists." In all due respect, Mr. Governor, find your mental balance, man, and do it quickly.

If one candidate has a human-eat-dog story in his past, there has to be one hidden somewhere in the other's past, too. And if not, we can assure you someone on the Internet will start a rumor to that effect.

It goes on and one, ad nauseum.

The main issues in the U.S. presidential election are the same ones driving the Massachusetts Senate election: It's the economy, stupid. It's the lack of good-paying jobs, stupid. It's kids going bankrupt on college tuition, stupid. It's the lack of opportunities for the next generation of children, stupid.

Let's cut the crap. The media shouldn't fall for the irrelevant, juicy stories that are pitched day in and day out, but use its power, authority and talented resources to inform and educate on significant issues. What drives a candidate's decision-making, his/her character, and what are the solutions to the challenges we face as a nation and a state? That's what voters want to know, don't they?

If Elizabeth Warren is part Cherokee Indian, she should be proud of it and stand tall as a successful American.

As for Scott Brown, he's smart. His daughter needs health care and under Obama's mandate, she's eligible to go on Brown's plan until she is 26 years old or until the program is repealed.

End of story.


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The New York Times


May 3, 2012 Thursday
Late Edition - Final


Changing The Subject


BYLINE: By GAIL COLLINS


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Editorial Desk; OP-ED COLUMNIST; Pg. 31


LENGTH: 813 words


Let's talk about the Senate races. It's a matter of mental health. We cannot spend the next six months fixating on Romney versus Obama. Before you know it, we'll be so bored that we'll start arguing about whether it's seemly for the president to brag about killing Osama bin Laden.

With Senate campaigns you at least learn new things. Such as ...

MONTANA Did you know that Billings is known as the Magic City? According to the Billings Web site, this is because ''it seemingly grew overnight into the largest distribution center in Montana.'' You have to love that kind of factoid.

The subject came up in a story about Congressman Denny Rehberg, the Republican candidate for Senate, who filed a negligence suit claiming the Billings Fire Department failed to control a wildfire that burned some land he was planning to develop. Rehberg dropped the case, but not before it set back the Magic City about $21,000 in legal fees.

People, if you are planning a career in politics, please be careful who you sue. Also, watch what you post on Facebook. And never tweet.

But I digress. On the Democratic side, the incumbent, Jon Tester, is running an ad titled ''Jon Tester: Montana Beef -- Montana Proud,'' which shows how the senator ''packs his own Montana beef in his roller-cooler when traveling between Montana and the Senate.''

Tester is one of the most endangered incumbents, because of Montana's current redness. On the plus side, he never sued any home-state cities.

NORTH DAKOTA Rick Berg, North Dakota's congressman, opened his campaign for Senate with an ad in which his mom assures voters that Rick was raised right and will legislate ''the North Dakota way.'' Have you ever noticed that politicians are the only ones who ever say things like ''That's the North Dakota way'' or ''I'm Montana proud?'' Some people identify with their town or city, and I did see an episode of ''The Amazing Race'' in which a guy from Kentucky claimed he was running for his county, which I found pretty unusual. But generally, you don't notice all that much state-consciousness outside of Texas, except during election seasons.

The Democrats fought back with an ad saying the Republican House budget was not ''the way we do things in North Dakota.'' A Berg supporter retaliated by buying a radio ad claiming that a vote for the Democratic candidate, Heidi Heitkamp, would be a ''vote for Obama socialism,'' and referring to her as ''Heidi-ho.''

Heitkamp supporters then questioned whether the friends of Berg were trying to suggest that she was a prostitute. Already we can see that this is going to be a seriously action-packed race.

MASSACHUSETTS The hottest Senate race in the country is currently the one between the Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown and his challenger, Elizabeth Warren. Right now the big issue involves whether Warren, who could be one-32nd Cherokee, did anything wrong when she listed herself as a member of a minority group in a legal directory. ''Professor Warren needs to come clean about her motivations for making these claims,'' said a Brown spokesman.

Several thoughts arise, including (a) one-32nd really does not seem like a lot and (b) any controversy in which the accusing side demands that an opponent ''come clean about her motivations'' is not going to go very far.

I'm sure this will blow over soon and we can get back to debating whether the pickup truck that Brown famously drove in his working-class-guy campaign to win the old Ted Kennedy seat was originally purchased to tow the family show horse.

INDIANA Next Tuesday we will learn whether Richard Lugar, a Republican, wins renomination for the Senate seat he has held for almost 36 years. This is the guy who won international renown for his work against nuclear proliferation. If he loses, the Tea Party will have claimed another victim, terrifying the remaining moderate Republican in the Senate.

His opponent, Richard Mourdock, the state treasurer, claims that Lugar has become a creature of Washington. Generally, these lost-touch-with-the-people campaigns are bogus. But it does seem peculiar that Lugar's 2012 Indiana voting address was a house he sold in 1977.

Lugar, who has a home in the Washington suburbs, says he can't afford a place in Indiana too. This is a guy who represents a state where the median price of a house in Gas City is $88,000. Also, Lugar owns a family farm outside Indianapolis, but apparently there is no family house on the family farm. Personally, I'd have gone for the family shed.

Anyway, here is our question: Would you rather see Lugar win, striking a blow for moderate-although-actually-pretty-darned-conservative-but-just-not-crazy Republicanism? Or would you prefer to see him lose and give the Democrats a chance to pick up an unexpected seat? Feel free to choose. It's like the basketball playoffs. Every team has its good points. Except, of course, the Miami Heat.


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The New York Times


May 3, 2012 Thursday
Late Edition - Final


The Massachusetts Race: Defending a 'Minority' Label


BYLINE: By JESS BIDGOOD and ABBY GOODNOUGH


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; THE CAUCUS; Pg. 22


LENGTH: 904 words


6:05 p.m. Updated Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday defended her decision to identify herself as a minority in a directory of law professors in the 1980s and '90s, saying that she hoped it would help her ''meet more people who had grown up like I had grown up.''

Taking questions after an event in Braintree, Mass. -- and speaking publicly about the controversy for the first time since Friday, when The Boston Herald first wrote about it -- Ms. Warren also responded forcefully to allegations from her Republican opponent, Senator Scott P. Brown, that she had claimed American-Indian ancestry to advance her academic career.

''I am a hard-working teacher, I have won teaching awards, I've written books that have won acclaim,'' Ms. Warren said. ''I applied for one job in 1978 by letter, and every job I've had since then has been from someone who recruited me into that job. And they've come to me and said - and they have now said publicly - 'Because of your work, we'd like you to come here.' ''

''The only one, as I understand it, who's raising any question about whether or not I was qualified for my job is Scott Brown,'' Ms. Warren continued. ''Frankly, I'm a little shocked to hear anybody raise a question about whether or not I'm qualified to hold a job teaching.''

Ms. Warren said she stopped identifying herself as a minority in the directory when she found it did not connect her with individuals with similar backgrounds. ''That was clearly not the use for it, and so I stopped checking it off,'' Ms. Warren said.

Although she denied any linkage between her heritage - a genealogical record suggests that she is 1/32 American Indian -- and her professional life, Ms. Warren defended its importance to her family roots.

''I have lived in a family that has talked about Native American, talked about tribes, since I've been a little girl,'' Ms. Warren said. ''Being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born.''

Ms. Warren also tried to draw reporters' attention to a familiar campaign theme of reforming big banks, accusing Mr. Brown of being too close to Wall Street, citing a Boston Globe article that highlights donations made by financial institutions to a political action committee for Mr. Brown.

''Scott Brown has been taking more money from Wall Street, not only in his campaign directly, but also in an arrangement with the Republican party, and as The Boston Globe reported it, Scott Brown delivers for Wall Street,'' Ms. Warren said. ''And I think he's made that clear - during Dodd-Frank, Scott Brown was there for Wall Street.''

The appearance in Braintree followed the online release of a new television ad that features President Obama praising her work as a consumer advocate.

In the ad, the third so far from Ms. Warren's campaign, Mr. Obama describes her as ''a janitor's daughter who has become one of the country's fiercest advocates for the middle class.''

The ad also shows Ms. Warren standing with Mr. Obama in the Oval Office. Referring to his administration's new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Ms. Warren conceived of and set up, Mr. Obama says, ''She came up with an idea for a new, independent agency that would have one simple overriding mission: standing up for consumers and middle-class families.''

The advertisement aligns Ms. Warren with President Obama at a time when her campaign is working to liken Mr. Brown to Mitt Romney. ''A vote for Scott Brown is a vote for President Mitt Romney, the Republican Party, Wall Street, and the big corporations,'' read an e-mail sent to supporters on April 25.

Mr. Brown has portrayed himself a problem solver who avoids partisan battles, and was planning what his campaign billed as a ''major campaign speech'' at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston on Wednesday afternoon. In excerpts circulated by his campaign on Wednesday morning, he described Washington as a ''bitterly divided'' hive of distrust and pointed to bills he had co-sponsored that passed with bipartisan support.

''I didn't run for this office -- setting out as the longest of long shots, putting I don't know how many miles on my truck -- all so that I could take orders from party leaders or anyone else,'' he says in one excerpt from the speech. ''Each time the roll is called, I know that the decision is mine alone to make, going by my own lights and trying to show the best of Massachusetts.''

Mr. Brown noted in the speech that he sponsored two provisions of President Obama's jobs bill last year - legislation that was ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans, including Mr. Brown, except for a handful of provisions. ''A few people told me that maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to go to the signing ceremony at the White House,'' Mr. Brown says in another excerpt. ''But when the invitation came, I answered 'yes' right away.''

The new ad, which will run statewide starting Wednesday evening, is a ''major ad buy,'' says a campaign spokeswoman, Alethea Harney, who would not specify the exact amount spent on the ad. It replaces an advertisement begun last week that highlighted Ms. Warren's middle-class roots and pushed for student debt relief.

Mr. Brown has not yet bought television time. According to The Associated Press, the race is the nation's most expensive Senate contest, with the two candidates raising more than $30 million combined.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


May 3, 2012 Thursday
CITY-C Edition


bin Laden's demise boosts Obama, but voters still focus on economy


BYLINE: By Thomas Fitzgerald; Inquirer Politics Writer


SECTION: NATIONAL; P-com News for PC Home Page; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1163 words


Mitt Romney delivered pizzas Tuesday to a firehouse in Greenwich Village alongside former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, marking the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden with heroes of 9/11. Not a bad campaign event, all in all.

Then President Obama landed in Afghanistan that night for an unannounced visit to the war zone, knocking Romney out of the news cycle. The trip also eased, for a few hours at least, a raging partisan debate over whether Obama's reelection campaign has crassly politicized the death of the most-wanted terrorist.

Sometimes, it's good to be the incumbent.

But many, especially Republicans, questioned whether the Obama campaign stepped over the line last week by releasing a web video celebrating the president's decision to authorize the Navy SEAL raid deep into Pakistan that killed bin Laden; the video went further, asking if Romney would have had the guts to make the same call.

"I would have made the same decision the president made to remove him," Romney told reporters outside the firehouse in lower Manhattan. He called the Obama ad "inappropriate."

In addition to the seven-minute video, Obama granted an interview to NBC News - in the Situation Room, where he gave the fateful order - for a broadcast special on the raid. On the stump, Vice President Biden has been saying, "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," referring to the federal bailout of the auto industry.

Republicans were outraged, and some special-operations troops and veterans spoke out against what they saw as Obama's chest-beating. It seemed to them as if the president and his backers were taking undue credit, glossing over the work done by former President George W. Bush, thousands of people in intelligence agencies, and the military personnel who supported and carried out the mission.

Ironically, some GOP critics compared it to the 2003 event in which a flightsuit-clad Bush landed on an aircraft carrier draped with a "Mission Accomplished" banner to declare the war in Iraq a success. Renewed sectarian violence there made the claim seem ridiculous.

"It was a great day for the country when Osama bin Laden was killed, but the ad was overreach," said Rick Wilson, a Republican consultant based in Florida. "The problem with Obama's people is that they can't settle for a win; they need the win and an end-zone dance. They really believe that 2008 was a product of their genius, not that John McCain ran a rotten campaign and the economy tanked."

For Obama strategists, however, the anniversary was a chance to cement the image of a resolute commander-in-chief while raising questions about Romney's toughness.

In his first presidential campaign in 2008, Romney did say he would hesitate to invade the sovereign territory of an ally, Pakistan, to get bin Laden. He also said, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."

But Democrats' defensiveness on national security issues long predates Obama-vs.-Romney. Since at least 1968, when the Cold War consensus was breaking down over the war in Vietnam, the party's presidential candidates have struggled to overcome perceptions of seeming uncomfortable about wielding American military might.

Richard Nixon promised "peace with honor" in Vietnam instead of surrender and hammered on the need for "law and order," a reassuring reference aimed at Southern voters and others worried over protests and riots in the country over the war and civil rights.

Four years later, Nixon tagged George McGovern, a South Dakota senator and decorated World War II bomber pilot, as weak because he favored immediate pullout from Vietnam and clemency for draft evaders. Democrats were tagged as the party of "acid, amnesty, and abortion."

Jimmy Carter, when he sought reelection in 1980, fell victim to the Iran hostage crisis and the failed military rescue he had ordered. Eight years later, there was Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, ridiculed for pictures of him in a tank.

And in 2004, Republicans went at Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam record, and so flummoxed the Democratic nominee over one of his putative strengths that a nickname was born - "Swiftboating."

Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist Neil Oxman thinks the GOP campaign of outrage over Obama's ad and other credit-taking is another form of the same thing. "They're doing everything they can to blunt this stuff, trying to take the foreign-policy advantage away," Oxman said.

Indeed, according to polls, foreign policy is a strong suit for Obama this year. He has earned consistently higher approval marks on international issues than on the economy.

Neither is he the first president to face such critiques. In 2004, Bush drew fire for a campaign ad that showed a snippet of video of remains being carried from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. He also ran an ad that featured a prowling wolf, meant to symbolize terrorism, and making the case that Kerry could not protect the country from evil.

And in this campaign, Romney and all the GOP contenders he has now vanquished have been attacking Obama as irresolute in challenging the Iranians' drive for nuclear weapons, and trying to paint him as a weak supporter of Israel. A constant Romney refrain is that Obama has been "apologizing for America" in international affairs and does not believe in the "exceptionalism" of the nation.

For all the noise, the campaign of 2012 still is likely to be decided on the economy.

In a January ABC News/Washington Post poll, 51 percent of respondents named the economy as the single most important issue in their choice for president. Just 2 percent picked terrorism and national security.

Eight years ago, with the 9/11 attacks fresh in memory, 22 percent of Americans said terrorism was their top concern. The economy was important in their vote, too, with 26 percent saying it was the top issue in the 2004 campaign.

Daniel F. McElhatton, a Democratic strategist based in Philadelphia, said the real gain for Obama in the bin Laden raid is "a significant boost in his stature and leadership" among key voter groups.

"It speaks to conservative Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans, voters he can persuade and that he needs, that he's made the tough decisions," McElhatton said.

Though Obama may be able to use the bin Laden raid and management of the Afghanistan drawdown as inoculation against attempts to paint him as weak, the president still owns the economy.

"In every state where we've done survey or campaign work, there is a sense of enormous economic insecurity," said Wilson, the GOP consultant. "You could kill Osama bin Laden 50 times - and that's a great thing - but it's not going to make people feel that the economy is going strong or make them feel stable and secure financially."

Contact Thomas Fitzgerald

at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com or @tomfitzgerald on Twitter. Read his blog, "The Big Tent," at www.philly.com/bigtent.


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


May 3, 2012 Thursday
State Edition


Romney pledges to boost economy;
Presidential candidate faults Obama during campaign stop in Va.


BYLINE: WESLEY P. HESTER; Richmond Times-Dispatch


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A-01


LENGTH: 655 words


CHANTILLY - Beginning a flurry of presidential campaign activity this week in battleground Virginia, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday assailed President Barack Obama in a cramped Fairfax County warehouse and pledged to improve a still-sputtering economy if elected.

On the first day of his two-day stint in the state, Romney visited Exhibit Edge, an exhibit technology company near Washington Dulles International Airport, and spoke to a crowd of roughly 400 about the struggles of small businesses in particular.

"Americans are tired of being tired of this economy and this president, and they want real change," Romney told supporters, some of whom perched atop crates for a view of the candidate.

"I will make America a great place for entrepreneurs again," he said, drawing cheers.

Today, the former Massachusetts governor appears with Gov. Bob McDonnell -- who is rumored to be on a short list of potential vice presidential prospects -- in Portsmouth at Crofton Industries, a commercial diving and marine construction company.

Romney is stumping ahead of Obama's re-election campaign kickoff in Richmond on Saturday at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Shortly after Romney's event here, the Obama campaign announced another event Friday at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington County, where the president will speak with students and parents about college loans and education.

Women were the target of the event in Chantilly, with Romney speaking in front of a group of businesswomen that included Exhibit Edge owner Bev Gray. The candidate began by handing the microphone to his wife, Ann, who remarked that "women do make the world go'round."

A Quinnipiac University poll released in late March showed Obama with an 8 percentage point lead over Romney among Virginia voters, due in large part to a 13 point disadvantage among women.

After a nod to the "women entrepreneurs and innovators," Romney aggressively went after the president, criticizing his tax, regulatory and labor policies and calling his the "most anti-small business administration probably since Carter."

Instead, he proposed reducing tax rates on businesses, cutting regulations and requiring congressional approval for new ones, and creating labor policies that "level the playing field."

He also criticized Obama for imposing checks on offshore drilling and for what he called the administration's "battle against coal."

Romney said he was confounded to hear the president voice support for an "all-of-the-above" energy approach, adding: "Then I realized what he must have been thinking: He's for all the sources of energy that come from above the ground."

In his most scathing swing at the president, Romney said "he's taken to attacking success, he's taken to dividing the American people, he's taken to finding scapegoats for his own failures."

Romney added: "This nation was not made great by Americans castigating and demonizing one another. It's made great by Americans standing together and celebrating success. ... I will endeavor to bring Americans together."

Obama's campaign fired back, accusing Romney of supporting the policies that led to the economic downturn.

"Mitt Romney continues to double down on his familiar economic scheme: more budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy and letting Wall Street write its own rules -- the same formula that benefited a few, but crashed our economy and punished the middle class," said Lis Smith, an Obama campaign spokeswoman.

Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Brian Moran was equally critical.

"Romney should use this trip to explain to Virginians why they should replace a president with a record of growing jobs and investing in the middle class with a mediocre governor and corporate buyout specialist who bought up companies, saddled them with debt, and drove some into bankruptcy, killing jobs while stashing his profits in Swiss bank accounts."

whester@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6976


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Gail Collins: Looking beyond the presidential race


BYLINE: By Gail Collins


SECTION: NEWS; Opinion


LENGTH: 583 words


Let's talk about the Senate races. It's a matter of mental health. We cannot spend the next six months fixating on Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama. Before you know it, we'll be so bored that we'll start arguing about whether it's seemly for the president to brag about killing Osama bin Laden.

With Senate campaigns you at least learn new things. Such as ...

MONTANA: Did you know that Billings is known as the Magic City? According to the Billings website, this is because "it seemingly grew overnight into the largest distribution center in Montana."

The subject came up in a story about U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, the Republican candidate for Senate, who filed a negligence suit asserting that the Billings Fire Department failed to control a wildfire that burned some land he was planning to develop. Rehberg dropped the case, but not before it set back the Magic City about $21,000 in legal fees.

People, if you are planning a career in politics, please be careful who you sue. Also, watch what you post on Facebook. And never tweet.

But I digress. On the Democratic side, the incumbent, Jon Tester, is running an ad titled "Jon Tester: Montana Beef -- Montana Proud" which shows how the senator "packs his own Montana beef in his roller-cooler when traveling between Montana and the Senate."

Tester is one of the most endangered incumbents, because of Montana's current redness. On the plus side, he never sued any home-state cities.

MASSACHUSETTS: The hottest Senate race in the country is currently the one between the Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown and his challenger, Elizabeth Warren. Right now the big issue involves whether Warren, who could be one-32nd Cherokee, did anything wrong when she listed herself as a member of a minority group in a legal directory. "Professor Warren needs to come clean about her motivations for making these claims," said a Brown spokesman.

Several thoughts arise, including A) one-32nd really does not seem like a lot and B) any controversy in which the accusing side demands that an opponent "come clean about her motivations" is not going to go very far.

INDIANA: On Tuesday, we will learn whether Richard Lugar, a Republican, wins renomination for the Senate seat he has held for almost 36 years. This is the guy who won international renown for his work against nuclear proliferation. If he loses, the tea party will have claimed another victim, terrifying the remaining moderate Republican in the Senate.

His opponent, Richard Mourdock, the state treasurer, asserts that Lugar has become a creature of Washington. Generally, these lost-touch-with-the-people campaigns are bogus. But it does seem peculiar that Lugar's 2012 Indiana voting address was a house he sold in 1977.

Lugar, who has a home in the Washington suburbs, says he can't afford a place in Indiana, too. This is a guy who represents a state where the median price of a house in Gas City is $88,000. Also, Lugar owns a family farm outside Indianapolis, but apparently there is no family house on the family farm. Personally, I'd have gone for the family shed.

Anyway, here is our question: Would you rather see Lugar win, striking a blow for moderate-although-actually-pretty-darned-conservative-but-just-not-crazy Republicanism? Or would you prefer to see him lose and give the Democrats a chance to pick up an unexpected seat? Feel free to choose. It's like the basketball playoffs. Every team has its good points. Except, of course, the Miami Heat.

Gail Collins is a New York Times columnist.


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States News Service


May 3, 2012 Thursday


"SPACE BETWEEN WALLS" SPEECH BY COMMISSIONER BART CHILTON TO THE FINANCE, CREDIT AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL CREDIT EXECUTIVES CONFERENCE, CHICAGO, IL


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 3886 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


The following information was released by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission:

Introduction

Thanks to Rick Hayes for that great introduction. Aside from Russian roulette, having a fraternity brother introduce you must be one of the riskiest things that can be done. It really is wonderful to be with you this morning and be in my favorite city in the world: Chicago. I grew up in a lakefront neighborhood. On clear nights, you could see the Chicago skyline. I did not know, nor would have cared at the time, about the tremendous revolution, innovation and economic transformation of financial markets that was taking place in Chicago back then.

There is a fascinating new book written by the "father of financial futures" Dr. Richard Sandor entitled, Good Derivatives. The book chronicles the multitude of market innovations taking place since the 1970's, and the environment in which those innovations thrived. One key point Dr. Sandor makes is that in order to flourish, market innovations need proper regulation. One might say: there needs to be suitable regulatory walls and space between those walls that balances the public interest with the ability for the private sector to successfully innovate.

Impacts on Businesses and Economies

So today, let's do some discourse on the future of these spectacular global financial markets. Just think about the complex financing and credit, the capital and other resources-both human and technological-that all work in concert to facilitate these incredibly elaborate, intricate and inter-related global markets of colossal size and scope-churning, all day.

It truly is astonishing that it all works so well. But then again, we recognize there have been, and remain"well, issues. You know, like the t-shirt slogan, "I have issues." Markets also have issues and they, more than anyone would like, do bizarre things. Or, the financial players don't do what they are supposed to do. Maybe regulators don't do what they are supposed to be doing. Perhaps, available credit and balance sheets don't match up. How about technology? Sometimes, technology doesn't work like we thought it woulda, coulda, or shoulda.

We only need to consider 2008 and the commencement of the crisis-a crappy crisis for which the impacts are still being felt by businesses, economies and consumers. We are still, right now, today, dealing with that calamity and trying to recover. We will discuss the recovery more, but because it can help set the stage for where we are going, let's take a quick trip back. I'm not talking about any time travel in Mr. Peabody's WABAC machine. Anyone? Beuller? By the way, Disney is making an animated feature film of Mister Peabody and Sherman due out in 2014. Nope we just have to go back a few years to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. FCIC was established to examine what took place in 2008 and why. FCIC determined that there were two culprits to the calamity-my phrase, not FCIC's.

One culprit: regulators and regulation (you know, like me: we are from the government, and are here to help"oops). FCIC said that it was regulators and regulations because, in 1999, Congress and the president deregulated banks. Banks were no longer bound by that constrictive structure, the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act that limited what they could do with the money in their institutions. With the repeal of Glass-Steagall, regulators got the message to let the free markets roll. They put a "do not disturb" sign on their door and said, "Move along folks, nothing to see here." The markets did rock and roll. Problem was: they did so to such a degree, they rocked and then rolled right over the American people.

The second culprit to the calamity: The captains of Wall Street. FCIC concluded that since they were allowed to do so much more without those constrictive structures, the rules and regulations, the banks had a vast amount of "wide open spaces" in which to operate. They devised all sorts of creative, exotic and complex financial products. Some of these things were so multifaceted, hardly anyone knew what was going on or how to place a value upon them. What was the risk exposure? How much credit would such a trade require? Was it okay if one party to the trade valued the transaction at "a" while the other valued it at, not "b" but at "s" or even "z"? Like the Dixie Chicks sing, "She needs wide open spaces, room to make her big mistakes." Well, as the ole D.C. dodge expression goes, "mistakes were made."

Take Credit Default Swaps (CDSs)"please. Just jesting, but these highflying bets upon bets that certain things-say bundles of home mortgages-would actually nose-dive, were new-fangled products fashioned in the wide open spaces made possible by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. CDSs were a major part and parcel that helped establish the trajectory for impending economic meltdown. I'm not suggesting all CDSs were or are wicked evil, of course not. I appreciate there are many that had and have a legitimate and valuable function. But just like candy to a baby, too much of a good thing can create major problemos, and that is what we saw take place with utterly unregulated CDSs. Countless CDSs took on a circuitous magical mystery tour hyperspace lifecycle of their own. They were traded and re-traded throughout the commercial cosmos. They were packaged and re-packaged, and valued and re-valued around the Street to the point that few understood what the things were, much less how to place a sound value upon them. In fact, the worth of CDSs was to a large extent in the eye of the beholder. If a firm needed the value to be such and such or this or that, they could make it so upon their balance sheet. Make it so, Number One. And, they did-aye aye, Sir. Just think about Lehman Brothers. In the final statement before they croaked, they held $691 billion in assets divided by only $22 billion in shareholder equity. These guys were leveraged at 30 to 1 for gosh sakes!

By the way, we now have a proposal that would require swap dealers and major swap participants to give their counterparties their valuation of a swap and then to resolve any material discrepancy between their valuation and their counterparty's before it becomes a big problem.

So, yes, CDSs were a significant component in constructing this ginormously humongous dark market with no oversight by regulators. When I say ginormously humongous, that's a technical term. You see, we at the CFTC currently oversee approximately $5 trillion in annualized trading on regulated exchanges, but the global over-the-counter (OTC) market is roughly-here it comes"coming to get you-$708 trillion. If you Google ginormously humongous, it should say, "See OTC markets."

There's an old saying in Washington that when Congress feels the heat, it sees the light. And that is exactly what happened in 2010 when Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act-otherwise known as Dodd-Frank.

The most important thing the law brings to markets is transparency. That $700 trillion-plus over-the-counter market has operated in the dark, without regulatory walls or light-but no more. Thankfully, that is all coming to an end.

Dodd-Frank has over 300 provisions requiring rulemakings-count "em-I dare you. We have all seen some of the talking heads on TV say that it's too much regulation. There are way too many rules. But I think the glass is half-full, that this environment, like the environment Dr. Sandor discusses, brings about tremendous opportunity for innovation that can once again fuel-inject the economic engine of our democracy.

The Space Within

The great philosopher Lao Tzu, who is considered the father of Taoism, once said, "The reality of the building does not consist of the roof and walls, but the space within to be lived." He also said, "It is not the clay the potter throws that gives the jar its usefulness, but the space within." This is the same concept we have been discussing. The question arises: What is the correct regulatory structure? It is clear that no or little structure, like we saw in the lead up to the meltdown, wasn't appropriate. Will all those 300 Dodd-Frank regulations be the right blueprint for our regulatory structure? Did Congress over-reach and go too far the other way? Are regulators going too far?

Yes, in financial markets we need walls and a roof. We need the clay. Let's think of that as the regulatory environment. In the lead-up to 2008, the clay was pretty soggy-the regulations pretty soft. The roof leaked until the walls, as John Mellencamp croons, came tumblin' and crumblin' down. We had a financial disaster because nobody could see-least of all us regulators-what was going on in that space within. To some extent, Wall Street in the OTC space was more like a credit casino than anything else.

Well, the walls came tumblin' and crumblin' down for not only Lehman Brothers, but months before we saw Bear Stearns tank. I don't have too much sympathy for those folks, but I have a lot for the American taxpayer who was saddled with a repugnant relief effort known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP for short. In total, $414 billion was allocated. Of that, $74 billion remains outstanding. As the FCIC said, the captains of Wall Street had their own playground and the regulators walked by without ever seeing anything amiss.

I contend that Dodd-Frank struck the right balance on the regulatory structure. It remains to be seen if regulators themselves will build appropriate internal walls and leave enough space within the walls. I believe we will. What has been done so far, by and large, has been pretty respectable and very substantial. At the CFTC, we have completed 31 of the roughly 50-plus rules, and we have not done them on a clock. We have not hurried them, but taken tens of thousands of comments and worked to get them correct. What has been done so far leaves a lot of room for genuine innovation and real creativity, real competition and real opportunities for economic progress.

There is even more room for innovation in the things that we will do in the next few months. Here are just a few: 1. Dodd-Frank told us to ensure that all products that could be cleared were cleared. There is a lot of room in the clearing arena for innovation and competition, for new or expanding businesses. 2. The law also instructed us to ensure that products are, to the greatest extent possible, traded either on an exchange or on what are called Swaps Execution Facilities or SEFs. I'm not sure how many SEFs will exist, but there will be a handful for sure and perhaps many. They will provide transparency and make for safer markets. They will compete. They will be individual economic engines for our financial markets and our economy. 3. There will be warehouses for all of the swaps data in the form of Swaps Data Repositories or SDRs. Here again, these are new businesses that will help provide transparency and safeguard markets while generating economic value for markets and economies; and 4. Think about the technological innovation-both software and hardware and the people in the private and public sectors who work on both-that will go along with all of these new systems and products and businesses. There is a mansion-load of space between the walls and a genuine opportunity for a great global financial future.

Roaming Regulatory Regimes

In 2009, in Pittsburgh, the G-20 met and agreed that they would all work to clear any trade that could be traded and to move as many trades as possible to either exchanges or other trading platforms and that the reforms should be completed by the end of this year. I'm not sure all of the G-20 nations can make that deadline, but we have seen sure-footed progress in the U.S., Japan and in the European Union (E.U.). The G-20 meets again in Los Cabos in June, and we will see if they alter the goal timetables, but either way, nations need to do their honest best to comply with the agreement. Of course, some nations won't move as quickly as others.

In this age of global financial markets, effective reforms cannot be accomplished by one nation alone. They will require a comprehensive, international response. If we don't do this together or at least in the same vein, we run the risk of regulatory arbitrage. I'm not suggesting that the E.U. or Canada or Japan or Singapore or Brazil or Hong Kong have to do precisely what the U.S. does. We all have sovereign issues, and we have diverse markets, let alone different interests that we all need to consider. However, we also have a lot in common. We all want to guard against systemic risks that can result in an impact on our national, regional or our world economy. As we know, we are all linked in today's world and one economy has an impact upon another. So, to the extent that we can approximate harmonization, we will be better off individually and collectively. We shouldn't open the door for regulatory arbitrage or trading migration to nations with the thinnest of rulebooks. Solid, but appropriate, regulation globally will lead to greater confidence and greater opportunities for consumers, businesses, markets, and economies. To the extent practical, reforms need to be developed and implemented in an interdependent and interactive fashion. I'm convinced that global financial regulatory reforms will take place eventually. It is certainly my hope that this takes place sooner rather than later.

Ponzimonium Poster Puke

While we are not finished in the U.S., we've come a long way on the regulatory front since the dark days of 2008 and beyond. At this point, though, let's discuss something that doesn't require additional regulations. What? Chilton's not saying "give me more?" No and here's why. Something additional happened in the space within during that period when the clay was soggy and the roof leaked. I can describe it in two words: Bernie Madoff. Ole Bernie traded in his Manhattan penthouse for a cell in the big house, but not before he ripped off billions-of-dollars from innocent folks in the biggest Ponzi scam in history.

You see, when the markets and the economy are spiraling down, some people pull money from investments just to live on. Others just don't want to lose more money, so they pull it out and put it someplace else-like under their mattress, perhaps. In the Madoff case, though, and hundreds of others like it, the money just wasn't there: kaput.

But that's over now, right? Bernie, the Ponzimonium poster puke, is in jail and nobody would dare try to pull that crap again. There's no space within where such schemes can exist anymore, right? Not so fast. Even though Bernie's was the biggest, there are many mini-Madoff Ponzi scams going on all the time. Did you know that in fiscal year 2011, our agency investigated more Ponzi schemes than at any time in history? So did other regulators. The FBI had more than 1,000 such inquiries. The Securities and Exchange Commission sees these things all the time, too. Unfortunately, we at the CFTC haven't seen any dramatic drop in cases this year. So, it's still Ponzimonium out there.

In that regard, I've tried to bring more attention to these scams. We released a book about some of them in November: Ponzimonium-How Scam Artists are Ripping Off America. Let me say loudly and clearly: this is a government publication and neither I, nor the CFTC, receive any money from the sale. I understand that some of you are getting copies of it today. That's great.

Ponzimonium tells the tales of ten such Ponzi scams that took place in 2009, in the wake of Madoff. They are real cases, real fraudsters, with unfortunately, very real victims.

It is amazing what these jerks did with other peoples' money. One con artist purchased a fleet of luxury vehicles including multiple Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, a Bentley, a Maserati, a Lincoln Limousine, and a metallic burnt orange Hummer golf cart. That guy took hard-working peoples' money and used it for a mansion, nearly 20 plasma televisions, sports and rock and roll memorabilia, and a contingent of body guards. Another fraudster bought a 269-acre ranch, a fleet of classic sports cars, two airplanes and massive diamonds for ladies he was wooing in New York, Toronto and St. Louis.

Many of the fraudsters are preying upon people through the use of "affinity fraud," where they use personal contacts to swindle family, friends, coworkers or even fellow church parishioners. One crook in the book, Marvin Cooper, is deaf. So, you guessed it, his victims were deaf people.

Just last week, the media covered one of these Ponzi cases where a guy in California who ran SNC Asset Management ripped off 500 individuals to the tune of $85 million in a scurrilous swindle. The whole nine yards: bogus statements, paying older customers/victims with newer peoples' money, and using the ill-gotten funds for his personal luxuries. Fortunately, the guy is damned to a dungeon for 15 years. Maybe it is just a penitentiary, but that's little comfort to those that lost money and may never get it back. The consequences for the investors-turned-victims can be decisively dreadful-people losing dough for their kids' college funds, for necessary health care expenditures, or for their own retirement. Some lose their complete life savings, and others participate for family members, acting as a custodian, thinking they are doing them a courtesy. It is an incredible shame because in almost every instance, these things were avoidable with a little education and some due diligence fact checking.

The book is being used as a supplemental text at Georgetown and American University, at the New York Law School and at the University of Chicago. But we need to get it to more people and financial literacy needs to be a national priority.

It amazed me to learn last week in a front page story in USA Today that only 13 states even require any personal finance class in high school. With little or no financial education about credit or banking accounts, let alone about financial markets, it isn't (I guess) a surprise that only 40 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds even have a personal budget. So, the average student loan debt alone is $25,000 (class of 2010), and for twenty-somethings, they have an average overall debt of roughly $45,000. Having that much debt, with no budget, while at the same time having to deal with an unemployment rate of 12.4 percent, as opposed to the national average of 8.2 percent, makes life for those that have had little financial literacy fairly difficult. But, even more than that, it impacts all of us by creating a less competitive work force. Those with higher rates of financial literacy get higher-paying jobs; they help themselves and their families; they help our economy and they help the country. We need to do a better job of ensuring that financial literacy is a priority. And, like I said, we can do that with not one more law, rule or regulation.

A Wilde Ride

It has been a pretty wild ride since 2008. But I'm very optimistic about the progress that has been made. I see great opportunities in our financial markets, from having more financially literate consumers (especially those who read the book) to having a more transparent and competitive marketplace full of new and never-before-built businesses.

Oscar Wilde-remember him, the long-haired cultural commentator from the late 1800s? I love one of his quotes. He said: "To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect."

In the late 1800's, perhaps his idea of modernity was a bit different from ours. Back then, people rode around in buggies, houses didn't have electricity, and their idea of indoor plumbing was, well, a pail.

But Wilde was clever enough to predict, in a general way, that modernity was coming.

The first plastic was made in 1862-and we all thought it was relatively new when The Graduate was released. Nope-it had been around about 100 years by that time. Typewriters, airbrakes, metal detectors, escalators, contact lenses, radars, dishwashers, washing machines, cash registers, seismographs, rayon and tungsten steel-all invented in the last half of the 19th century.

Isn't that amazing, all that innovation and invention? Think about what it must have been like to live back then, when the Industrial Revolution was leading people to ask, "Wha, wha, what?" And, these changes were felt not only by the rich and advantaged, but also by regular people. It was just at this time that Wilde made his observation to expect the unexpected-and all of these things were certainly "unexpected"-indicating a modern intellect. It must have been incredibly exciting, and a time when to have a "modern intellect" meant to be open not only to exciting new inventions, but also-almost by definition-to new ways of thinking.

Here's the point, and I do have one: We are in the midst of an equally mind-blowing phase, right now, in the financial world. The space within the walls is going to be bursting with new players, new exchanges and things we hadn't even contemplated. It reminds me of the Wilde ride of the 1880s in that way.

The Economy

Plus, the economy is on the right track. That's exciting, too. Unemployment is consistently ticking downward. We have seen consistent job growth with 4.1 million jobs created in the past 25 months. Consumer spending is up, and we have seen the biggest gain in home building in two years. Cars sold at their fastest clip in four years. Last Friday, we learned that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is trending very positive. We have seen 11 consecutive months of economic growth.

Think about where we were. In the final quarter of 2008 when those walls were tumblin' crumblin' down, the GDP was NEGATIVE 8.9 percent. What a gargantuan train wreck! That was the second worst quarter ever recorded. The worst quarter, by the way, was back in 1958 when GDP reached a negative 10.4 percent. Quarterly GDPs were not tracked during the Depression, but the worst overall year for GDP was 1932 at a negative 13.1 percent. The average GDP since 1946 has been 3.2 percent, so negative 8.9 in Q4 of "08 was extensively horrific. While the GDP for Q1 of this year slowed to 2.2 (it was 3.0 at the end of 2011), most economists still see this as a sustainable recovery. Gone is the talk about a double-dip recession. There is still positive and consecutive economic growth.

Conclusion

So, I'm very optimistic about the economy, about what we can do on financial literacy and what can be done on the regulatory front if we allow for the proper space between walls and we believe, like Oscar Wilde, and expect the unexpected.

Thanks so much for your time and attention. With the title of this speech being "Space Between Walls," I was tempted to hum or sing a little Dave Matthews' The Space Between. Actually, I'm still tempted, but I sound more like Governor Romney and less like President Obama, so I'd better spare you, and conclude. In fact, I'm more interested in what you have to say anyway-good, bad or indifferent-about what's going on. That's how I learn. So, as time permits before the next speaker, I'll be happy to take some questions or comments in "The space between what's wrong and right, is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Don't tell. Thanks again.


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States News Service


May 3, 2012 Thursday


ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT RELEASES NEW WEB VIDEO, "BROKEN PROMISES: ENERGY"


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 561 words


DATELINE: BOSTON, MA


The following information was released by Mitt Romney for President:

Today, Romney for President released a new web video, "Broken Promises: Energy." In 2008, President Obama promised to create millions of new jobs and invest in new energy sources. Today, the energy industry has lost thousands of jobs and Solyndra, to which the Obama Administration loaned over half a billion dollars, is out of business.

To View "Broken Promises: Energy" Please See: http://mi.tt/JNsMKf

AD FACTS: Script For "Broken Promises: Energy"

VIDEO TEXT: "August 28, 2008"

VIDEO TEXT: "What Barack Obama Promised""

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: "And I'll invest $150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy-wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels-an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: "And I'll invest $150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy-wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels-an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced." (Sen. Barack Obama, "Remarks," Denver, CO 8/28/08)

VIDEO TEXT: "2009-2012"

VIDEO TEXT: "What President Obama Delivered."

VIDEO TEXT: "The Obama Administration Loaned More Than Half A Billion Dollars To Solyndra, Which Went Bankrupt And Laid Off 1,100 Workers."

The Obama Administration Loaned More Than Half A Billion Dollars To Solyndra, Which Went Bankrupt And Laid Off 1,100 Workers."In a blow to the Obama administration's efforts to create green jobs, solar-cell maker Solyndra announced Wednesday that it will close its remaining Fremont factory, lay off its 1,100 employees and file for bankruptcy. The news marked an abrupt end for a company once considered among the most innovative in a fast-changing industry. The bankruptcy also represents a high-profile failure for a federal stimulus program that gives loan guarantees to green-tech manufacturers. Solyndra was the first company to win one of the guarantees, receiving $535 million in 2009 to build its second factory in Fremont less than a mile from the company's original plant." (David R. Baker and Carolyn Said, "Solyndra Closes Fremont Plant - Stimulus Hopes Dim," San Francisco Chronicle, 9/1/11)

VIDEO TEXT: "The Millions Of "Green Jobs' Obama Promised Have Been Slow To Sprout..."

"The Millions Of "Green Jobs' Obama Promised Have Been Slow To Sprout"" "But the millions of "green jobs' Obama promised have been slow to sprout, disappointing many who had hoped that the $90 billion earmarked for clean-energy efforts in the recession-fighting federal stimulus package would ease unemployment - still above 8 percent in March." (Andy Sullivan, "Analysis: Obama's "Green Jobs' Have Been Slow To Sprout," Reuters, 4/13/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Wind Energy "Has Shed 10,000 Jobs Since 2009'"

Wind Energy "Has Shed 10,000 Jobs Since 2009." "The wind industry, for example, has shed 10,000 jobs since 2009 even as the energy capacity of wind farms has nearly doubled, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry has added 75,000 jobs since Obama took office, according to Labor Department statistics." (Andy Sullivan, "Analysis: Obama's "Green Jobs' Have Been Slow To Sprout," Reuters, 4/13/12)


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Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas)


May 3, 2012 Thursday


LENGTH: 651 words


In the 1993 movie "Dave" the faux president (played by Kevin Kline) calls in his best friend (played by Charles Grodin) and they stay up all night balancing the federal budget, not by raising taxes, but by cutting unnecessary and wasteful spending.

If only it were that easy.

Most presidents have talked about cutting spending, but few succeed because Congress holds the power of the purse and is reluctant to give it up.

There have been serious and not so serious attempts to reduce government spending, from Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission to something called OMB Circular A-76, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget to all federal agencies that has been around in one form or another over several administrations. A-76's 2003 revision calls for the identification of "all activities performed by government personnel as either commercial or inherently governmental."

To borrow a song from the musical, "Annie Get Your Gun," commercial ventures should look at government and say about many of its functions, "Anything you can do, I can do better" and then they should be allowed to do it.

The model for this could be the government of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. During her time in office, she privatized many industries and utilities previously owned by the government because she believed, correctly, that the private economy could do a better and less expensive job of running them.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney could follow her example by challenging the country to look deep inside its Puritan DNA and rediscover the principle of what might be called the three Ls: limited government, liberty, and living within our means. Give 'em "L," Mitt!

Here's what Romney should do, and it might be the strategy that could work to force even a Republican Congress to obey what the Constitution and common sense require. If elected, Romney should pledge to bring in a team of outside auditors and private entities to determine what government ought to be doing and what it might outsource. If a private company can perform a government function with greater efficiency and at lower cost, let it. If a government agency is redundant or no longer necessary, eliminate it.

No "interest group" should be able to exercise more influence than that of taxpaying citizens.

Traditional spring cleaning finds many of us going through closets, basements and attics, disposing of things we no longer want or need. Toward the same goal, Romney should lead a "spring cleaning" of government.

Romney might cite the "Congressional Pig Book" published by Citizens Against Government Waste (www.cagw.org). The 2012 edition, as always, contains examples of wasteful spending in many government agencies. This year's Pig Book shows that while "the number and cost of earmarks have decreased dramatically since fiscal year 2010," the accurate amount of waste is difficult to figure because "transparency and accountability have regressed immeasurably."

Two recent reports from the Government Accountability Office name 51 areas of duplication, overlapping and fragmented government functions, which, if ended, would save an estimated $400 billion. There's a start to which no one should have an objection.

While President Obama promotes his "Buffett Tax" on millionaires and billionaires, Romney should focus on the government's waste of taxpayer money. If government is such a poor steward of what it now receives, why should it be given more?

That can be a winning issue, not only for Romney but for Republican congressional candidates. The pledge they should be signing is not only the "no new taxes" one from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (www.atr.org), but a new one not to support any additional spending until unnecessary expenditures are cut by transferring many government functions to the private sector and retiring those that are not needed.

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES


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USA TODAY


May 3, 2012 Thursday
FINAL EDITION


The campaign goes negative


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6A


LENGTH: 451 words


The presidential election is six months off, but the attack ads -- short on truth, long on demonization -- have already begun.

President Obama has one set to air in battleground states that accuses presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney of encouraging companies to ship jobs overseas. It ends with the cheeky line: "It's just what you would expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account."

This comes on the heels of one that questioned whether Romney would have been willing to go after Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan, the way Obama did a year ago. Hardly the most presidential move, using a foreign policy victory to launch a cheap shot.

Romney, for his part, aired a blatantly misleading ad last fall built around a clip of Obama saying, "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose." Problem is, Obama was not referring to his own situation but was quoting a statement made by John McCain in 2008.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the portents of the nasty election that every observer is predicting. Not only are the attack ads coming early, they are being produced by the two campaigns rather than by surrogate groups, which will gin up even more scurrilous ads later.

So the public, which has been telling Washington that it wants solutions, not posturing and bickering, can expect more posturing and bickering.

Obama's willingness to go negative just four years after his "hope" campaign flows in part from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which allowed unlimited amounts of money to flow into outside political organizations funding attack ads. Fearful of being outspent by pro-Romney "Super PACs," Obama's well-financed campaign is acting like its own Super PAC, trying to frame Romney's public image early.

As for Romney, he's coming off an unusually harsh Republican primary season, filled with strident rhetoric aimed at the party's most rabid anti-Obama elements. His Super PACs will continue the offensive even as the candidate tacks to the center.

Political consultants will tell you that campaigns run negative ads because the ads work. One oft-cited example is the "Swift Boat" attacks in 2004 that questioned the credibility of Democratic nominee John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran. This year, barrages of negative ads helped Romney beat back primary challenges from Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

With the two sides dug into their war room bunkers with massive war chests, it would be naive to think there won't be more of the same -- unless, of course, the tactic stops working. One can at least hope that will happen. The more brazen the lies and the more intense the barrage, the more likely that undecided voters will be turned off, not swung over.


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The Washington Times


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Obama's bipolar approach to terrorism;
While some terrorists are pampered, others are blown up


BYLINE: By J.D. Gordon SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, COMMENTARY; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 851 words


So much for "not spiking the football." Though President Obama used that analogy to compare mildly excessive touchdown celebrations with his refusal to release photos of a dead Osama bin Laden, the impeccably timed visit to Afghanistan exactly one year later resembled the Green Bay Packers' "Lambeau Leap" into the stands, or the "salsa dance" by the New York Giants' Victor Cruz in the end zone.

Much of the criticism directed at Mr. Obama this week has rightly pertained to overtly politicizing bin Laden's demise at the hands of Navy SEALs.

His diplomatic visit to Afghan President Hamid Karzai followed by a rally with our troops looked a lot more like full-blown presidential campaign events, complete with a U.S. flag draped over a military vehicle as a backdrop for addressing the nation. Meanwhile, his campaign stooped to new political lows by running an ad insinuating that former Gov. Mitt Romney wouldn't have taken out bin Laden if given the same chance.

As bad as the politics may be surrounding bin Laden's death, Mr. Obama's latest moves, combined with White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan's speech this week about the increased use of drones to take out terror suspects in Pakistan, Yemen and Somali, raise even more serious questions about their approach to terrorism in general.

It seems for lack of a better term, bipolar.

While Mr. Obama has been extremely tough on "at-large" terror suspects - taking them out with drone strikes and Navy SEALs without so much as a hearing, he's treated "captured" terror suspects with kid gloves, like at Guantanamo. That's right, the same place where detainees just got a $750,000 new soccer field, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

In seeking justice for Sept. 11, he gave the order to kill bin Laden as soon as practical after we found him, while simultaneously dragging his feet for years in bringing Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) and four other alleged co-conspirators to trial.

Even though KSM had been through seven months of pre-trial hearings by Mr. Obama's Inauguration Day and was in discussions with a judge at Guantanamo to enter a guilty plea, the newly sworn-in president halted all military commissions within hours of taking office.

Over the next year Mr. Obama attempted to close Guantanamo, completely dismantle military commissions and transfer detainees into the U.S. civilian justice system.

In the Sept. 11 case, it's a move that would have cost taxpayers $200 million a year in security and logistics, while turning lower Manhattan into an armed camp. Worse yet, it would have given KSM a highly visible platform to rally countless numbers of disgruntled "lone wolves" out there to support his radical anti-American ideology and kill as many civilians as possible.

On May 5, a full 47 months after KSM, et al. were first arraigned at Gitmo on June 5, 2008, the five will reappear before a military judge to start the entire process over again.

While Mr. Obama and his surrogates complained literally thousands of times about the grand total of three detainees who were waterboarded by the CIA under the Bush administration, then banned all coercive interrogations once in office, Mr. Obama has no problem killing U.S. citizens overseas via covert action, like New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki.

Call me crazy, but I'd rather be waterboarded - like tens of thousands of military personnel who have been through Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape schools designed for pilots and aircrew - than blown up by a missile or taken out by a squad of commandos in the middle of the night.

It is hard to fathom why Mr. Obama has favored providing some foreign terror suspects with constitutional protections designed for Americans, yet is also perfectly comfortable in signing death warrants for others without due process or a second thought.

Perhaps the worst part of Mr. Obama's terrorism philosophy is the preachy hypocrisy that goes along with it. He campaigned on "hope and change," declaring he would "restore the rule of law" to our nation, and "adhere to our values," all the while implying that his predecessor and those in his administration did none of those things.

He and his allies portrayed President Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and their staffs in the starkest terms regarding human rights, and then once in office, quickly outpaced them in numbers of terrorist leaders targeted for elimination.

Sadly, as Americans debate whether or not Mr. Obama is a strong leader based upon his incoherent counterterrorism strategy, the elephant in the living room remains his plans for up to $1 trillion in defense cuts over the next decade, which would turn the military into the hollow force it was in the 1970s. Although not as exciting to follow as drone strikes, commando raids or Gitmo detainees, finding the right balance in defense budgets is what will really make or break our country - and it's not looking good for the home team.

J.D. Gordon is a retired Navy commander who served as a Pentagon spokesman in the office of the Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration.


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The Washington Times


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Deep in debt, Gingrich ends presidential bid;
Backs Romney weakly, criticizes Obama strongly


BYLINE: By Seth McLaughlin THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, POLITICS; Pg. 4


LENGTH: 631 words


Vowing to stay involved in America's political conversation, an at-times-emotional Newt Gingrich closed the curtain Wednesday on an up-and-down Republican presidential bid that saw the former House speaker re-establish himself on the national stage but rack up millions in campaign debt.

Mr. Gingrich, though, stopped short of offering a clear endorsement of presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. Instead, he delivered a lukewarm embrace of the former Massachusetts governor toward the tail end of his 23-minute speech to supporters gathered in a hotel ballroom in Arlington.

"I'm asked sometimes, is Mitt Romney conservative, and my answer is simple: compared with Barack Obama?" Mr. Gingrich said. "This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical leftist president in American history."

Mr. Gingrich said that the presidency is just one of the electoral prizes up for grabs in the November election, where control of Congress, governors' mansions and state legislatures also will be on the line.

"The presidency matters, but so do all the other offices of self-governing. If you are truly going to have a wave of change in America, that wave has to occur in many, many places simultaneously," Mr. Gingrich said, urging conservatives to stay involved at every level of politics.

"The election just starts the dance; it doesn't just end it," he said. "So every conservative should be ready to work every day beyond this election."

The tepid endorsement of Mr. Romney follows a rugged campaign season, during which the Georgia Republican unloaded a series of attacks against Mr. Romney, casting the former Massachusetts governor as an unreliable conservative and the pick of the GOP establishment.

In fact, the Obama re-election campaign released a new campaign ad Wednesday that uses Mr. Gingrich's words against Mr. Romney.

"As a man who wants to run for president of the United States who can't be honest with the American people, why should we expect him to level about anything if he's president?" Mr. Gingrich says in the ad's footage, taken from a Fox News Channel interview.

Mr. Gingrich proved to be his own worst enemy at times during the nomination battle. He was haunted by his turbulent marital history and for the erratic leadership style that some of his ex-colleagues said he exhibited on Capitol Hill after leading the 1994 "Republican Revolution" that gave the GOP control of the House for the first time in 40 years.

The 68-year-old, though, also showed a unique ability to breathe life into his flagging campaign after it appeared to be dead in the water.

His success was in part driven by his ability to whip crowds into a fervor with his combative debate performances, where he trained heavy fire at Mr. Obama, Mr. Romney and perhaps his favorite target, the news media.

The approach helped his cash-strapped campaign win loads of free media and allowed him to emerge as Mr. Romney's No. 1 foe in November and then again in late January after he won a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary.

He would go on to score another victory in Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for decades, but his success ended there - and Wednesday, he exited the race millions of dollars in debt.

Standing alongside his wife, Callista, and other family members, Mr. Gingrich poked fun at his vision for space exploration and rattled off his accomplishments over the decades he has spent in public office.

And he pledged to stay involved in finding solutions to the most-pressing issues facing the nation, ranging from energy independence to strengthening Social Security and improving brain-science research.

"Today, I'm suspending the campaign, but suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship," he said.


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GRAPHIC: [Photograph by Rod Lamkey Jr. / The Washington Times] Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, joined on stage at a hotel in Arlington by wife Callista, announces Wednesday he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign.


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The Washington Times


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Obama's Osama optics;
Without a solid record, president scavenges for votes


BYLINE: By Bill Whalen SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, COMMENTARY; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 764 words


There's a scene in the movie "Bull Durham" where pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh, jubilant over retiring the side in order, is dressed down by catcher "Crash" Davis.

"Can't I just enjoy the moment?" gripes the pitcher.

To which his battery-mate acidly replies, "The moment's over."

Which brings us to President Obama's Afghanistan visit (typical for this spendaholic administration: the government flying Air Force One on a 14,000 mile-round trip, at considerable taxpayer expense, to make a 15-minute speech all the more theatric).

The surprise drop-by was Mr. Obama's "moment" - to take another bow for Osama bin Laden's eradication and sell a cynical public on the merits of staying the course in that combat theater.

Still, that's all it was - a moment. A nice speech, yes, but temporary gratification. Once the pre-dawn klieg lights were dimmed, so, too, was the public's piqued interest. Which is why Republicans should relax. Like baseball, presidential campaigns are lengthy affairs, and many innings remain in this contest.

Two takeaways from Mr. Obama's address:

First, it was a reminder of the power of incumbency. The White House had no trouble amping the moment's drama, then getting its man free airtime on all the networks. That's in contrast to Mitt Romney's media availability the same day in New York City, accentuated by the prolonged heckling of a shrieking bystander. There's a stature gap in the race, as there is any time a challenger takes on an incumbent - and it showed that day.

Second, the trip - and the days leading up to it, with Washington playing partisan hacky sack with SEAL Team 6 - underscores Team Obama's strategic choice to wage this campaign frame-by-frame, rather than the grander mosaic of change and hope that swept Mr. Obama into office four years ago.

This isn't a president seeking a second term on the power of transformative ideas or a stellar record. Instead, Obama-Biden 2.0 is a scavenger's delight: picking fights with Rush Limbaugh over contraception and Republicans in general over student loans and the public safety net; throwing Mr. Romney to the dogs; politicizing the bin Laden raid to make his opponent seem trigger-shy.

Arguably, such machinations seem beneath the dignity of the office. They also are terribly pragmatic. Any day spent bickering over the bin Laden raid (one suspects the reason why the president's campaign released that attack ad on Mr. Romney - it's catnip for the media) is one less day the White House "loses" playing defense - trying to pump up a flatlining economy; trying to reanimate a president who, like that Tupac hologram at the Coachella music festival, seems an empty image of his former rock-star self.

There's only one problem with this hodge-podge strategy: It won't last. I can personally attest to this, having worked for another president who sought a second term amidst a slow economy - and thought his foreign-policy credentials would get him a pass on the domestic front.

Twenty years ago, George H.W. Bush was in the same straits as Mr. Obama. Sure, the nation was in a recession. But this was the man who made the tough call on Operation Desert Storm (remember the victory parade and the 90 percent presidential approval rating?) Besides, the Democrats had an obviously flawed nominee. Or so the Bush White House assumed.

Here's what the former president learned the hard way - and why, if there's another clandestine trip in Mr. Obama's future, it should be to Houston, to hear it firsthand from Mr. Bush. First, that Desert Storm "bounce" had a shorter shelf life than most MREs - just as the bin Laden "bump" quickly fizzled. Second, the electorate wasn't shopping for a trigger-puller in 1992. Then, as now, the national obsession was the economy. And here, the Obama White House has a problem, as the closest it comes to an economic strategy is tax hikes and class warfare.

If you didn't care for this latest presidential mission, I have bad news: There's probably more of the same ahead. Mr. Obama is the king of optics - though also an economic court jester.

But optics aren't an agenda and visuals no substitute for genuine vision. The president may continue to have good innings, as he did in Afghanistan, but a strong challenge from Mr. Romney in the later innings will change the game.

And what happens then? Absent concrete ideas, a raison d'etre that doesn't resonate beyond the liberal base and his biggest success a fading memory, Mr. Obama may have to call on the SEALs once again. This time, for a rescue mission.

Bill Whalen is a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.


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The White House Bulletin


May 3, 2012 Thursday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 501 words


President. The Los Angeles Times reports Mitt Romney, campaigning in Northern Virginia yesterday, said President Obama's "policies have harmed small businesses and divided Americans," adding, "Democrats say they like a strong economy. They just don't like business very much and you see the economy is made up of nothing but business and so we have to encourage entrepreneurs." ... The AP reports Newt Gingrich exited the presidential contest yesterday and called on "conservatives to rally behind Romney," saying, "This is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical, leftist president in American history." Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reports that Rep. Michele Bachmann, another former primary rival, will endorse Romney today at a campaign event in Virginia. ... In a report picked up by dozens of media outlets, the AP says, "Republican-leaning areas in states vital" to Obama's re-election prospects "are drawing top-tier Democratic congressional candidates who, even if they lose, could help turn out the vote and boost Obama's chances of winning a second term."

Governors.

The AP reports Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) joined Sen. Joe Manchin (D) yesterday "in the list of top West Virginia Democratic officeholders keeping their distance from President Barack Obama, saying that neither the Democratic incumbent nor the presumed Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, has earned his vote."

Senate.

Politico reports that a Magellan Strategies poll shows Sen. Richard Lugar leading state Treasurer Richard Mourdock 44%-42% in the Indiana GOP Senate primary. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that spending from outside the state in the GOP Senate primary "has reached about $4 million, topping all other congressional races in the country," with "nearly 70%" designed to help Mourdock unseat Lugar, including $422,000 from the NRA. ... The Boston Herald reports, "Fending off questions about whether she used her Native American heritage to advance her career," Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D) "said yesterday she enrolled as a minority in law school directories for nearly a decade because she hoped to meet others with tribal roots." ... The AP reports Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz (R) is on the air on broadcast television for the first time this week "with two ads, one attacking front-runner" Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) and the second defending "against an onslaught of Dewhurst ads criticizing Cruz for his legal work on behalf of a Chinese company."

House.

Roll Call reports the DCCC has bought $473,000 of ad time for the June 12 AZ8 special election, "the largest buy from a candidate or campaign so far in the race." ... The Lynchburg News & Advance reports that "central Virginia Democrats coalesced" around John Douglass (D) yesterday, "marking an end to a heated nomination battle" with Peyton Williams Jr., who dropped out last weekend, "and a beginning to the unified effort to unseat" VA5 Rep. Robert Hurt (R).


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The Associated Press


May 4, 2012 Friday 04:13 PM GMT


PROMISES, PROMISES: So far, no new ones from Obama


BYLINE: By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 842 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Read Barack Obama's lips: no new promises.

Not now, at least.

It's a long way from May to November, but so far the president's campaign speeches have been strikingly free of new pledges.

The president's early pitch to voters is heavy on promises kept and promises still in the works. (Never mind about those pesky promises broken.)

A typical Obama campaign speech includes a "change is..." refrain that showcases the greatest hits of his first term:

Change is rescuing the auto industry.

Change is health care reform.

Change is raising fuel-efficiency standards for cars.

Change is ending the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military.

Change is the Lilly Ledbetter law to ensure women get pay equal to men.

And so on.

What does it say that one of Obama's biggest applause lines is still his reference to the Ledbetter law signed on his ninth day in office?

"His issue is performance, not promises," says Darrell West, a government scholar at the Brookings Institution. "His message is that he's done a lot to help people, and he doesn't want to over-promise for the second term."

Obama's springtime script is a big change from his campaign of four years ago. But it fits the playbook for incumbent presidents seeking re-election.

Job One, particularly in the age of attack ads, is to define your opponent. Obama is largely leaving that chore to campaign surrogates and early advertising for now.

Job Two is to remind voters of your own accomplishments, and how you'll build on them. This is where Obama is right now.

His campaign's new "Forward" ad showcases the end of the war in Iraq as "a promise kept by a president who understands America's promise."

His Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, has been quick to mock the "forward" theme, saying: "Forward, what, over the cliff?"

Obama needs to counter such GOP arguments that he hasn't done enough and what he's done has hurt more than helped before he adds any new promises to the mix.

So far, his political focus has been on fundraising, but that's about to change. On Saturday he holds his first two official re-election rallies, in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia.

University of Texas political scientist Bruce Buchanan, an expert on the presidency, says Obama is taking victory laps on foreign policy and national security successes such as the end of the Iraq war and the killing of Osama bin Laden because Republicans have been so successful at running down his achievements.

First lady Michelle Obama, in her campaign speeches, has been coupling her husband's message of promises kept with a plea for patience.

"The reality is that real change is slow," she said at a recent fundraiser. "And it never happens all at once."

Obama, too, says that for all the progress he seeks to highlight, much more remains to be done.

Three times, he a the group at a fundraiser late last month that he won't be satisfied until more has been done to create jobs, to improve the country's education system, to bring troops home from Afghanistan.

"So I'm going to work harder than I did in 2008, and if you guys are willing to join me, then we're going to have four more years to be able to finish what we started," he said.

It's a different tone from Obama's 2008 campaign, with its blizzard of ambitious promises and "yes-we-can" optimism.

Politifact.com compiled a list of more than 500 promises that Obama made during that campaign, and gives this status report: 35 percent kept, 11 percent compromised, 13 percent broken, 12 percent stalled and 27 percent in the works.

If re-elected, Obama is sure to have plenty of big carry-over items from his first term to-do list: a still-unfulfilled promise for immigration overhaul, the ongoing drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and elusive efforts to achieve greater tax fairness among them.

Plus, the health care overhaul that was the signature achievement of Obama's first term could well be back on the agenda if it fails to survive a challenge pending before the Supreme Court.

Unsurprisingly, Obama makes precious little mention of promises broken, such as his failure to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Other failures, such as his inability to repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher-income Americans, are brought up to paint Republicans as obstructionists.

"Time after time, the Republicans have gotten together and they've said no," Obama told construction workers last week.

What new promises Obama adds to his list in 2012 will depend on the arc of the campaign.

An incumbent who's cruising to re-election doesn't need to sweeten the pot much.

Ronald Reagan's re-election race against Democrat Walter Mondale, says Buchanan, was easy enough that "there was no need to make promises that might be uncomfortable to keep." Bill Clinton, in his smooth re-election race against Republican Bob Dole, dangled a string of small-bore proposals such as school uniforms and extended school days.

As for Obama, says Buchanan, "They have stuff to wheel out. They'll do so if they need to."

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac


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The Bakersfield Californian


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


May 4, 2012 Friday


McCarthy seeks change of course


BYLINE: Antonie Boessenkool, The Bakersfield Californian


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 764 words


May 04--Rep. Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that California is "on a downward slope" and needs to reverse course.

"I'm trying to engage (Gov. Jerry) Brown in a place where we could find common ground to do something, because I do believe California's on a downward slope. I think it's the same direction the nation's going," he said. "If we were to turn California around, I think the nation would turn around."

McCarthy, a Republican and majority whip in the House of Representatives, visited The Californian as part of a series of meetings the paper's editorial board is holding with candidates on the June ballot. McCarthy is running for his fourth term in Congress.

He addressed a number of topics from the low approval ratings of the U.S. Congress to his predictions for the presidential election.

Among the issues affecting the district's economy, McCarthy touched on the need to protect the "jewel" of airspace and related jobs at the Edwards and China Lake military bases in the face of potential military cuts and the danger of oil companies emigrating to Texas or North Dakota.

"North Dakota is going to surpass California" in attracting oil companies, he said. "There's such an oil play across this country that once they leave, they're not coming back."

McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers addressed a permitting backlog for oil companies last year with Brown. That was coupled with the replacement of two top state regulators following criticism that the permitting backlog was stalling job growth.

McCarthy linked the permitting process to the high unemployment rate in the Central Valley, versus a low rate in Texas.

"If we're already here drilling and you think we're an energy place and you're not going to have the permits, there's other places (companies will go)," he said. "If we were able to open up even more, it'd be a different situation."

McCarthy predicted that the Democratic Party will lose control of the Senate and that Republicans will have a slim majority there. He believes the Republican Party has a "60/40" advantage against President Obama. As for likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney, "I don't think people have seen his strengths," McCarthy said.

McCarthy also fielded questions about the newcomers to Congress in the 2010 election. A recent book by reporter Robert Draper on the 2010 Republican takeover of the House of Representatives said Republicans worried the freshman lawmakers would be difficult to control.

Of the 87 new members of Congress, 40 had never been elected before to anything, he said. That was coupled with other challenges -- a president and Senate voting for the policies the newcomers were against, creating a "natural struggle" and a major vote coming up on raising the debt ceiling, for example.

"The role of the whip is to try and educate people but move the floor and work the floor," he said. "And having not been the majority whip before, it's 24/7."

Congress also has suffered historically low approval ratings as of late, and McCarthy addressed that as well.

"You're going to have lower ratings when something doesn't get through at the end," he said.

"The thing that the country craves most is leadership," he said. "Because the Senate is on the verge of wondering whether they're going to get a majority or not, they don't want anything passed," even a budget, he said. "The best thing that can happen is if we all came together there at the beginning and made a tough decision on the overall budget or the debt limit instead of passing it off."

As for criticism leveled at him by challenger Terry Phillips that he's out of touch with the district, McCarthy said he works on issues important to the district.

"Terry Phillips and I have very different opinions," such as on President Obama's health care reform and on California's high-speed rail plans, he said. "(Phillips) comes from a philosophical belief of greater government. I come here every single weekend. I work on the issues," such as the recent bill, passed by a bipartisan vote, on keeping commercial horse-and-mule pack operations open in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, he said.

"You look at the number of town halls and tele-town halls that I do -- some of the most of any member of Congress," McCarthy said. "I believe in having a very open process."

A third candidate in the race is Eric Parker, an auto parts store manager from Mojave who's running as a Republican.

___ (c)2012 The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) Visit The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) at www.bakersfield.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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CNN Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 10:31 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4159 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Sarah Aarthun -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

France-Strauss-Kahn

French prosecutors said Friday they are considering widening an investigation into Dominique Strauss Kahn's alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

Cuba Jailed American

A jailed American contractor said Friday he feels like a "hostage," in Cuba, where he is serving a 15-year prison sentence on charges of subversion.

New York Mariano Rivera

A Panama native, nicknamed "Mo," who endeared himself to New Yorkers with a cut fastball that consistently baffled baseball's finest sluggers is now faced with the prospect of an unceremonious end to his illustrious 18-year career.

Gitmo Arraignment (will update)

The Obama administration's struggle over how to handle the prisoners and prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, enters a new chapter Saturday when a military judge there will convene an arraignment for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men for their alleged roles in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

US-Peterson-Trial (will update)

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Afghanistan-Skype-Death (will update)

Army Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark was in a war zone in Afghanistan, some 7,500 miles away from his wife. Yet the two still managed to connect regularly, via their regular video chats. But a Monday Skype session proved to be their last, when Clark's wife "tragically witnessed her husband's death," Clark's family said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

INTERNATIONAL

Colombia-Prostitute-Interview

Book publishers and modeling agents, take note: The woman at the center of the U.S. Secret Service prostitution scandal is embracing her notoriety and spilling colorful details about that infamous night. At a bar in Cartegena last month, Secret Service agents were "buying alcohol like it was water." The same agent who refused to pay also liked to dance in a "disorderly" manner in which "he lifted his shirt to show off his six-pack." Agents were dancing on the bar. Dania Londono Suarez, the escort who unwittingly sparked investigations that have ensnared roughly two dozen members of the Secret Service and U.S. military over reported use of prostitutes in Colombia in the days before President Barack Obama visited last month, gave a lengthy, wide-ranging interview to Colombia's W Radio on Friday.

Syria-Unrest

Syrian government snipers and other forces stalked opponents in homes and neighborhoods Friday in a campaign of gunfire, shelling and arrests amid mass protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, an opposition group said.

France Muslim Fears

France is home to Western Europe's largest Muslim population, but on the eve of presidential elections, mainstream French society is questioning whether a person can be both Muslim and French -- and that worries French Muslims, who see no contradiction between the two identities.

Mexico-Violence

Residents of the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo found nine bodies hanging from an overpass Friday morning, along with a message directed to a drug cartel.

China-Activist-US

The diplomatic drama over Chen Guangcheng showed promising signs of a resolution Friday, with China indicating the activist could apply to travel to the United States and New York University announcing it has invited him to be a visiting scholar.

China-Activist-Friend

As criticism intensified over the Obama administration's handling of Chen Guangcheng's case, the State Department released a translation of his friend's Twitter post in which the Chinese activist denies he wanted political asylum and says he was not forced out of the U.S. Embassy.

China-chen-florcruz

China, U.S. searching for 'face-saving' solution to Chen saga.

China-Chen-Saga

Throughout her nearly 24-hour journey from Washington to Beijing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton avoided the cameras of journalists traveling on her plane. For nearly a week leading up the trip -- ever since the blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng had fled his village home and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing -- both the secretary and her spokespersons refused to answer any and all questions about him, save a tight-lipped "We've got nothing on that for you." But the U.S. officials did have someting, a full-scale diplomatic mess that would play out not just behind closed doors, but through the media and social media with every few hours bringing a new twist.

Afghanistan-Taliban-Strength

Just two hours before President Barack Obama landed in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a congressional delegation was departing.

Argentina-UK-Falklands-Video

Argentina angered some this week when it released an advertisement filmed in the Falkland Islands that claims that the country still has sovereignty over the South Atlantic island chain.

UK-Hacking-Inquiry

Eight UK government ministers were given the right Friday to see written witness statements before the witnesses testify to an independent inquiry into phone hacking and news media ethics.

Egypt-Protests

Mass demonstrations are expected in Cairo Friday after several parties urged supporters to voice their outrage at this week's deadly clashes and demand the resignation of Egypt's interim military government.

Saudi-Arabia-Egypt

Saudi Arabia is re-establishing its diplomatic presence in Egypt after tensions briefly spurred the kingdom to pull its envoys and shutter its missions, Egyptian and Saudi state news agencies said Friday.

Ireland-Church-Abuse-Scandal

Ireland's top Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Sean Brady, was under mounting pressure to resign Friday amid renewed allegations about his role in dealing with the sexual abuse of children by priests.

Obama-G8-Africa

President Barack Obama invited four African leaders to join food security talks at the annual G8 summit this month.

Pakistan-Attack

An explosion killed 13 and injured 60 others in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Friday, a government official told CNN.

France-Election

The two contenders for the French presidency entered the final day of campaigning Friday, with opinion polls giving challenger Francois Hollande the edge over President Nicolas Sarkozy.

France-Germany-Analysis

There has been a great deal of austerity-bashing -- that is to say Germany-bashing -- this French election season. Buoyed by his success in the first round, socialist contender Francois Hollande declared last Thursday: "It is not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe." Vowing to reset Europe on a growth path, he said, "we're not just any country, we can change the situation."

SPORT-football-euro-2012-putin

Russian premier Vladimir Putin has criticized plans by European leaders to boycott next month's Euro 2012 football finals due to the treatment by Ukrainian authorities of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

SPORT-motorsport-f1-alonso-ferrari

Ferrari's hopes of a first world title since 2008 were effectively blown away before this season even started when the legendary Formula One team admitted the 2012 car was not up to speed.

U.S.A.

ENT-Beastie-Boys-Death

Adam "MCA" Yauch, a founding member of the pioneering rap band Beastie Boys, died Friday after a nearly three-year battle with cancer, the band's publicist said.

MED--Beastie-Boys-MCA-Death-Salivary-Gland-Cancer

It's extremely rare for people to be diagnosed with salivary gland cancer. Most Americans who get it are older than 55. Adam Yauch, better known as "MCA" of the Beastie Boys, died Friday at age 47 after having cancer for nearly three years. Yauch was one of the few younger patients diagnosed with the disease. Two adults in 100,000 are diagnosed with salivary gland cancer per year, according to the American Cancer Society.

ENT-Celebs-React-Adam-Yauch

Celebrities and musicians react to the death of Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch.

Afghanistan-Skype-Death

Army Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark was in a war zone in Afghanistan, some 7,500 miles away from his wife. Yet the two still managed to connect regularly, via their regular video chats. But a Monday Skype session proved to be their last, when Clark's wife "tragically witnessed her husband's death," Clark's family said.

Pennsylvania Abuse Scandal

Philadelphia's Catholic archbishop announced Friday that five priests will not be reinstated following a church investigation into accusations of child sex abuse, though the men have a right to an appeal.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former adviser recalled Friday how he urged John Edwards to steer clear of a campaign videographer, later revealed to be his mistress. But the then-presidential candidate refused, Peter Scher said in court.

Florida-FAMU-Hazing

All but one of the 11 people facing felony hazing charges in connection with the death of a Florida A&M University band member had turned themselves in by Friday afternoon, a state police spokeswoman said.

California-Teacher-Penson-Fund-Wal-Mart

The California State Teachers' Retirement System has filed a derivative action lawsuit against current and former Wal-Mart executives and board members for the firm's alleged bribery in Mexico and a subsequent corporate coverup, the system said Friday. A derivative action is a lawsuit brought by shareholders on behalf of a company against a third party, and the California entity, which is the second-largest U.S. public pension fund, holds more than 5.3 million shares of Wal-Mart, valued at more than $313.5 million as of Tuesday, according to the fund and its lawsuit.

US-Keystone-Pipeline

A Canadian company has reapplied for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline that would connect the tar sands oil development in northern Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the State Department announced Friday.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks sold off Friday, ending the week lower, after a government report showed that employers added fewer-than-expected jobs in April.

Ohio-Animals-Return

Five exotic animals once owned by an Ohio man who last year set free dozens of animals before committing suicide were returned to the man's widow Friday.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

Junior Seau's family will let researchers study the former NFL linebacker's brain for evidence of trauma, San Diego Chargers chaplain Shawn Mitchell said Friday.

US-Peterson-Trial

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Gitmo Arraignment

The Obama administration's struggle over how to handle the prisoners and prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, enters a new chapter Saturday when a military judge there will convene an arraignment for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men for their alleged roles in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

POLITICS

POL-santorum-romney

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battled each other for months, trading attacks over the Massachusetts health care plan, who was the true fiscal conservative and each other's records. Now the one-time foes for the Republican presidential nomination are sitting down Friday in Pittsburgh not to hash over their differences, but instead to get to know each other better and discuss what role Santorum may play in helping Romney, according to Santorum aides. The two had a phone conversation when Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10, and they briefly chatted when they both spoke to the National Rifle Association meeting. No photo-op of the two hand-shaking their differences away is planned. The campaigns are trying to make sure the session is completely private. Don't expect any statements to the cameras after showing how much they now agree on. Only Romney and Santorum are expected to be in the room during the meeting, and there is no planned agenda.

POL-Santorum-Aide-Meeting

John Brabender, a senior strategist to former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, said Friday if the ex-GOP candidate endorses his former top rival Mitt Romney it will be "in the next week or so."

POL-BTN-GOP-Campaign

With Newt Gingrich's withdrawal earlier this week, the Republican presidential race is winding down. Although Ron Paul continues his quest -- all the way to the convention, he says -- Mitt Romney has turned his campaign toward President Barack Obama. Here's a look at how the GOP campaign broke down by the numbers.

POL-Jobs-Report-Politics

Hands down, it's the most important monthly economic report in the race for the White House. And April's numbers from the Labor Department didn't provide President Obama a lot to brag about.

POL-DNC-RNC-Videos

The Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee were on the attack Friday morning, armed with videos critical of the other party's presidential candidate.

POL-Republicans-React-Jobs

Both the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and the chairman of the Republican National Committee were quick to use April's unemployment numbers to criticize President Barack Obama's job on creating jobs.

POL-Graham-Marriage-Amendment

The Rev. Billy Graham, the world's best-known evangelist, has endorsed a ballot initiative to constitutionally ban gay marriage in his home state of North Carolina, a rare move for a preacher who has typically avoided political fights. North Carolinians will vote on the state's Marriage Amendment Act before North Carolina voters next Tuesday.

POL-Romney-Unemployment-Rate

Mitt Romney, slamming President Barack Obama for his performance creating jobs, said Friday any unemployment figure above 4% shouldn't be cause for celebration.

POL-Romney-Adviser-Comments

Mitt Romney said Friday his team encouraged Richard Grenell, a spokesman who resigned after less than two weeks on the job, to stay with the campaign.

POL-Romney-Delegates-Ohio

Governor Mitt Romney will drop his challenge for the four remaining delegates in Ohio, effectively giving them to Rick Santorum.

POL-Indiana-Senate-Race-Ads

With less than four days before the Indiana Senate primary, incumbent Sen. Dick Lugar and his challenger Richard Mourdock made their closing arguments in new television ads released Friday - the final spots of a long, often-times ugly nomination battle.

POL-Romney-Ohio-Letter

As President Barack Obama gears up for a big rally in Ohio--his first official campaign event this cycle--his likely opponent Mitt Romney penned a not-so-warm welcome letter for the president in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

POL-NOAA-Ad-Pulled

In the wake of the GSA convention scandal that is still reverberating across the government, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday abruptly pulled a help-wanted ad for a magician to appear at a leadership training event for its staff in the Washington area next month.

POL-Perry-Romney-Support

If the voters who supported his presidential bid aren't fired up to support Mitt Romney, the GOP had "better get a fire going," Rick Perry said Thursday. "God help us if he doesn't win," Perry said in an interview on Fox News.

POL-Biden-Violence-Act

Vice President Joe Biden targeted House Republicans on Friday in the fight to renew the normally-bipartisan Violence Against Woman Act.

POL-NC-Newspaper-Endorsement

North Carolina's largest newspaper rescinded its endorsement in a congressional primary Thursday, saying the Republican candidate "has done nothing but embarrass us and himself" since receiving their backing less than a week ago.

COMMENTARY-borger-romney-rivals

GOP rivals snuggle up to Mitt Romney.

COMMENTARY-obeidallah-obama-too-cool

Is Barack Obama too cool to be president?

MONEY

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks sold-off Friday after a government report showed that employers added fewer than expected jobs in April.

MONEY-Oil-Prices

Oil prices have plunged this week, erasing the gains of recent months and dissipating fears of $5-per-gallon gas ... at least for now.

MONEY-Jobs-Report-Unemployment

Hiring slowed in April and workers dropped out of the labor force in droves -- not a good sign for the job market going forward. The economy added just 115,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, down from March when employers created 154,000 jobs.

MONEY-Unemployment-Rate

There are far more jobless people in the United States than you might think. While it's true that the unemployment rate is falling, that doesn't include the millions of nonworking adults who aren't even looking for a job anymore. And hiring isn't strong enough to keep up with population growth.

MONEY-Obama-Reagan-Recovery

April's jobs report was, in a word, disappointing. The economy added only 115,000 jobs. Hiring slowed. More than 340,000 workers dropped out of the labor force. April's report, which follows lackluster numbers for March, is particularly bad news for President Obama's campaign staff in Chicago.

MONEY-Unemployment-Rate-Georgia

As the United States grapples with stubbornly high unemployment, there's one part of the country where the jobless rate is plummeting. Walker County, Ga., population, 68,756.

MONEY-Fracking-Rules

The Obama administration tightened rules on hydraulic fracturing Friday, requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in the process when done on federal and American Indian lands.

MONEY-golf-bubba-watson-players

Even by Bubba Watson's unpredictable standards, his decision to pull out of this month's Players Championship to spend more time with his family is an unusual one.

MONEY-Yahoo-Thompson-Education

The proxy fight between Yahoo and activist shareholder firm Third Point just got extra nasty.

MONEY-Linkedin-Slideshare

LinkedIn's stock was soaring on Friday, a day after the career networking site announced strong quarterly earnings and its plans to buy SlideShare.

MONEY-Stadium-Sponsors-Chesapeake

The Stadium Sponsor Stock Curse strikes again! The victim this time is Chesapeake Energy, whose name appears on the arena that hosts the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Sec-Inquiry

Chesapeake Energy, which along with its embattled CEO Aubrey McClendon has been in the spotlight for a controversial compensation program, said Thursday that it was facing an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MONEY-Spouse-Money

Lying about money can ruin a relationship, but couples still do it all the time. Three in ten adults who are married or living with a partner cop to committing some form of financial infidelity, including hiding purchases and splurging on big-ticket items without discussing it first, according to a report released Friday by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

MONEY-airline-consolidation

Analysts are predicting plane tickets will get more expensive as more airlines merge in response to deep-seated structural problems in the industry. Faced with soaring fuel costs, slack passenger demand and an economic slowdown, mergers are shaping up as a necessary measure to remove excess capacity from the industry.

MONEY-Postal-Service-Closings

What does May 15 mean for your local post office? Last December, the Postal Service agreed to back off closing any more post offices and postal plants until May 15. The moratorium was aimed at giving Congress time to pass legislation to help the service get back on firmer financial footing. The service lost $5 billion in its most recent year and is $12 billion in debt to the Treasury Department.

MONEY-Unique-Homes-Lake-Tahoe

When Internet millionaire Tom Gonzales was putting together his elaborate family compound on the shores of Lake Tahoe, he had one big concern: Where to put some of the most valuable cars in his 400-car collection.

MONEY-Facebook-Privacy-Controls

As Facebook barrels toward its IPO, one of its biggest lightening-rod issues -- privacy -- is drawing a fresh spotlight. A Consumer Reports study released this week estimates that 13 million American Facebook users have never set or simply don't know about the site's privacy controls.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

US-Thriller-Novels

Selling a spy novel these days can be a killer. While there is undoubtedly an appetite for fast-paced, heart-thumping thrills in print, it seems that a combination of shrinking shelf space and authors who publish books seemingly forever, are making the competition stiff.

US-Cotto-Mayweather-preview

Miguel Cotto says he will beat Floyd Mayweather -- "no doubt" -- but don't expect him to dance around the gym, making it rain and running his mouth about it. It's not how he rolls. Unlike his opponent in Saturday's WBA super-welterweight title fight, Cotto doesn't resort to third-person, braggadocio-packed soliloquies when a reporter asks a question. "I'm ready and prepared for anything he can bring to me the night of May 5," Cotto said of Mayweather. Period. That's it. Cotto has trained his trunks off and all the Mayweather jawing in the world can't get into his head. "Those guys can't penetrate our minds," he said.

FEA-Marcia-Clark-author-interview

Marcia Clark knows her way around a courtroom. She spent years as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. She became a household name as the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, one of the only cases she ever lost. Clark left that life behind a long time ago, but she's still mining her past, only now as a successful crime novelist.

FEA-kentucky-derby-hats

During the 138th annual "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," bets will be lost, hearts will break and mint juleps will be sipped, but for many spectators at the Kentucky Derby and elsewhere, "It's all about the hats." And it's a time for the artists who craft these hats to sit back, rest their exhausted hands and look for their creations among the crowds on TV.

FEA-Harolds-Bbq-Closing

It was a few minutes before 11 a.m. and Bill Adams had two things on his mind: Brunswick stew and cracklin cornbread. To satisfy his craving for meat stew and fried pig skin, this lifelong Georgia boy made the hour-long drive Tuesday from his home in Griffin to Harold's Barbecue in south Atlanta. When he and his friends learned this was to be Harold's last week in business, they made plans for a final pilgrimage. "Just wanted to stop by for one last meal," the longtime patron said as he waited in the restaurant's dusty parking lot for doors to open. He wasn't alone; there were about a dozen others, including a pair of Georgia State Troopers. "It's inevitable. Everything changes. Nothing lasts forever," he said. "We don't like it but we can't stop it." The barbecue joint has been an Atlanta mainstay since it was opened by Harold Hembree Sr. in 1947. It's earned spots on "best-of" lists nationwide, as well as in the hearts of natives, many of whom remember when the run-down two-room establishment was still a one-room curbside spot where teens brought dates and families came for lunch.

TRAVEL-socotra-island-yemen-wildlife

Most people would struggle to place it on a map, but Socotra is one of the world's last unspoiled island chains -- an archipelago off the coast of Yemen that has wildlife so diverse it has been described as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.

TECH-adam-montoya-seananners

Adam Montoya is cool, collected and on a mission to annihilate his enemies. Armed with a small arsenal of guns, the 27-year-old races through a bombed-out Middle Eastern city, firing at adversaries who dart out of doorways and emerge around corners. As he eludes gunfire and switches nimbly between assault rifles and handguns, Montoya keeps up a running commentary. "Trader Joe's has the best frozen chicken," he says. "I got some chicken with some mushrooms, some baby tomatoes. I got some paprika, some cumin in there. I do believe we have some green onion, some olive oil ... some thyme in there, some nutmeg. It's pretty good." Welcome to the singular world of Montoya -- better known to the Internet as SeaNanners -- one of the few people in the world who can earn a living combining "Call of Duty" with chatter about what he's cooking for dinner. Montoya lives in West Los Angeles, California, and is a star in the exploding field of video-game commentary. Those who love video games and YouTube might argue he has the dream job.

Mutoko-women-africa

When I think of the story of African women, I immediately think of my mother and I want to use her story as a frame of reference in how African leaders can improve the lives of women. My mother is a huge inspiration to me but sadly, many African women do not have the opportunities that she has. They are the backbone of our nations and their success will lead to the success of Africa. Using this platform afforded to me, I would like to tell our leaders the five things African women need to succeed.

COMMENTARY-Bergen-bin-Laden-mission

Would any president have made the call to kill bin Laden?

COMMENTARY-Su-Chinese-dissident

Was the U.S. naive about the Chen Guangcheng deal?

COMMENTARY-Stanley-Ron-Paul

Why Ron Paul is not going away.

COMMENTARY-borger-romney-rivals

GOP rivals snuggle up to Mitt Romney.

COMMENTARY-navarrette-dream-act-progress

Will parties keep hope live for immigrant children?

COMMENTARY-opinion-jenkins-samsung-galaxy

Opinion: Why is Samsung so hot right now?


LOAD-DATE: May 05, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



462 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 7:42 PM EST


CNN Wire Weekend Enterprise Digest


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 4265 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Weekend Supervising Editors Joe Sterling and Sarah Aarthun on Saturday; Matt Smith and Sarah Aarthun on Sunday - 404-827-1401

SATURDAY

POL-Obama-Campaign

President Obama and the first lady are set to hold the first two public rallies of his 2012 re-election campaign in Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia.

US-KSM-Arraignment

Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and four other terror suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Saturday.

SPORT-Kentucky-Derby

Coverage of the 138th annual Kentucky Derby -- known as the "greatest two minutes in sports."

South-Africa-Rape

Dumisani Rebombo is no ordinary advocate for women's rights in South Africa. He is a rapist, who sought out his victim two decades after his brutal act to ask for forgiveness.He is all this in a nation where sexual assault has become so common that a woman in South Africa is more likely to be raped than learn to read. Sexual assaults rarely shock anyone anymore, though a video of a brutal gang rape of a mentally disabled teenager went viral on the internet last month. That touched a nerve. As the young suspects face their day in court, Rebombo spoke with CNN to tell his own story -- an extraordinary tale of violence, redemption and determination to change things in his homeland.

FEA-Cinco-de-Mayo-Origins

Cinco de Mayo -- the unofficial U.S. holiday long believed to have been imported, with celebratory beer, from Mexico -- isn't a Mexican holiday at all but rather an American one created by Latinos in the American West during the Civil War, according to new research by a California professor. Conventional thinking has long held that the holiday -- now a commercial juggernaut -- emerged from the mass migrations of the bloody Mexican Revolution of the 1910s or even during Chicano activism in the 1960s in California, University of California at Los Angeles Professor David Hayes-Bautista told CNN. But on the 150th anniversary of the holiday, Hayes-Bautista is announcing that he accidentally found the origins of Cinco de Mayo -- the 5th of May -- after poring through Spanish-language newspapers in California from the mid-1800s while working on another research project.

Turkey-Releasing-Captive-Dolphins

Two years ago, Tom and Misha were the main attraction at a run-down tourist park in coastal Turkey. The two bottlenose dolphins were in poor health. Today, they are getting ready to be released into the wild after six years in captivity. It's a risky venture, according to trainer Jeff Foster who tried to reintroduce "Free Willy" orca back into the wild more than a decade ago.

US-PTSD-Murder-Defense

As more war veterans return home with PTSD, the disorder is more often being blamed for crimes committed by these vets. But can PTSD be a valid defense against cold-blooded murder?

US-Iran-Hikers

Two of the American hikers who were engaged while being imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges are expected to wed in the Bay Area on Saturday.

SUNDAY

France-Election

Final round of French elections pits President Nicolas Sarkozy against Francois Hollande. Polls open 2 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET.

Greek-Elections

Greek parliamentary election. A nation depending on government subsidies, losing much of that in mandated austerity budget cuts, goes to the polls to choose its new government. Polls open 1 a.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET.

FEA-Gift-of-Charles

He was a troubled 13-year-old when he finally found a home, with parents and siblings who embraced him. But Charles Daniel would live only two more years. It was time enough to change everything -- and everyone.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ENTERPRISE

DOMESTIC

US-New-Prosthetic-Limbs-'Celebrate'-Bodies (with art)

Most people have two legs. Aimee Mullins has 28. Mullins' 14 pairs of prosthetic legs are more than medical devices. They are wearable sculpture, secret weapons and a passport to embrace and show off the thing that makes her superficially different -- the fact that she has no flesh-and-blood legs below the knee. As a Georgetown student, Mullins was the first amputee to compete in NCAA Division I track events. She broke world records in three track and field events during the 1996 Paralympics, walked the runway for Alexander McQueen and starred in avant-garde movie "Cremaster 3." But she's also at the forefront of a movement that redefines what a replacement limb can be -- not a replacement for something lost, but a supplement, an enhancement. The custom-designed legs with which she broke records are modeled on the hind legs of a cheetah, and look nothing like human legs. The ones she wore on the runway are intricately carved wood. In the film, one pair was made to look as if it was made of freshly tilled earth. "Hopefully for so many more people now, they're getting to the heart of the journey to celebrate their body, and choosing their own identity," Mullins said. "They don't have to stay in that place of doubt and uncertainty and feeling like they're 'less than.'" There are nearly 2 million people with amputations in the United States, according to statistics from the Amputee Coalition, a nonprofit group that serves people who lost a limb. About 185,000 amputations are performed each year and many removed limbs are replaced by prosthetics.

US-New-York-Subway-Plot (with art)

The e-mail was sent from somewhere in Pakistan at 7:14 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 6, 2009. It was instantly logged by the massive data-gathering computers of the U.S. National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland, and at GCHQ, the UK's signals intelligence agency. The sender was someone known to U.S. and UK security services as "Ahmad," who'd been on the radar of British intelligence since a suspected al Qaeda cell had been uncovered in Manchester that year, according to senior U.S. counterterrorism officials. But the recipient was previously unknown, with the address njbzaz@yahoo.com Whoever it was lived in the Denver area. Alarm bells rang across the U.S. intelligence establishment. Who in Colorado was in touch with a man suspected as a handler for al Qaeda?

US-Compton-kids-learn-to-fly-after-school

On a sunny afternoon at Compton Airport, nine-year-old Jose Pineda runs across the tarmac and makes a beeline for a single-engine Cessna. He's completely at ease --- clearly in his element --- laughing and joking about a special celebration coming up. A birthday. He runs his hand along the side of the plane, and walks underneath the wing, clearing it with one foot of headroom to spare. He swings open the door and climbs into his seat on the left side of the plane - the pilot's seat. Pineda carefully checks the instruments on the console. He picks up a two-way radio to talk to some "grown-ups" who run air traffic control. His seat belt clicks and he's ready for take-off. That's right, Pineda is a pilot; a "veteran," he tells us. He's been studying aviation since he was six. Inside the hangar, Pineda's friend, Tasneem Khatib, is also preparing to hit the skies. At 11 years old, she got a bit of a "late" start. And then there's 16-year-old Keilyn Hubbard, dressed to the nines in a navy blue pilot's suit. Sure, he's at least old enough to drive. But he's also training for his first SOLO flight. Just who are these kids?

US-Thriller-Novels

Selling a spy novel these days can be a killer. While there is undoubtedly an appetite for fast-paced, heart-thumping thrills in print, it seems that a combination of shrinking shelf space and authors who publish books seemingly forever, are making the competition stiff.

US-Cotto-Mayweather-preview

Miguel Cotto says he will beat Floyd Mayweather -- "no doubt" -- but don't expect him to dance around the gym, making it rain and running his mouth about it. It's not how he rolls. Unlike his opponent in Saturday's WBA super-welterweight title fight, Cotto doesn't resort to third-person, braggadocio-packed soliloquies when a reporter asks a question. "I'm ready and prepared for anything he can bring to me the night of May 5," Cotto said of Mayweather. Period. That's it. Cotto has trained his trunks off and all the Mayweather jawing in the world can't get into his head. "Those guys can't penetrate our minds," he said.

INTERNATIONAL

Al-Awlaki Posthumous Writings

From the grave, Awlaki calls for attacks on U.S. The editor and star contributor may be dead, but that hasn't prevented al Qaeda in Yemen from issuing the eighth and ninth editions of its online English-language magazine Inspire.

Afghanistan-Big-Picture

By midmorning Wednesday, Air Force One touched down at Andrews Air Force Base. President Barack Obama had returned from a surprise trip to Afghanistan that lasted a day but was meant to mark a transition to the end of the more than decadelong war. There has been much debate about what the speech signifies and what it means for the long-term future of Afghanistan and America's involvement there. The agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that Obama touted, the strategic partnership agreement, is short on specifics and Obama's speech did not lay out any new timetable for the war. While some observers say it's foolish to think the United States will actually leave the country, others say Obama's speech, both its symbolic occurrence and its contents, are signs of tremendous progress. At a minimum, a milestone has been reached despite tense relations. But what it means in practical terms for Americans is unclear, because after most troops leave in 2014, what remains has yet to be negotiated. When Obama spoke of "a future in which war ends and a new chapter begins," what did that mean specifically?

US-CNNHeroes-Kabban-Child-Refugees (with art)

Khalid Yohana was 7 years old when war reached his hometown of Mosul, Iraq. For years, even the simplest activities, like walking to school, were an ordeal. "It was too scary to go outside much," Yohana, now 16, remembers. "If you walk on the street ... you're nervous you'd get killed." A group of men once tried to kidnap his father, a chef at a Baghdad restaurant that catered to Americans. The attempt failed, but a threatening letter arrived at his family's home that same night. "They warned us to get out of the country or they would kill us. ... I was really scared," Yohana said. The family fled to a small village north, but when Yohana's school was bombed a year later, they left Iraq for good. They traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, and applied for refugee status so they could move to the United States legally. In 2010, Yohana and his family arrived in San Diego. The family appreciated the safety of their new home, but they also encountered new problems. Yohana's father struggled to find work, and the entire family found it challenging to navigate a new country and culture.

China-Chen-Florcruz

"Very busy lately, huh?" Lao Liu greets me one morning on my way to work. "What's going on with this Chen Guangcheng guy?" My friend, who works for a multinational company, had heard chatter about Chen and wanted to find out more. I was in a rush so I told him quickly about Chen, the blind activist from a rural town in Shandong who has been mistreated for years by local officials, and how he had slipped into the U.S. embassy in Beijing creating a diplomatic spat with China. Lao Liu is not alone. Many ordinary Chinese have been in the dark about Chen's dramatic escape.

Greece-Papathanasopoulou-Family (with art)

The bank where she died in Athens is still shrouded in green tarpaulin and boarded off with corrugated iron. Graffiti scrawled in black across the front reads: "Traitors" and "killers." This is where Angeliki Papathanasopoulou put in 12-hour days as a financial analyst at Marfin Egnatia Bank, working not only for the benefit of her family but also with a desire to contribute to the country she loved. The site -- in the center of Athens, just minutes from Syntagma Square and in a commercial hub of the city -- is one door down from the historic Attikon Cinema, one of dozens of buildings torched during the city's explosive protests of February this year.

POLITICAL

POL-Obama-Student-Loans

President Barack Obama on Friday urged high school students to e-mail, tweet, and teach their parents to tweet a message to Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1.

POL-Santorum-Romney

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum battled each other for months, trading attacks over the Massachusetts health care plan, who was the true fiscal conservative and each other's records. Now the one-time foes for the Republican presidential nomination are sitting down Friday in Pittsburgh not to hash over their differences, but instead to get to know each other better and discuss what role Santorum may play in helping Romney, according to Santorum aides. The two had a phone conversation when Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10, and they briefly chatted when they both spoke to the National Rifle Association meeting. No photo-op of the two hand-shaking their differences away is planned. The campaigns are trying to make sure the session is completely private. Don't expect any statements to the cameras after showing how much they now agree on. Only Romney and Santorum are expected to be in the room during the meeting, and there is no planned agenda.

POL-Election-Northern-Virginia

President Barack Obama arrives in Richmond this weekend for his first official campaign visit to the battleground state of Virginia, a hyped rally that is mobilizing both Republican and Democratic ground troops for the general election. But the fight for Virginia begins in earnest Wednesday in the Washington suburb of Chantilly, a warren of office parks and shopping malls near Dulles International Airport and just 10 miles from where the first major battle of the Civil War unfolded.

POL-Jobs-Report-Politics

Hands down, it's the most important monthly economic report in the race for the White House. And April's numbers from the Labor Department didn't provide President Obama a lot to brag about.

FINANCIAL

MONEY-Muddy-Waters-Carson-Block

Investing in China can be complicated, to say the least. Just ask Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Research, known for his keen eye for spotting fraudulent accounting practices at Chinese companies.

MONEY-Pebble-Kickstarter-Watch

When Eric Migicovsky posted on Kickstarter his prototype for a sleek watch that integrates with iPhone and Android devices, he didn't anticipate the tidal wave of support it would receive. Within hours of going live, the project hit its $100,000 funding goal. Then it kept going. Three weeks later, the Pebble watch has drawn $7.8 million from backers, shattering Kickstarter's previous $3.3 million fundraising record. More than 44,000 people have laid down at least $115 for a Pebble watch (an early-bird price: the planned minimum retail price is $150), and 15 backers have thrown down $10,000 for a "distributor pack" of 100 watches.It's a sweet turnaround for a project that left Silicon Valley's venture capitalists cold.

MONEY-Airline-Consolidation

Analysts are predicting plane tickets will get more expensive as more airlines merge in response to deep-seated structural problems in the industry. Faced with soaring fuel costs, slack passenger demand and an economic slowdown, mergers are shaping up as a necessary measure to remove excess capacity from the industry.

MONEY-Smartphone-In-Your-Brain (with art)

Show off a new gadget to your friends or family and inevitably one person in the group will declare, "Soon they'll just plug these things directly into your brain!" And everyone will laugh, as if they've never heard that joke before. It's no joke.

MONEY-Delta-Refinery (with art)

Delta's decision to buy an oil refinery earlier this week is certainly bold, possibly unique and perhaps an inspiration to anyone who wished they could stick it to Big Oil and make their own gas. But, for Delta, it's definitely risky.

MONEY-Rooibos-Tea-South-Africa (with art)

In cafes across Cape Town, brewing the perfect cup of rooibos has become a fine art. Measuring just the right amount of tea is key while great care is needed to not allow the leaves to swirl for too long. Once ready, the rooibos cups, gleaming in a sumptuous deep red color, bring with them a reedy scent that greets the noses of the customers waiting to enjoy a sip. Grown only in South Africa's Western Cape province, the naturally caffeine-free tea used to be a specialist drink appealing to only some taste buds. But in recent years, its refreshing taste and inviting aroma, coupled with its health benefits, have turned rooibos into a popular choice for tea lovers across the world.

MEDICAL

MED-Black-Women-Runners-Group (with art)

African-American women are joining forces to battle the alarming rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity that are affecting millions of Americans. The movement is called Black Girls Run!, and it was formed to encourage women of color to get fit and live healthier lifestyles.

MED-Listeria-Outbreak-Investigation (with art)

On a sunny morning early last September, Susanna Gaxiola fed her husband a healthy breakfast of fresh cantaloupe in their Albuquerque, New Mexico, home. Her husband, Rene, a Pentecostal pastor and minister, had been fighting a rare blood cancer and he was eating fresh cantaloupe and other fruit daily. Around the same time, Paul Schwarz ate fresh cantaloupe in his home in Independence, Missouri. Though 92 years old, Schwarz was still active and healthy, and ate fresh fruit often. And Dr. Mike Hauser, a podiatrist, also ate fresh cantaloupe with his family in Monument, Colorado. Hauser, 68, had been fighting myeloma, a blood cancer, but he was recovering well, even planning a bow-hunting trip in the mountains.

MED-Ethicist-Safer-Drugs-Children

What if most of the drugs your doctor gave you were untested, forcing him or her to guess at the correct medication and dosage -- making you an unwitting research subject whenever you took a pill? Dr. Florence Bourgeois and her colleagues at Harvard University have just reminded us that today, this very situation confronts the world's children.

MED-Garden-Hose-Toxic-Chemicals

Planting season is here. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a novice, a new study is raising a red flag about some of the products you might be using. HealthyStuff.org -- a nonprofit environmental group that researches toxic chemicals in consumer products - tested nearly 200 common garden products and found two-thirds of them contained significant levels of one or more toxic chemicals they ranked of "high concern."

MED-Black-Women-Runners-Group (with art)

African-American women are joining forces to battle the alarming rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity that are affecting millions of Americans. The movement is called Black Girls Run!, and it was formed to encourage women of color to get fit and live healthier lifestyles.

TRAVEL

TRAVEL-Socotra-Island-Yemen-Wildlife

Most people would struggle to place it on a map, but Socotra is one of the world's last unspoiled island chains -- an archipelago off the coast of Yemen that has wildlife so diverse it has been described as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.

TRAVEL-I-Love-New-York (with art)

New York City is crowded, cramped, expensive and dirty. In summertime, the walk down subway stairs often feels like a descent into a Gila monster's mouth. In the winter, exhaust and dog-stained snow piles turn the streets to grim, dim, narrow canyons. There are rats with the size and agility of house cats, the transit system is often thwarted by mild rainstorms, and Donald Trump is allowed to roam about as he pleases. There is nowhere else on the planet I'd rather call home.

TRAVEL-Zulu-Kingdom-Travel-Guide (with art)

Spread across a 600-kilometer stretch of South Africa's east coast, the former Zulu Kingdom boasts one of sub-Saharan Africa's most eclectic blends of wildlife, history and culture. Largely contained today within the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the Kingdom's historical borders offer the adventure-minded traveler everything from traditional Zulu ceremonies to spectacular safaris, and a remarkably diverse array of scenic beauty. Here is CNN's guide to exploring this unique region.

TRAVEL-Louisville-Travel-Kentucky-Derby (with art)

For about two minutes on Saturday, millions of eyes will focus on Louisville, home of Kentucky's most feted affair, that blissfully short sporting event that comes with its own cocktail. Horses, hats and barrels of booze star in that show, and while the Kentucky Derby experience is not to be missed, Churchill Downs' hometown is worth lingering over. Whether you're headed to the races or thinking about a future visit, enhance your trip with these Louisville experiences

TRAVEL-China-Airport-Cheerleaders (with art)

While some Chinese travelers storm the tarmac when flights get delayed, others might wish their flights never take off -- assuming they're flying from the northeast China city of Dalian. To entertain waiting passengers, Dalian International Airport recently recruited a squad of cheerleaders to perform kicks, jumps and splits in the airport's main hall.

TECH

TECH-Adam-Montoya-Seananners

Adam Montoya is cool, collected and on a mission to annihilate his enemies. Armed with a small arsenal of guns, the 27-year-old races through a bombed-out Middle Eastern city, firing at adversaries who dart out of doorways and emerge around corners. As he eludes gunfire and switches nimbly between assault rifles and handguns, Montoya keeps up a running commentary. "Trader Joe's has the best frozen chicken," he says. "I got some chicken with some mushrooms, some baby tomatoes. I got some paprika, some cumin in there. I do believe we have some green onion, some olive oil ... some thyme in there, some nutmeg. It's pretty good." Welcome to the singular world of Montoya -- better known to the Internet as SeaNanners -- one of the few people in the world who can earn a living combining "Call of Duty" with chatter about what he's cooking for dinner. Montoya lives in West Los Angeles, California, and is a star in the exploding field of video-game commentary. Those who love video games and YouTube might argue he has the dream job.

TECH-Instagram-Netiquette (with art)

Instagram has had a big, big, big last couple of weeks: Its Android app dropped at the beginning of April, and Facebook recently acquired the photo-sharing service for a whopping $1 billion. The result of all this attention? A whopping 10 million new users in 10 days, reportedly knocking Instagram's user count up to 40 million.

TECH-Wireless-Data-Alerts-Gahran (with art)

If you like streaming lots of audio or video to your cell phone and you don't have an unlimited data plan, you might end up with a bad case of "bill shock" when your wireless carrier hits you with overage charges.

TECH-Facebook-Lies-Privacy (with art)

About one out of every four Facebook users lies on their profile, and not just to impress that guy or gal who wouldn't date them in high school. Sometimes, it's about privacy. That was one of the findings of a Consumer Reports investigation released this week.

LIVING

FEA-Marcia-Clark-author-interview

Marcia Clark knows her way around a courtroom. She spent years as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. She became a household name as the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, one of the only cases she ever lost. Clark left that life behind a long time ago, but she's still mining her past, only now as a successful crime novelist.

FEA-kentucky-derby-hats

During the 138th annual "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," bets will be lost, hearts will break and mint juleps will be sipped, but for many spectators at the Kentucky Derby and elsewhere, "It's all about the hats." And it's a time for the artists who craft these hats to sit back, rest their exhausted hands and look for their creations among the crowds on TV.

FEA-my-mothers-day-present-to-me

I am exhausted from the middle of the night "Will she or won't she throw up?" session. She did not, but still, it's probably not the perfect time to ask myself if I'm parenting from a place of joy or a place of fear. It's my divorce that forced the question, helped along by a recent onslaught of terror-generating books by Tiger Moms, American Moms in France, American Moms Feeding Their Children as the French Do and Survival Moms preparing me for actual disasters -- all of them fresh reminders of how I might fail my child. Even without a breakup, parenting is a marathon with little down time to rest or refuel. Spiritual leaders' and therapists' offices are filled with parents who are burned out by the task.

FEA-long-engagements-replace-marriage (with art)

Contrary to the popular playground song about sitting in a tree (and K-I-S-S-I-N-G), marriage doesn't always come after love. I know what you're thinking: "Engagement" and "carriage" don't rhyme. But with so many couples postponing their "I do's" in favor of longer engagements, the chant could afford to be updated.

ENT-Superhero-Summer-Movies

Comic book fans aren't the only ones expected to assemble in theaters Friday. Judging by its early international box office take, "The Avengers" -- the superhero equivalent of a musical supergroup -- should blow away the competition, kicking off the summer movie season as a hit with a wide spectrum of moviegoers. Early tracking estimates see it as possibly beating "The Dark Knight's" then-record opening weekend from 2008, which "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" overtook last summer. Not to be outdone, the final chapter in the Batman trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises," also has high expectations of its own to meet on July 20.


LOAD-DATE: May 05, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The following stories will be published by the CNN Wire for the weekend of May 5-6. The Weekend Enterprise Digest is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



463 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 4:08 PM EST


Is Barack Obama too cool to be president?


BYLINE: By Dean Obeidallah


LENGTH: 682 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK (CNN)


Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks, including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog The Dean's Report and co-director of the upcoming documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming!" Follow him on Twitter.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- When I was growing up, my friends and I all wanted to be cool -- like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or, of course, the king of cool at the time: Fonzie. (I should note that I grew up in an Italian neighborhood.)

Being "cool" was a good thing.

Today it appears that being "cool" could be a bad thing, at least if you are running for president of the United States.

That theory surfaced in an ad from a Republican super PAC headed by Karl Rove.

The super PAC American Crossroads argues in its campaign ad that Barack Obama is "too cool" to be president. The attack ad shows President Obama "slow jamming" the news on Jimmy Fallon's NBC late-night talk show, singing an Al Green song and chugging a beer. (Obama drinking a beer must confuse those Republicans who still think he is a Muslim.)

Sure, Obama can sing, spar with late-night comedians and charm talk-show hosts. Still I am not so sure I would classify him as being "too cool." To me, Obama is more of a mix of cool and nerdy -- sort of a cross between Denzel Washington and Harry Potter. Obama may have soul, but he likely also has "Star Wars" toys.

You could even say he may be more geeky than cool. Obama has long collected comic books and when he recently posed for a picture with the actress who played Lt. Uhura on "Star Trek," Obama admitted he was a Trekkie -- he even flashed the Vulcan salute which means "live long and prosper. On the geek to cool meter, that definitely tips towards geekdom.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook/CNNOpinion.

And yet in today's world, geeks can actually be cool. They're no longer depicted the way they were in the "Revenge of the Nerds" movies with pocket protectors, calculator watches and Coke-bottle lens glasses. Geeky people are the model of success, the ultimate expression of cool -- think the late Steve Jobs.

At the risk of agreeing with Rove, I think he's correct that Obama would be considered cool. But is that bad?

Rove thinks so. Indeed, Rove's ad claims that "America got one cool president" but then cites statistics showing job losses for young people. The ad concludes by posing the question: "After four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?" Taking Rove's argument to its logical "Spock"-type conclusion -- if Obama was not cool, he would be a great president and America would be better off.

Let's see if that theory is accurate. No one would argue that George W. Bush was cool. Yet if Rove's proposition is correct, Bush should have been one of the greatest presidents ever.

While some may miss Bush -- and those people would be mostly comedians such as myself -- by the time he left office, he had a 22% approval rating, one of the lowest ever for an outgoing president.

So it appears that lack of cool does not equal fantastic president.

What is Rove's real point? Is it personal? Was Rove picked on as a child by the cool kids in his school? Did they give him wedgies or not let him sit with them at the lunch table in the cafeteria? Is this ad simply Rove's "Revenge of the Nerds" moment to lash out at Obama for being the cool guy?

Maybe but more likely it's political. Rove knows that the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney is at best "cool-challenged." Rove is simply trying to turn one of Obama's assets into a liability.

Will it work? Do we want a less than cool president? And if this ad gets traction, will Rove release other ads attacking Obama's strengths? Will we soon see ads claiming Obama is "too articulate" or in too good a shape to be president?

Only time will tell, but if this is the type of ridiculous argument we are hearing six months from Election Day, I can't even imagine the insanity we will see as we get closer to November 6.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah.


LOAD-DATE: May 05, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



464 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 2:30 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2310 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Mark Bixler and Samira Jafari -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Colombia-Prostitute-Interview

Book publishers and modeling agents, take note: The woman at the center of the U.S. Secret Service scandal is embracing her notoriety and spilling colorful details about that infamous night. At a bar in Cartegena last month, Secret Service agents were "buying alcohol like it was water." The same agent who refused to pay also liked to dance in a "disorderly" manner in which "he lifted his shirt to show off his six-pack." Dania Londono Suarez, the escort who unwittingly uncovered what now appears to be widespread impropriety in the agency, gave a lengthy, wide-ranging interview to Colombia's W Radio Friday.

US-Keystone-Pipeline

A Canadian company has reapplied for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline that will connect the tar sands oil development in northern Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the State Department announced Friday.

Egypt Protests (will update)

Clashes broke out in parts of Cairo Friday as protests against the country's military government turned violent.

UK Phone Hacking Inquiry

British government ministers are given the right to see statements from key witnesses in an inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics in advance. The ruling by the judge-led inquiry comes before a former spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, Andy Coulson, and senior News International executive Rebekah Brooks testify next week.

China-Activist-US (will update)

China said Friday that the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm has the right apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

Egypt-Protests (will update)

Mass demonstrations are expected in Cairo Friday after several parties urged supporters to voice their outrage at this week's deadly clashes and demand the resignation of Egypt's interim military government.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian government forces stormed homes and neighborhoods amid mass protests Friday against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, killing at least 25, an opposition group said.

Illinois-Peterson-Trial (will update -- hearing at 10:30 a.m. ET)

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Ohio-Animals-Return

Five exotic animals once owned by a Zanesville, Ohio, man who let loose dozens of animals last year before committing suicide will be returned to the man's widow Friday, the Ohio Department of Agriculture said.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

Funeral arrangements may be announced Friday for Junior Seau, a day after authorities said that the football icon committed suicide.

INTERNATIONAL

China-Activist-US

A possible breakthrough emerged on Friday in the case of Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese activist who made a daring escape from house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing before venturing out amid U.S.-Chinese negotiations over his future.

China-Activist-Friend

As criticism intensified over the Obama administration's handling of Chen Guangcheng's case, the State Department released a translation of his friend's Twitter post in which the Chinese activist denies he wanted political asylum and says he was not forced out of the U.S. Embassy.

China-chen-florcruz

China, U.S. searching for 'face-saving' solution to Chen saga.

Argentina-UK-Falklands-Video

Argentina angered some this week when it released an advertisement filmed in the Falkland Islands that claims that the country still has sovereignty over the South Atlantic island chain.

Egypt-Protests

Mass demonstrations are expected in Cairo Friday after several parties urged supporters to voice their outrage at this week's deadly clashes and demand the resignation of Egypt's interim military government.

Ireland-Church-Abuse-Scandal

Ireland's top Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Sean Brady, was under mounting pressure to resign Friday amid renewed allegations about his role in dealing with the sexual abuse of children by priests.

Obama-G8-Africa

President Barack Obama invited four African leaders to join food security talks at the annual G8 summit this month.

Pakistan-Attack

An explosion killed 13 and injured 60 others in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Friday, a government official told CNN.

Syria-Unrest

Syrian forces opened fire in various towns Friday, activists said, as the opposition staged mass protests to continue the revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad.

France-Election

The two contenders for the French presidency entered the final day of campaigning Friday, with opinion polls giving challenger Francois Hollande the edge over President Nicolas Sarkozy.

France-Germany-Analysis

There has been a great deal of austerity-bashing -- that is to say Germany-bashing -- this French election season. Buoyed by his success in the first round, socialist contender Francois Hollande declared last Thursday: "It is not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe." Vowing to reset Europe on a growth path, he said, "we're not just any country, we can change the situation."

SPORT-football-euro-2012-putin

Russian premier Vladimir Putin has criticized plans by European leaders to boycott next month's Euro 2012 football finals due to the treatment by Ukrainian authorities of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

U.S.A.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

Funeral arrangements may be announced Friday for Junior Seau, a day after authorities said that the football icon committed suicide.

US-Peterson-Trial

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Gitmo Arraignment

The Obama administration's struggle over how to handle the prisoners and prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, enters a new chapter Saturday when a military judge there will convene an arraignment for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men for their alleged roles in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

POLITICS

POL-DNC-RNC-Videos

The Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee were on the attack Friday morning, armed with videos critical of the other party's presidential candidate.

POL-Republicans-React-Jobs

Both the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and the chairman of the Republican National Committee were quick to use April's unemployment numbers to criticize President Barack Obama's job on creating jobs.

POL-Romney-Ohio-Letter

As President Barack Obama gears up for a big rally in Ohio--his first official campaign event this cycle--his likely opponent Mitt Romney penned a not-so-warm welcome letter for the president in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

POL-NOAA-Ad-Pulled

In the wake of the GSA convention scandal that is still reverberating across the government, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday abruptly pulled a help-wanted ad for a magician to appear at a leadership training event for its staff in the Washington area next month.

POL-Perry-Romney-Support

If the voters who supported his presidential bid aren't fired up to support Mitt Romney, the GOP had "better get a fire going," Rick Perry said Thursday. "God help us if he doesn't win," Perry said in an interview on Fox News.

POL-Poll-Virginia-Obama-Romney

As President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaign in Virginia this week, a new poll shows the president with a seven point advantage over his likely opponent in the Commonwealth.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Endorsement

A day after a seemingly lukewarm embrace of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich said Thursday he had fully endorsed the former Massachusetts governor and would enthusiastically campaign on his behalf.

COMMENTARY-borger-romney-rivals

GOP rivals snuggle up to Mitt Romney.

MONEY

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks fell Friday after a government report showed that employers added fewer than expected jobs in April.

MONEY-Jobs-Report-Unemployment

Hiring slowed in April and workers dropped out of the labor force in droves -- not a good sign for the job market going forward. The economy added just 115,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, down from March when employers created 154,000 jobs.

MONEY-Unemployment-Rate

There are far more jobless people in the United States than you might think. While it's true that the unemployment rate is falling, that doesn't include the millions of nonworking adults who aren't even looking for a job anymore. And hiring isn't strong enough to keep up with population growth.

MONEY-golf-bubba-watson-players

Even by Bubba Watson's unpredictable standards, his decision to pull out of this month's Players Championship to spend more time with his family is an unusual one.

MONEY-Yahoo-Thompson-Education

The proxy fight between Yahoo and activist shareholder firm Third Point just got extra nasty.

MONEY-Linkedin-Slideshare

LinkedIn's stock was soaring on Friday, a day after the career networking site announced strong quarterly earnings and its plans to buy SlideShare.

MONEY-Stadium-Sponsors-Chesapeake

The Stadium Sponsor Stock Curse strikes again! The victim this time is Chesapeake Energy, whose name appears on the arena that hosts the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

MONEY-Spouse-Money

Lying about money can ruin a relationship, but couples still do it all the time. Three in ten adults who are married or living with a partner cop to committing some form of financial infidelity, including hiding purchases and splurging on big-ticket items without discussing it first, according to a report released Friday by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

MONEY-airline-consolidation

Analysts are predicting plane tickets will get more expensive as more airlines merge in response to deep-seated structural problems in the industry. Faced with soaring fuel costs, slack passenger demand and an economic slowdown, mergers are shaping up as a necessary measure to remove excess capacity from the industry.

MONEY-Postal-Service-Closings

What does May 15 mean for your local post office? Last December, the Postal Service agreed to back off closing any more post offices and postal plants until May 15. The moratorium was aimed at giving Congress time to pass legislation to help the service get back on firmer financial footing. The service lost $5 billion in its most recent year and is $12 billion in debt to the Treasury Department.

MONEY-Unique-Homes-Lake-Tahoe

When Internet millionaire Tom Gonzales was putting together his elaborate family compound on the shores of Lake Tahoe, he had one big concern: Where to put some of the most valuable cars in his 400-car collection.

MONEY-Stadium-Sponsors-Chesapeake

The Stadium Sponsor Stock Curse strikes again! The victim this time is Chesapeake Energy, whose name appears on the arena that hosts the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

FEA-Marcia-Clark-author-interview

Marcia Clark knows her way around a courtroom. She spent years as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. She became a household name as the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, one of the only cases she ever lost. Clark left that life behind a long time ago, but she's still mining her past, only now as a successful crime novelist.

FEA-kentucky-derby-hats

During the 138th annual "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," bets will be lost, hearts will break and mint juleps will be sipped, but for many spectators at the Kentucky Derby and elsewhere, "It's all about the hats." And it's a time for the artists who craft these hats to sit back, rest their exhausted hands and look for their creations among the crowds on TV.

TRAVEL-socotra-island-yemen-wildlife

Most people would struggle to place it on a map, but Socotra is one of the world's last unspoiled island chains -- an archipelago off the coast of Yemen that has wildlife so diverse it has been described as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.

TECH-adam-montoya-seananners

Adam Montoya is cool, collected and on a mission to annihilate his enemies. Armed with a small arsenal of guns, the 27-year-old races through a bombed-out Middle Eastern city, firing at adversaries who dart out of doorways and emerge around corners. As he eludes gunfire and switches nimbly between assault rifles and handguns, Montoya keeps up a running commentary. "Trader Joe's has the best frozen chicken," he says. "I got some chicken with some mushrooms, some baby tomatoes. I got some paprika, some cumin in there. I do believe we have some green onion, some olive oil ... some thyme in there, some nutmeg. It's pretty good." Welcome to the singular world of Montoya -- better known to the Internet as SeaNanners -- one of the few people in the world who can earn a living combining "Call of Duty" with chatter about what he's cooking for dinner. Montoya lives in West Los Angeles, California, and is a star in the exploding field of video-game commentary. Those who love video games and YouTube might argue he has the dream job.

Mutoko-women-africa

When I think of the story of African women, I immediately think of my mother and I want to use her story as a frame of reference in how African leaders can improve the lives of women. My mother is a huge inspiration to me but sadly, many African women do not have the opportunities that she has. They are the backbone of our nations and their success will lead to the success of Africa. Using this platform afforded to me, I would like to tell our leaders the five things African women need to succeed.

COMMENTARY-Su-Chinese-dissident

Was the U.S. naive about the Chen Guangcheng deal?

COMMENTARY-Stanley-Ron-Paul

Why Ron Paul is not going away.

COMMENTARY-borger-romney-rivals

GOP rivals snuggle up to Mitt Romney.

COMMENTARY-navarrette-dream-act-progress

Will parties keep hope live for immigrant children?


LOAD-DATE: May 05, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



465 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 10:15 AM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2984 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Mark Bixler - 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

China-Activist-US

China said Friday that the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm has the right apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

Egypt-Protests (will update)

Mass demonstrations are expected in Cairo Friday after several parties urged supporters to voice their outrage at this week's deadly clashes and demand the resignation of Egypt's interim military government.

France-Election (6:30 a.m.)

Friday is the last day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff election in France.

Syria-Unrest (will update)

Syrian security forces unleashed a deadly push on a prominent university to clamp down Thursday on student dissent, the opposition said.

Illinois-Peterson-Trial (will update -- hearing at 10:30 a.m. ET)

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

Funeral arrangements may be announced Friday for Junior Seau, a day after authorities said that the football icon committed suicide.

China-Clinton-Visit

China said Friday that the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm has the right apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

CNN SHOWCASE

POL-Obama-China -- By Tom Cohen

Iran, Syria, and now China. President Barack Obama faces a third front of vulnerability on his administration's record of defending human rights with the muddled situation involving activist Chen Guangcheng. With his re-election campaign just hitting full stride, Obama hoped to capitalize on foreign policy successes such as last year's raid that killed Osama bin Laden to blunt Republican attacks on the sluggish U.S. economic recovery.

INTERNATIONAL

Argentina-UK-Falklands-Video

Argentina angered some this week when it released an advertisement filmed in the Falkland Islands that claims that the country still has sovereignty over the South Atlantic island chain.

Egypt-Protests

Mass demonstrations are expected in Cairo Friday after several parties urged supporters to voice their outrage at this week's deadly clashes and demand the resignation of Egypt's interim military government.

Obama-G8-Africa

President Barack Obama invited four African leaders to join food security talks at the annual G8 summit this month.

Pakistan-Attack

An explosion killed 13 and injured 60 others in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Friday, a government official told CNN.

China-Activist-US

China said Friday that the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm has the right apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

China-chen-florcruz

China, U.S. searching for 'face-saving' solution to Chen saga

Syria-Unrest

Syrian security forces unleashed a deadly push on a prominent university to clamp down Thursday on student dissent, the opposition said.

Netherlands-Taylor-Sentencing

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor should receive an 80-year sentence for his conviction of aiding and abetting war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone's civil war, the chief prosecutor in the international court case recommended Thursday.

Mexico-Journalists-Killed

Two of four dismembered bodies found Thursday morning in the eastern state of Veracruz and bearing signs of torture have been identified as journalists, Mexican authorities said.

Greece-papathanasopoulou-family

The bank where she died in Athens is still shrouded in green tarpaulin and boarded off with corrugated iron. Graffiti scrawled in black across the front reads: "Traitors" and "killers." This is where Angeliki Papathanasopoulou put in 12-hour days as a financial analyst at Marfin Egnatia Bank, working not only for the benefit of her family but also with a desire to contribute to the country she loved. The site -- in the center of Athens, just minutes from Syntagma Square and in a commercial hub of the city -- is one door down from the historic Attikon Cinema, one of dozens of buildings torched during the city's explosive protests of February this year. Now, two years since Greece took its first bailout and Angeliki died, the country is going to the polls. The election is expected to produce the most fractured result in decades.

Russia-Dagestan-Explosions

At least eight people were killed and 20 injured in twin blasts late Thursday in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

UK-Phone-Hacking

Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson have been summoned to testify next week before a judge-led inquiry investigating phone hacking and news media ethics.

Canada-Hang-Glider-Death

Lenami Godinez-Avila had just started a tandem hang-gliding flight with an instructor -- a gift from her boyfriend -- when she fell from the glider, plunging hundreds of feet to her death Saturday in a heavily wooded part of western Canada, authorities say.

Greenland-Glaciers

Greenland's glaciers are sliding into oceans at a faster pace than previously known, but they may contribute less to an expected rise in global sea level than feared, scientists reported Thursday.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents-Drones

The dire impact of CIA drone missile strikes against suspected terrorists in Pakistan certainly did not go unnoticed by Osama bin Laden, prompting the al Qaeda leader to repeatedly warn associates to take appropriate security measures, according to documents seized during the raid on the al Qaeda leader's Pakistan compound last year.

US-Bin-Laden-Documents

A trove of never-before-seen letters by Osama bin Laden portray the terrorist leader as an irritated boss chiding his underlings for mistakes yet sure that they could pull off elaborate attacks against the United States. U.S. Navy SEALs took the correspondence after they killed bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan compound in May 2011. On Thursday, the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, released 17 letters totaling 175 pages, with more documents to be made public later.

Bin-Laden-Documents-Plots

Osama bin Laden ordered suicide squads to be created in Pakistan and Afghanistan for the sole reason of tracking down President Obama and Gen. David Petraeus, who was then the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to a letter written by bin Laden in May of 2010. The letter, released by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, published some of the documents captured in the bin Laden raid last May. A review of the letters released publicly Thursday offer insight into the top leader's thinking and planning as he remained hidden from global view but still tried to have a hand in directing his organization, al Qaeda.

Bin-Laden-Documents-Affiliates

After years of isolation at his Abbottabad compound, Osama bin Laden's frustration was growing. He couldn't rein in groups that had taken the al Qaeda name but took little or no notice of "headquarters." He seemed even envious of their freedom to operate and of the money they had, and he was still yearning to get operatives into the United States. Among the letters seized during the Abbottabad raid a year ago and released Thursday by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point, there's plentiful evidence that bin Laden was distressed by the behavior of affiliates in Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan -- and especially the casualties among Muslim civilians they were inflicting.

US-OBL-Documents-Critic

The 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks provided al Qaeda a platform from which to reshape its image in the global media, Osama bin Laden wrote in documents recovered from his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan. The documents provide a glimpse of the al Qaeda leader as media opportunist and critic.

U.S.A.

SPORT-NFL-Seau-Autopsy

Funeral arrangements may be announced Friday for Junior Seau, a day after authorities said that the football icon committed suicide.

US-Peterson-Trial

Ex-cop Drew Peterson will be in court Friday for a hearing for his upcoming murder trial. Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Gitmo Arraignment

The Obama administration's struggle over how to handle the prisoners and prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, enters a new chapter Saturday when a military judge there will convene an arraignment for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men for their alleged roles in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Alabama-Immigration-Law-Education

A top U.S. Justice Department official warned Alabama's education department that the state's controversial immigration law has had "lasting" and possibly illegal consequences for Hispanic schoolchildren, according to a letter released Thursday.

Florida-FAMU-Hazing

Eight of the 13 people facing hazing charges after the death of a Florida A&M University band member had turned themselves in by Thursday afternoon, a state police spokeswoman said.

Florida-Hazing-Charges

Nine men have been charged with hazing for their alleged part in an initiation rite into a University of Florida fraternity earlier this year.

SPORT-NFL-Lawsuit

More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL.

Ohio-Animals-Return

Five exotic animals once owned by a Zanesville, Ohio, man who let loose dozens of animals last year before committing suicide will be returned to the man's widow Friday, the Ohio Department of Agriculture said.

POL-John-Edwards-Trial

A former aide to John Edwards testified Thursday about an unexpected pronouncement from a campaign videographer: She and the presidential candidate were in love.

Louisiana-BP-Oil-Spill-Trial

A federal judge in Louisiana on Thursday rescheduled the liability trial in the BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico and postponed it to early next year from later this year.

POLITICS

POL-NOAA-Ad-Pulled

In the wake of the GSA convention scandal that is still reverberating across the government, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday abruptly pulled a help-wanted ad for a magician to appear at a leadership training event for its staff in the Washington area next month.

POL-Perry-Romney-Support

If the voters who supported his presidential bid aren't fired up to support Mitt Romney, the GOP had "better get a fire going," Rick Perry said Thursday. "God help us if he doesn't win," Perry said in an interview on Fox News.

POL-Poll-Virginia-Obama-Romney

As President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaign in Virginia this week, a new poll shows the president with a seven point advantage over his likely opponent in the Commonwealth.

POL-Gingrich-Romney-Endorsement

A day after a seemingly lukewarm embrace of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich said Thursday he had fully endorsed the former Massachusetts governor and would enthusiastically campaign on his behalf.

POL-Romney-Virginia-Election

The importance of the presidential vote in Virginia was not lost on Mitt Romney when he appeared in the state on Thursday beside popular Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, ahead of President Barack Obama's official re-election launch in the state on Saturday.

POL-Campaign-Ads-Negative

If you think the current race for the White House seems more negative than the 2008 presidential campaign, a new study indicates you're right.

POL-Indiana-Senate-Race

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major conservative, pro-business group, is showing its support for Sen. Dick Lugar with hundreds of thousands of direct mail pieces, just days before the longtime senator faces his biggest primary challenge in 35 years.

POL-Obama-Romney-Women-Voters

The Obama campaign renewed its focus on women voters Thursday with a stepped up attack on Mitt Romney.

POL-Kirk-Hospital-Release

Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois will be released from the hospital after suffering a stroke in January, according to a Thursday press release.

POL-Congress-Holder-Contempt

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee is moving to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate in the panel's investigation of the controversial "Operation Fast and Furious" weapons sting.

POL-Wisconsin-recall-impact

When voters in Wisconsin decide whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker next month, they'll also be shaping the dialogue going into the fall.

MONEY

MONEY-Postal-Service-Closings

What does May 15 mean for your local post office? Last December, the Postal Service agreed to back off closing any more post offices and postal plants until May 15. The moratorium was aimed at giving Congress time to pass legislation to help the service get back on firmer financial footing. The service lost $5 billion in its most recent year and is $12 billion in debt to the Treasury Department.

MONEY-Unique-Homes-Lake-Tahoe

When Internet millionaire Tom Gonzales was putting together his elaborate family compound on the shores of Lake Tahoe, he had one big concern: Where to put some of the most valuable cars in his 400-car collection.

MONEY-Stadium-Sponsors-Chesapeake

The Stadium Sponsor Stock Curse strikes again! The victim this time is Chesapeake Energy, whose name appears on the arena that hosts the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks stumbled Thursday, as investors digested conflicting economic data ahead of Friday's all-important jobs report.

MONEY-Aig-Earnings

American International Group posted first-quarter profits on Thursday that rose sharply versus last year, as the bailed-out insurer inches closer to paying back the U.S. government.

MONEY-Yahoo-Thompson-Education

The proxy fight between Yahoo and activist shareholder firm Third Point just got extra nasty.

MONEY-First-Solar

First Solar, a maker of photovoltaic panels that announced a massive restructuring last month, reported a quarterly loss of $5.20 on Thursday.

MONEY-Facebook-Ipo-Price

It's the day techies and investors have been waiting for: Facebook set a price range of $28 to $35 per share for its initial public offering. It also upped the maximum size of its offering to $13.6 billion, up from its previous $5 billion estimate.

MONEY-Facebook-Ipo-Zuckerberg

Let's hope Mark Zuckerberg has deep pockets in his hoodie. The Facebook CEO plans to sell 30.2 million shares of his stake in the social network when it publicly offers its stock later this month. If the company's IPO prices at the top of its $28 to $35 per-share range, Zuckerberg would pocket a "cool" $1.1 billion.

MONEY-Facebook-Road-Show

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tends to play recluse with investors, but he has a starring role in the digital "road show" Facebook released late Thursday.

MONEY-Spirit-Airlines-Fees

Spirit Airlines will raise its fee for carry-on bags to up to $100, becoming the first U.S. airline to charge so much for a service that most other airlines offer for free.

MONEY-Chesapeake-Sec-Inquiry

Chesapeake Energy, which along with its embattled CEO Aubrey McClendon has been in the spotlight for a controversial compensation program, said Thursday that it was facing an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MONEY-Home-Buying

Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market.

MONEY-Ecb

European Central Bank officials voted Thursday to hold interest rates steady, even as the euro area economy slides towards recession. But ECB president Mario Draghi appeared to hint that there could be rate cuts in the future.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

US-CNNHeroes-Kabban-child-refugees

Khalid Yohana was 7 years old when war reached his hometown of Mosul, Iraq. For years, even the simplest activities, like walking to school, were an ordeal. "It was too scary to go outside much," Yohana, now 16, remembers. "If you walk on the street ... you're nervous you'd get killed." A group of men once tried to kidnap his father, a chef at a Baghdad restaurant that catered to Americans. The attempt failed, but a threatening letter arrived at his family's home that same night. "They warned us to get out of the country or they would kill us. ... I was really scared," Yohana said.

Philippines-women-drivers-jeepney

The streets of Manila can be an unforgiving place for the city's taxi and public transport drivers. Chronic traffic jams and badly maintained roads are part of the daily grind but add in the possibility of floods during the annual typhoon season and a strong constitution is needed. But Josephina Barandon doesn't mind, and as one of the city's few female drivers will happily take to the streets in her electric jeepney as long as she is able to, come rain or shine.

TECH-samsung-galaxy-s-III-smartphone

Samsung has launched its Galaxy S III smartphone, which it hopes will help solidify the company as the leading challenger to Apple and its iPhone 4S.

ENT-Ray-Harryhausen-Book-Throwback

It's hard to think of today's action-packed blockbusters or fantasy/science-fiction films being made without computer-generated visual effects. Can you imagine Andy Serkis performing as Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" franchise without a rendered mask that mirrors his facial expression?

TRAVEL-china-airport-cheerleaders

While some Chinese travelers storm the tarmac when flights get delayed, others might wish their flights never take off -- assuming they're flying from the northeast China city of Dalian. To entertain waiting passengers, Dalian International Airport recently recruited a squad of cheerleaders to perform kicks, jumps and splits in the airport's main hall.

COMMENTARY-Rushkoff-Google

Why reining in Google is good for us.


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The Frontrunner


May 4, 2012 Friday


Bachmann Formally Endorses Romney


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 631 words


The Minneapolis Star Tribune (5/4, Diaz, 328K) reports, "After weeks of dropping hints," Rep. Michele Bachmann "came out firmly Thursday for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, granting him a measure of Tea Party backing after criticizing him harshly during her presidential bid." Appearing with Romney in Virginia, Bachmann "called for unity in the Republican ranks to defeat President Obama in November, saying she wanted to 'lend my voice and my endorsement to Mitt Romney to take the country back.'"

NBC Nightly News (5/3, story 5, 0:40, Williams, 8.37M) reported, "While she was still vying for the GOP nomination herself in the heat of the campaign, she called Romney's Massachusetts healthcare package, quote, 'a deal breaker for conservatives' and said he couldn't beat President Obama, but today, she threw her support behind Romney as the party comes together, calling the choice in November between him and the President, quote, 'very easy.'"

The Washington Post (5/4, Henderson, 553K) reports that Romney "has spent the past few days on the campaign trail surrounded by women, slamming President Obama's record on the economy and ticking off the economic hardships faced by female entrepreneurs." Yesterday in Virginia, Romney "was joined on stage by" Bachmann, "one of the most high-profile conservative women in the country." And though Bachmann "never addressed the gender gap or the GOP 'war on women,' as Democrats have dubbed some Republican efforts, the context of her appearance with Romney was clear: that the fight for this swing state and a White House victory is all about appealing to women."

McDonnell Makes Case For Romney In Virginia.

Politico (5/4, Epstein, 25K) reports "a possible vice-presidential pick," Gov. Bob McDonnell, also joined Romney, and "made his case as the steward of Virginia's strong economy." McDonnell said, "For those of you not from here, welcome to the most business-friendly state in America, the Commonwealth of Virginia. Welcome to the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the Southeast. Now as good as that is, imagine how much better off we're going to be with President Mitt Romney?" Politico says McDonnell "has not hidden his aspirations for the No. 2 job."

The Hill (5/3, Sink) reported on its website that in his speech, "McDonnell, like Bachmann before him, took time for special criticism of the Obama administration's environmental policies, arguing excessive regulations have prohibited Virginia companies from opening new coal mines and natural gas refineries. McDonnell said Romney would enable Americans 'to use all of our God-given natural resources to reduce our dependence on foreign nations.'"

The Washington Times (5/4, Sherfinski, 77K) reports, "The appearances by Ms. Bachmann and Mr. McDonnell did not go unnoticed by the" DNC, "which is out with a new ad that includes Mr. Romney and Ms. Bachmann talking about defunding Planned Parenthood and makes reference to a controversial bill signed by Mr. McDonnell that will require women to undergo ultrasound imaging before they have an abortion. 'Romney. Bachmann. McDonnell,' says the ad. 'Turning back the clock on women's health.'"

Poll Shows Republicans Favor Santorum, Rubio For Vice President.

The Hill (5/3, Easley) reports in its "Ballot Box" blog that a Reuters-Ipsos poll of 579 Republicans finds that 18% favor Rick Santorum as Romney's running mate, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio 17%, Jeb Bush and Gov. Chris Christie 13% each, Mike Huckabee 12%, Sen. Rand Paul 6%, and Gov. Susana Martinez 4%. Gov. Mitch Daniels, Sen. Jim DeMint, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Rep. Paul Ryan are each favored by 3%, while Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Gov. Nikki Haley, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Rob Portman, Sen. Pat Toomey, and Sen. John Thune are each favored by 1%.


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The New York Times


May 4, 2012 Friday
Late Edition - Final


From 'Harry and Louise' To Obama's 'Julia' Ad


BYLINE: By MICHAEL D. SHEAR


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; THE CAUCUS; Pg. 15


LENGTH: 738 words


Nearly 20 years ago, a multimillion-dollar ad campaign created a fictional couple - ''Harry and Louise'' - to dramatize the dangers of President Bill Clinton's health care reforms.

Now, President Obama is trying to use the same Madison Avenue-style technique to demonstrate how his policies would be better for women than would Mitt Romney's.

Mr. Obama's campaign has invented ''Julia,'' a fictional woman whose life is chronicled in a slick infographic published on the campaign's Web site on Thursday. Visitors to the site can watch as Julia grows up, receiving benefits from the president's policies along the way.

At age 3, Julia is enrolled in Head Start programs, thanks to Mr. Obama. By 22, she's covered by her parents' health care because of Mr. Obama's health reforms. At 42, she's getting a small-business loan from the government. When she reaches 67, she's retired and drawing Social Security benefits.

But if the campaign hoped to put a personal face on the president's accomplishments, it has also managed to provoke a fury among conservatives, who took to Twitter to mock Julia and to condemn the implication that the fictional young woman should be dependent on government policies throughout her life.

Within moments of being posted online, the #Julia hashtag began trending on Twitter. The bulk of the comments came from people who expressed outrage the depiction of Julia's life, like the conservative pundit Michelle Malkin:

Hi @BarackObama. I will read Life of #Julia to my kids to show them how NOT to live their lives -- tethered to Nanny State.

- Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin)3 May 12

One person posted:

While in college, #Julia cannot drive her Volt b/c BHO has eliminated all coal fired electrical plants.

- TipOfTheSpear (@CHOWSTL)3 May 12

Under President Romney 3yr old #Julia can afford to choose to stay home with her mommy because her daddy has a good job.

- Shelli Roberts (@WVShelli)3 May 12

The graphic - titled ''The Life of Julia'' - includes criticism of Mr. Romney's positions. At each stage of life, the slide show suggests that Julia would be worse off if Mr. Romney were in charge.

''Under the Romney/Ryan budget, interest rates on federal student loans would be allowed to double, affecting Julia and 7.4 million other students,'' the graphic says when Julia turns 25.

Mr. Obama's advisers are clearly hoping that the idea of Julia will capture the public's imagination the way the Harry and Louise ads did two decades ago. The story of the fictional couple worrying about their health care helped crystallize opposition to Mr. Clinton's proposals.

Kara Carscaden, a spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, said ''Julia'' shows women ''the clear contrast between the President's and Mitt Romney's visions.'' She said the graphic will help voters understand those differences.

''This week, Mitt Romney said that when people ask him what he'll do for the economy, he would 'look at what the President's done, and do the opposite,' '' Ms. Carscaden said. ''Now, voters can see exactly what Romney means and the impact that would have on women.''

It's not clear that Mr. Obama's effort will have as much effect. In 1993 and 1994, the health insurance group that broadcast the Harry and Louise ads spent millions of dollars to run them on television. So far, Julia lives only on an Internet page.

And Julia could backfire on Mr. Obama if voters get the impression that the president has to invent characters who are benefiting from his policies because he can't find real people to portray the situation.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Romney assailed the Julia graphic as evidence that Mr. Obama's policies had failed women.

''Each night, too many women go to sleep wondering if they can pay the mortgage, if they can afford to put food on the table, and if their children will have a job after graduating from college,'' said Amanda Henneberg, the spokeswoman. ''They deserve a president who will focus on getting America back on track.''

Mr. Obama's supporters on Twitter praised the idea, calling it a creative way to explain the impact of the policy debate in Washington.

But those posts on Twitter were largely overwhelmed by the sarcastic ones from Mr. Obama's critics:

Under @BarackObama's policies, #Julia's dependent on gov welfare from cradle to, well, age 67. Then death panels decide http://t.co/FTicu09g

- Tre Goins-Phillips (@tregp)3 May 12

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.


URL: http://www.nytimes.com


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 4, 2012 Friday
SOONER EDITION


OBAMA THE TOUGH GUY;
THIS TIME, THE DEMOCRAT IS STRONGER ON NATIONAL SECURITY


BYLINE: Margaret Carlson


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. B-7


LENGTH: 815 words


The first weeks of the general election campaign have seen Republicans go after two of President Barack Obama's strongest points: his personality and his national security credentials.

On the first, Karl Rove's group, American Crossroads, has posted a video online called "Cool," which puts together clips of Mr. Obama wearing 3-D glasses, dancing on "Ellen," singing Al Green, drinking a beer, catching a fly buzzing around during an on-camera interview and slow-jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon. Up to that point, you're thinking what a good sport the president is -- and a good dancer to boot. Then a question appears on-screen: "After 4 years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?"

The second line of attack on Mr. Obama is that the Osama bin Laden raid was no big deal, and even mentioning it is akin to spiking the football, like George W. Bush crowing "Mission Accomplished" when the mission was unaccomplished.

There's a problem at the heart of this strategy: Mr. Obama -- against the advice of two trusted advisers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Vice President Joe Biden -- actually called for the kill. Mitt Romney did not, and might not have, given his views.

In 2007 Mr. Romney said it was "not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Mr. Romney criticized Mr. Obama for pledging in 2008 to go into Pakistan to get bin Laden if necessary, saying he would do no such thing.

On Monday Mr. Romney said the decision to go after bin Laden was so simple that "even Jimmy Carter would have given that order." Then on Tuesday he tweeted, "I applaud President Obama for approving the mission."

Mr. Romney's views may be famously malleable, but if there's one thing consistent about him, it's his boardroom approach to management. If his defense secretary and vice president urged a more cautious course, he probably would have taken it.

The two issues fused Saturday night, when Mr. Obama took the stage at the White House Correspondents' Dinner for the annual inside-Washington comedy night and was expected to make light of life and himself.

"Last year at this time, in fact on this very weekend, we finally delivered justice to one of the world's most notorious individuals," Mr. Obama began. It was the anniversary of the killing of bin Laden, but Mr. Obama was referring to someone else: As the president broke into a high-wattage smile, the image of a bloated, orange-skinned, pouffed-hair Donald Trump appeared on-screen in the Hilton ballroom.

Later in the evening Mr. Obama addressed whether he was too cool for school, noting that Mr. Romney's campaign had "criticized me for slow-jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon. In fact, I understand Gov. Romney was so incensed he asked his staff if he could get some equal time on 'The Merv Griffin Show.' "

It's not inconceivable that a worthy opponent could spin a positive into a negative and vice versa: that is, give Mr. Romney a personality and denigrate Mr. Obama's. After all, in 2004 Republicans did the near impossible, turning Sen. John Kerry's military service into a minus.

The Swift-boaters found a disgruntled veteran to question whether Mr. Kerry deserved his three Purple Hearts and Silver Star for valor in Vietnam. By the time a book called "Unfit for Command" was published in August 2004, Mr. Bush's spotty service in the National Guard protecting Texas against Oklahoma didn't look so bad.

Don't be surprised when some Navy SEAL turns up on a website near you to give a stinging rebuke to Mr. Obama. Already, a columnist in Britain's Daily Mail, Toby Harnden, is selectively quoting former and current Navy SEALs who largely praise the president but say, in effect, that any president would have made a similar call. The column quotes a former SEAL, Brandon Webb, as saying that the Obama administration should not be releasing any information that concerns the highly classified SEAL Team Six, which Mr. Harnden writes is being "paraded around a global audience like a show dog."

But it might not work. Mr. Obama's belief system -- in that hopey-changey business and the post-partisanship thing -- has been altered by reality. He doesn't seem as inclined to turn the other cheek, as he did in the debate about the debt ceiling.

Bring it on, as Mr. Bush would say. In an ad for the Obama campaign, Bill Clinton makes the strongest case for the "decider-in-chief," who would be dog meat if the bin Laden mission had failed. "Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there, and it hadn't been bin Laden. Suppose they'd been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for him."

Mr. Kerry may have been Swift-Boated, but Mr. Obama is not going to be SEALed. Republicans are used to calling Democrats cowards and worse. Not this time. Republicans have the squishy, soft, cosseted, consensus-building candidate, while Democrats have the fighter. Finally.


LOAD-DATE: May 4, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Margaret Carlson is a columnist for Bloomberg View (mcarlson3@bloomberg.net)./


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 4, 2012 Friday
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION


SINGLE-MINDED SUPER PACS WORK TO DEFEAT ONE CANDIDATE AT A TIME


BYLINE: Laura Litvan, Bloomberg News


SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A-10


LENGTH: 1161 words


WASHINGTON -- Almost 30 years after he was an aide to Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, venture capitalist Andrew Klingenstein received an appeal from the lawmaker's former chief of staff: Let's start a super PAC.

Mr. Klingenstein agreed, and in January formed the Indiana Values Super PAC with one goal, to help the six-term Republican combat attack ads by organizations such as the small-government Club for Growth. Unlike Mr. Lugar's re-election campaign, the independent super PAC can accept unlimited donations. It has spent $137,000 against Mr. Lugar's May 8 primary opponent, Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

The super PAC and others are helping individual Senate candidates two years after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling removed limits on corporate and union independent election spending. The groups, formed to influence races in Virginia, North Dakota, Texas and other states, are arms-length partners that can air the toughest attack ads, said Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation.

"We're going to see this in a lot of the Senate races, where they take on a lot of the burden of negative advertising," said Mr. Allison, whose group tracks campaign giving. "It's a way for them to outsource the dirty work of a campaign."

Independent super PAC spending began late in the 2010 campaign. Candidate-specific groups emerged this year in the presidential race when supporters of President Barack Obama and Republican front- runner Mitt Romney created super PACS. Senate races weren't far behind, with Republicans trying to overturn the Democrats' 53-47 control.

"That it's happened next in Senate races is not particularly surprising because they're pretty high-profile and there's a tenuous hold on the chamber," said Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign giving. "Every one of these races is going to be critical for who controls the Senate next year."

In Texas, two super PACs are supporting Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a May 29 Republican primary in a field that includes former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz. They are seeking to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Mr. Cruz is the favorite of FreedomWorks, which backs the Tea Party movement and has spent about $110,000 from its super-PAC to help him.

The Club for Growth's super PAC also favors Mr. Cruz and has spent almost $469,000 to defeat Mr. Dewhurst.

"The super PACs are really a way to double down on the Dewhurst effort," said Bill Miller, a Republican political consultant in Austin who has observed the pro-Dewhurst efforts. "He's the favorite right now, but he does not want a run-off in late July with a conservative opponent."

The Dewhurst-supporting super PACs are raking in funds from long-time Republican donors. The Texas Conservatives Fund raised $490,100 by the end of March, including $100,000 from Bob Perry, a Houston donor who helped fund the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that attacked Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's Vietnam War service in 2004.

The Conservative Renewal Super PAC, founded in January to aid Mr. Dewhurst's Senate race, has raised $600,000 -- $100,000 from highway construction company owner James Pitcock Jr. and $500,000 from Texas billionaire Harold Simmons. Both supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry's failed presidential bid.

In North Dakota, a political consultant with ties to Senate Republican leaders established the Freedom Pioneers Action Network on March 30. Its goal is to boost the candidacy of Republican Rep. Rick Berg, who is expected to face former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, in a contest to replace retiring Sen. Kent Conrad.

"We're in the process of getting it organized," said Justin Brasell, the group's treasurer.

In Virginia, supporters of the two main candidates for the state's Senate seat set up super PACs within four days of each other. The Independence Virginia super PAC, which supports Republican George Allen, a former governor and U.S. senator, was created March 9 and plans to raise as much as $3 million, said Paul Bennecke, director and treasurer of group.

"We have one mission and that is to make sure George Allen wins," said Mr. Bennecke.

The New Virginia PAC formed March 13 to help former Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat. Judith Zamore, a Washington- based campaign consultant who is the group's treasurer, declined to comment on its goals.

At least one super PAC is aimed at trying to unseat a candidate rather than to help one get elected.

Two labor unions in Boston -- the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union -- are financing a super PAC to defeat freshman Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican. It has raised $695,000 to influence Mr. Brown's race against Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

Rethink Super PAC spokesman Stephen Crawford said it isn't buying TV ads for now. Mr. Brown and Ms. Warren agreed that if any super PAC buys TV ads, the candidate benefiting must donate half the value of the ads to a charity of the other's choosing. Mr. Crawford said his group is considering get-out-the-vote and other ways to influence the race.

In Indiana, the pro-Lugar super PACs are making some of the sharpest attacks. Hoosiers for Economic Growth and Jobs aired an ad March 30 in Indianapolis tying Mr. Mourdock to the voting record of former Rep. Chris Chocola. He is now president of the Club for Growth, which is spending funds to help Mr. Mourdock.

The pro-Lugar ad called Mr. Mourdock and Mr. Chocola "hypocrites" for suggesting Mr. Lugar isn't conservative enough because Mr. Chocola once favored an expansion of Medicare, a minimum wage increase and "dozens" of appropriations earmarks.

An April 12 ad financed by the Indiana Values super PAC said Mr. Mourdock skips most of the meetings of state boards he serves on. It said voters should "tell Richard Mourdock to stop running and do your job." The super PAC has raised almost $165,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

While the groups don't coordinate with Mr. Lugar's re-election committee, he is among friends.

Hoosiers for Economic Growth and Jobs was founded by two political consultants for Meridian Pacific Inc., a Sacramento- based firm. Robert Vane, a spokesman for the group, said one of the consultants, John Peschong, knew Mr. Lugar when Mr. Peschong worked for President Ronald Reagan.

Top donors include Sam Fox, a former U.S. ambassador to Belgium and now chairman of St. Louis-based Harbour Group. He gave $25,000 to a group that has spent about $215,000 in the race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Indiana Values Super PAC is led by Mr. Lugar's former chief of staff Chip Andreae.

Mr. Klingenstein said both super PACs, which are loosely coordinating, plan a final burst of ads the next few weeks.

"It's going to be an absolute sprint to the finish," said Mr. Klingenstein, the group's treasurer. "We're going to be on the air as much as we can."


LOAD-DATE: May 5, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Darron Cummings/Assocated Press U.S. Senate candidates running in the GOP primary Richard Mourdock, left, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., participate in a debate April 11 in Indianapolis.


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Providence Journal


May 4, 2012 Friday


It s that time to make clear what moves me


SECTION: NEWS; Local; Pg. 4


LENGTH: 488 words


It is that time of year when I have to submit my annual filing under the Truth In Column Writing Act. The act requires a listing of beliefs, suspicions, half-baked ideas, allegiances, strange tastes and enduring passions as a guide to readers who might ask: Is it worth reading anything this guy has to say?

This is the filing for 2012. It is not complete, but it is heartfelt:

This is going to be the ugliest political year ever.

There is absolutely no reason to think we will learn any more from our latest disastrous, misguided, totally unnecessary wars than we did from the disastrous, misguided, totally unnecessary war we fought in the 60s and 70s.

And somewhere, probably in a very bad place, there is a soldier or Marine who will hold the record some day. Eight combat tours? Nine? Ten?

The happy talk on local TV news needs work.

I can remember when air travel used to be fun way back before it became a cattle call.

Watching the final round of The Masters was as good as it gets.

Morning Joe is a good way to start the day.

There must be some advertising genius who can explain why acting like a complete jerk has become part of the sales pitch on so many TV commercials.

Dick Cheney calling President Obama an unmitigated disaster is a stunning example of an unmitigated disaster being left unattended for far too long.

It is sad and depressing to think how much of ourselves we have lost to social media.

The Providence club scene is supposed to be fun. I checked.

Charlie Sheen took Two And A Half Men with him.

There were things said at the end of the meeting on pension reductions at Providence City Hall Monday that were sick, cowardly and despicable. And really stupid.

It s a good year to turn 67.

Picking apart pension reform is picking apart the future.

Can anyone explain why Congress took time from the country s business to check out Roger Clemens pharmaceutical habits?

The only thing more shocking than the Obama campaign using the death of Osama bin Laden as a campaign tool would be the Obama campaign not using the death of Osama bin Laden as a campaign tool.

I ll miss Newt. He s so Republican.

It is difficult to watch the Frontline report on Wall Street on PBS and not get really angry and frustrated and come away convinced that the bad guys will always win.

These are the worst of times.

Mitt Romney reminds me of the guy who did the Hathaway shirt ads a long time ago.

Republicans have always seemed a little silly and awkward and disconnected, but this vicious streak comes as a surprise.

It s looking like gay marriage is going to get the same empty, spineless spin around the floor as it did last year.

The great biographer Robert Caro, whose latest on Lyndon Johnson is just out, is my hero. He writes in long hand on yellow legal pads.

I ll stay a liberal until something better comes along.

That s this year s filing. Questions, challenges, rejections and charges of self-delusion can be filed within 30 days.


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The Salt Lake Tribune


May 4, 2012 Friday


Gingrich to abandon presidential run on Wednesday


BYLINE: The Salt Lake Tribune


SECTION: NEWS; National; World; Local


LENGTH: 162 words


BC-US--Gingrich, 2nd Ld-writethru,119

Gingrich to abandon presidential run on Wednesday

AP Photo WX105

Eds: APNewsNow. Rewrites. With AP Photos.

WASHINGTON » As Newt Gingrich prepared to abandon his presidential bid, President Barack Obama saw it as an opportunity to swipe at Mitt Romney.

Obama's re-election campaign on Wednesday released an 80-second web video of clips from the Republican primaries in which Gingrich criticizes Romney -- Obama's likely Republican opponent -- on issues from immigration to his tenure as a venture capitalist.

"Newt Gingrich: Frankly, not Mitt Romney's biggest supporter," says the ad's tagline.

Gingrich planned to formally announce Wednesday afternoon that he is suspending his campaign.

The former House speaker won primaries in just two states -- South Carolina and Georgia, which he represented in Congress for 20 years.

His campaign also has reported more than $4 million in debt. Alt Heads:

Gingrich to abandon presidential run on Wednesday


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GRAPHIC: FILE -In this May 2, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama greets troops at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. As slogans go, President Barack Obama's promise of the ?light of a new day? in Afghanistan isn't as catchy as the ?Mission Accomplished? banner that hung across the USS Abraham Lincoln the day President George W. Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)


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http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/results/docview/attachRetrieve.do?smi=LOGOS&key=12311&componentseq=1&type=logo&inline=y
The Washington Post


May 4, 2012 Friday
Suburban Edition


Obama has solid lead in Va. poll


BYLINE: Ben Pershing;Jon Cohen


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 1333 words


President Obama leads former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in Virginia, but voters in the commonwealth are evenly divided on the White House's major policies, a new Washington Post poll shows.

Obama is ahead of the presumed Republican presidential nominee by 51 percent to 44 percent among registered voters. And Romney http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_050042011_MON.html-URL-does no better against Obama than he did in a Post poll a year ago, despite his emergence as the GOP standard-bearer.

The Democratic president has a key advantage in his bid for reelection: The coalition of Virginians that helped propel him to victory in 2008 - young voters, suburban Washingtonians, women and African Americans - is largely intact. Yet the survey shows that voters in the state are split on Obama's signature health-care reform law and that they remain deeply pessimistic about the way things are going in the country, creating a potential opening for Romney.

Virginia's changing electorate and Obama's 2008 win suggested that the Old Dominion is becoming a reliably swing state. But Republicans have spent the intervening years mounting a rebuttal, winning the governor's mansion in 2009, three more congressional seats in 2010 and control of the state Senate in 2011. The commonwealth is expected to be a battleground state in November's presidential election.

Christianne Rutan, a Prince William County Democrat who is African American and voted for Obama four years ago, said the president will receive her support again.

"No question, I would stick with Obama," said Rutan, 22, a mother of two who is a therapeutic recreational assistant at a nursing home. "I think he's doing an amazing job. He doesn't get the credit that he deserves."

By a whopping 97 percent to 1 percent, Obama thumps Romney among black voters, and he has a wide lead among women: 56 percent to 38 percent. Obama's up by better than a 2-to-1 ratio among those ages 18 to 29, but he faces a challenge among that group in the coming months. Many of them - 34 percent in this poll - are not registered to vote at their current addresses.

Obama was the first Democrat to capture Virginia in four decades, and http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/obama-will-speak-to-students-in-arlington-friday/2012/05/02/gIQAD7EuwT_blog.html-URL-this week's schedule indicates his desire to repeat that performance. He will be in Arlington on Friday to hold a roundtable and deliver remarks on student-loan debt. He will return a day later in the guise of a candidate, holding a rally in Richmond meant to mark the official start of his reelection campaign.

Meanwhile, Romney held an event on small business in Chantilly on Wednesday, took in more than $2 million at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/romney-fundraiser-draws-virginia-dignitaries-raises-600000/2012/05/03/gIQAPWGPyT_blog.html-URL-a Pentagon City fundraiser Wednesday night and made another jobs-focused stop in Portsmouth on Thursday, part of his broader argument that Obama's policies have stifled the economy. The candidate also plans to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University in Lynchburg on May 12.

The state has been a magnet for http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/crossroads-gps-virginia-ad-hits-obama-on-gas-prices/2012/04/10/gIQAZGsw8S_blog.html-URL-outside ad spending, both in the presidential contest and in the marquee U.S. Senate race that is likely to feature former governors Timothy M. Kaine (D) and George Allen (R). Many of the attacks on Obama and Kaine have focused on the president's health-care law. Yet that issue is a wash in the new poll, with supporters and opponents tied at 47 percent among registered voters - making the legislation slightly more popular than it was a year ago.

Virginians are split down the middle on the administration's major policies overall, but tend to credit Obama with doing a good job. The president has a 53 percent approval rating, while 44 percent disapprove (it's a narrower 50 to 47 among registered voters). Republicans in Congress fare less well, with 60 percent of respondents saying they were dissatisfied with or angry about the policies of the congressional GOP.

Virginia Beach resident Philip Read, 45, who lost his public relations job eight months ago when his company closed, said he is leaning toward voting for Obama but is not "enthusiastic." He said he supported Obama in 2008 but thinks the president has not done a good enough job on the economy.

"What happened with Mr. Obama is that he worked to get Obamacare at any cost that he lost sight of the economy," said Read, who is an independent. "That looms large in people's minds. He didn't completely tackle that."

Read said Romney needs to show what he can do to improve the economy to get his vote.

Candace Swartz, 41, a Republican from Warren County, said she will vote for Romney.

"To be honest, I'm not really great about any politicians right now," said Swartz, who works as a quality coordinator for Kraft Foods. "But Mitt Romney seems to be the best one between the two. . . . A lot of it's the economy, a lot of it is just [Obama's] general policies. I don't believe in the health care, Obamacare."

Obama made early investments in the state, and now has 13 offices open and dozens of paid staff members. Virginia Republicans have seven field offices that will be used to boost Romney as well as other party candidates, and the Romney campaign http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/romneys-campaign-hires-virginia-director-sara-craig/2012/05/03/gIQAOamKzT_blog.html-URL-announced Thursday that Sara Craig, Romney's state director during the Iowa caucuses, will run his Virginia operations.

Romney has not been able to improve his statewide support from a poll a year ago even as his GOP primary opponents have fallen by the wayside. Yet he leads Obama by a huge margin among Republicans, just as Obama holds a major lead among Democrats. The key to the president's overall edge can be found in the middle of the spectrum. He has an advantage among independents, and a 23-point lead among self-described moderates.

And if Romney hopes to increase his chances in Virginia, choosing Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) as his running mate may not do the trick. More than two-thirds of voters say adding McDonnell to the ticket wouldn't make much difference in their choice, 11 percent say it would make them more likely to back the Republican ticket, and 19 percent say it would push them toward Obama's side.

As in the past several statewide elections, the outer suburbs of Washington are among the state's most competitive battlegrounds - Romney and Obama are essentially tied in the ring that includes Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties. They also are neck and neck in and around Richmond. Obama runs up the score with wide leads in the inner D.C. suburbs and the Tidewater area. Romney's strength is in central and western Virginia.

The state's voters may want change, but the desired direction is far less clear than it was before the 2008 election. In the summer of 2007, nearly two-thirds said they were dissatisfied with or angry at the George W. Bush administration; far fewer now say so of Obama's. More now say they're unhappy with Republicans in Congress than the executive branch. And although 83 percent of voters four years ago said they thought the country was on the "wrong track," that number now sits at 65 percent.

The poll was conducted by telephone April 28 to May 2 among a random sample of 1,101 Virginia adults, including 964 registered voters and users of both conventional and cellular phones. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

ben.pershing@wpost.com

cohenj@washpost.com

Polling manager Peyton M. Craighill, polling analyst Scott Clement, and staff writers Amy Gardner, Anita Kumar and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.


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The Washington Times


May 4, 2012 Friday


Inside the Beltway


BYLINE: By Jennifer Harper THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, NATION; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 954 words


AYN RAND, PT. 2

It's on the way: "Atlas Shrugged Part II" is now filming in Los Angeles, the next installment of an ambitious independent movie project - due for commercial release in October, just as the presidential election looms. A source says some of the film's background extra roles will be played by persons of note who, uh, get the significance of Ayn Rand's original 1957 novel, and this determined undertaking.

"Part I" was released nationally more than a year ago, based on the 1,100-page novel set in the near future when a dystopian America finds its leading innovators, industrialists and artists mysteriously disappearing - resulting in the "stopping the motor of the world." Producer Harmon Kaslow has thought much about this.

"It's important to note that Ayn Rand was neither a conservative or a liberal," Mr. Kaslow tells Inside the Beltway. "Ayn Rand was very simply a staunch supporter of real capitalism. While in her writing Ayn Rand warned of the dangers of crony capitalism and socialism, her primary motive was to highlight what could happen if we fail to acknowledge the rights of the world's smallest minority - the individual. Our primary motive in making the film is the same.

"What we continue to get excited about are the droves of Ayn Rand and 'Atlas Shrugged' fans that continue to find us every day online on Facebook and Twitter. From people that read the book 50 years ago to kids in college that are just discovering Ayn Rand, it's amazing to experience the diversity, and see new people."

PRESTO, CHANGE-O

Other federal agencies have learned quickly from the General Services Administration's recent $823,000 Las Vegas debacle. In a prudent decision, not to mention a disappearing act: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration canceled a call for a magician to show up at "The Magic of Change," an upcoming two-day training conference for agency personnel.

Organizers originally wanted someone who could transform "magic and [principles] of the psychology of magic, magic tools, techniques, and experiences into a method of teaching leadership," according to a lengthy contractor solicitation. It took only four minor mentions in the press before the ad was yanked and the agency went mum, but not without a slap from Sen. Scott P. Brown, who calls the whole idea "taxpayer abuse, pure and simple."

The Massachusetts Republican adds: "This was a low point even by Washington's standards and an insult to the fishing families that have been harmed by NOAA's overregulation and attitude of indifference. The best magic that NOAA could perform would be to make this wasteful spending disappear."

HISTORIC MUDSLINGING

"A crafty and lecherous old hypocrite whose very statue seems to gloat on the wenches as they walk the States House yard."

British journalist William Cobbett on Benjamin Franklin, 1796.

SWING STATE ALLURE

Though he's already staged 128 fundraisers, President Obama launches his official re-election campaign Saturday in grass-roots, "fired up"-style, say organizers, with back-to-back rallies at Ohio State University in Columbus and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The jumbotrons are ready.

"The president claims that he's kicking off his campaign in Ohio and Virginia this weekend, But I think we all know that he's been campaigning on the taxpayers' dime for over a year now, and we have a complaint that has been filed with the [Government Accountability Office]," says Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. "If we don't hear anything, then we'll have to take more steps."

To triumph in November, both Mr. Obama and rival-in-chief Mitt Romney must woo valuable, fickle voters in nine battleground states, with Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania among the most critical. No one has won the White House since 1960 without carrying at least two of them, says the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which is tracking the excruciatingly close race.

"Gov. Romney has closed President Obama's leads in Ohio and Florida to the point that those two states are now essentially tied, a turnaround from the end of March when the president enjoyed leads in those key states," says Peter A. Brown, assistant director at the campus polling center.

And the numbers: In Florida, Mr. Romney has 44 percent of voter support to Mr. Obama's 43 percent; in Ohio, Mr. Obama has 44 percent to Mr. Romney's 42 percent. The president wins Pennsylvania, though. He tops Mr. Romney 47 percent to 39 percent.

HOLA AMERICA

"I want to sign the Dream Act into law. I've got the pens ready."

(President Obama at an early White House Cinco de Mayo party in the Rose Garden, "featuring colorful tables and flowers, flamenco dancers and margaritas," according to "pool" reporter Malia Rulon Herman, a correspondent with Gannett.

POLL DU JOUR

* 76 percent of Americans get news from local TV news; 80 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans agree.

* 72 percent get news from their local newspaper; 76 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans agree.

* 55 percent get news from Fox News; 36 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans agree.

* 51 percent get news from CNN; 60 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans agree.

* 39 percent get news from talk radio; 33 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of Republicans agree.

* 27 precent get news from a political blog or website; 27 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of Republicans agree.

* 23 percent listen to National Public Radio; 28 percent of Democrats and 16 percent of Republicans agree.

Source: Fairleigh Dickinson University survey of 1,185 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 6 to 12 and released Thursday. For complete results: publicmind.fdu.edu.

* Tipline always open at jharper@washingtontimes.com


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The Washington Times


May 4, 2012 Friday


Mainstream media, Obama crossing the line


BYLINE: THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, LETTERS; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 253 words


Notwithstanding his approval of the killing of Osama bin Laden, President Obama has leaped over the campaign line by politicizing the first anniversary of that heroic event against terrorism, conducted by Navy SEAL Team 6.

He did this by questioning the patriotism of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a campaign ad narrated by former President Bill Clinton. Indeed, Mr. Clinton's repeated failure to capture bin Laden, which could have prevented the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, should make him the last person to chime in on the issue.

Worse, it's disturbing enough that the news media, along with what seems like all of Hollywood, openly supports Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party. However, when they assist the president's re-election campaign by demonizing his likely opponent and Republicans in Congress, and then blatantly endorse the president on the publicly owned airwaves, it becomes unconscionable.

Case in point: NBC News anchor Brian Williams' hourlong special with Mr. Obama on "Inside the Situation Room," in which Mr. Obama discussed approving the killing of bin Laden in Pakistan. That is clearly a campaign ad for the president.

Surely, pressure by the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission ought to be brought to bear against NBC and Mr. Obama. The broadcast airwaves are owned by the people - they are not to be exploited by the president or used by the biased news media for partisan campaigns leading up to the election.

DANIEL B. JEFFS

Apple Valley, Calif.


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The Washington Times


May 4, 2012 Friday


One step forward, one giant leap back;
Obama's re-election campaign is based on delusional spin


BYLINE: THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, EDITORIALS; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 508 words


President Obama will host re-election rallies on Saturday to try to convince Americans that the country is better off now than it was three years ago. His new campaign slogan, "Forward," encapsulates his pitch to voters encouraging them to give him a second term. Instead of inspiring enthusiasm, the theme has already invited mockery.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, told supporters in Virginia on Wednesday evening, "Forward is his new slogan. Forward what? Over the cliff!" The GOP super PAC American Crossroads put out an advertisement entitled "Backwards," in which all the video is played in rewind mode. It cites the 34 percent increase in people on food stamps during Mr. Obama's term, 740,000 lost jobs and the doubling of gas prices. "The only thing moving forward under President Obama?" the narrator asks. "Our national debt, up $5 trillion."

The seven-minute-long "Forward" video released by the Obama campaign this week opens by laying the blame for the current economy on former President George W. Bush and factors beyond Mr. Obama's control. The ad then accuses all government inaction on House Republicans (the Democratic Senate gets a pass) and conservative media hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. The ending offers a litany of accomplishments, half appealing to his liberal base ("guaranteed coverage for contraception," "fuel-efficiency standards doubling") and the rest taking credit for things that had nothing to do with him ("U.S. oil production at eight-year high," "466,000 new manufacturing jobs.")

The ad will be shown to supporters at rallies this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., for what his campaign is calling "essentially the start of a general election." Although Mr. Obama has spent the equivalent of more than a month out of the past year raising money for his re-election, he apparently doesn't consider that to be actually campaigning.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Obama campaign's use of taxpayer dollars to fund those campaign-like events, but the watchdog agency has yet to respond. Meanwhile, the GOP leader announced his own new slogan on Thursday. "The candidate of 'hope and change' has become the president of 'hype and blame,' " Mr. Priebus told reporters on a conference call. "Excuses don't pay the mortgage, and casting blame on everyone under the sun doesn't create a single job." The party is now selling bumper stickers that say "Hype & Blame 2012" with the Obama rising-sun logo in place of the zero.

"Forward" has long been a favorite slogan of socialists, and it's telling that Mr. Obama's strategists have chosen it for a second-term bid. Liberal cable news channel MSNBC spent millions on a "Lean Forward" marketing campaign - but only in left-leaning northeast corridor cities. The choice Mr. Obama's campaign offers voters in November isn't forward-looking; it's the choice of turning the clock back to the tax-and-spend policies of the 1970s.


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The Washington Times


May 4, 2012 Friday


Bachmann endorses Romney;
Campaigns with GOP candidate, McDonnell in Virginia


BYLINE: By David Sherfinski THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, POLITICS; Pg. 3


LENGTH: 517 words


PORTSMOUTH, VA. | Rep. Michele Bachmann - who said before dropping out of the Republican presidential race that Mitt Romney could not beat President Obama - endorsed the former Massachusetts governor Thursday, the latest sign the GOP is uniting around its presumptive nominee.

The Minnesota congresswoman campaigned with Mr. Romney in southeastern Virginia, a day after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich officially announced his exit from the race, and a day before Mr. Romney is scheduled to meet privately with former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, once his chief rival in the GOP primary contest.

"President Barack Obama, President Mitt Romney - you decide. Very easy," Mrs. Bachmann told supporters in Portsmouth, Va. "This isn't personal. This is about having a performance review after three-and-a-half years."

Mr. Romney was introduced by Gov. Bob McDonnell, a possible vice-presidential pick who said Mrs. Bachmann's official backing is "going to mean a tremendous amount for [Mr. Romney's] campaign."

Political endorsements are often mere formalities, but the blessing from Mrs. Bachmann, a fiery tea party darling and rock-solid conservative, could help to dissipate the often-cited criticism from the right that Mr. Romney is too moderate.

President Obama, Mr. Romney's general election opponent, may be driving Republican unity as much or more than the GOP nominee. Mr. McDonnell said the shape of the country is a far cry from what the president had promised when he campaigned on "hope and change" in 2008.

"We have recession and division and malaise," said Mr. McDonnell. "Right now, we have a surplus in Washington - yes, that's true. A surplus of rhetoric and a deficit of results."

All three slammed Mr. Obama's energy policies, and Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Romney also keyed on the military - a major employer in veteran-rich Hampton Roads.

One promise that Mr. Obama has kept, Mr. Romney said, was a pledge to make energy more expensive.

"His policies have made it harder for us to use our own energy resources," he said.

He said Virginians could expect a blame game and plenty of excuses from Mr. Obama during his official re-election campaign kickoff Saturday, which will include an appearance with first lady Michelle Obama at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Mr. Obama will visit Virginia on Friday as well, when he is scheduled to appear at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington County to talk about college affordability.

The endorsement from Mrs. Bachmann and appearance by Mr. McDonnell did not go unnoticed by the Democratic National Committee, which is out with a new ad that includes Mr. Romney and Mrs. Bachmann talking about defunding Planned Parenthood. The ad also makes reference to a controversial bill signed by Mr. McDonnell this year that will require women to undergo ultrasound imaging before they have an abortion.

"Romney. Bachmann. McDonnell," says the ad. "Turning back the clock on women's health."

Mr. McDonnell also appeared with Mr. Romney at a fundraiser in Arlington on Wednesday evening, and Mr. Romney had campaigned in Northern Virginia earlier on Wednesday.


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The White House Bulletin


May 4, 2012 Friday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 457 words


President. USA Today reports, "After winning the youth vote in 2008 by nearly 2-to-1, the Obama campaign has doubled down on efforts to expand the base of young voters," and tomorrow, President Obama plans "to hold the first official campaign rallies of 2012 at Ohio State University in Columbus and at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond." ... The Hollywood Reporter reports Obama's "dinner with George Clooney has officially sold out and campaign sources are telling The Hollywood Reporter that the event is expected to raise up to $12 million for the president's reelection, making it the biggest presidential fundraiser in US history." ... The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, "After weeks of dropping hints," Rep. Michele Bachmann "came out firmly Thursday for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, granting him a measure of Tea Party backing after criticizing him harshly during her presidential bid." ... The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch reports that Romney on Thursday said the 2012 presidential race "could all come down to Virginia" while campaigning in Portsmouth.

Senate.

Politico writes that Elizabeth Warren (D), who's bidding to unseat Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R), "has delivered a series of uneven and confusing responses to revelations that she once listed herself as a minority law teacher, raising questions about whether this is just one blip in a long race or an image-defining moment that undercuts her profile as an authentic populist candidate." ... The AP reports Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R) has been released from a Chicago rehabilitation center and returned home nearly four months after suffering a stroke. ... The Omaha World-Herald reports Rick Santorum on Thursday backed state Attorney General Jon Bruning's (R) bid to succeed retiring Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D), arguing "that Bruning was the best of the three" candidates competing in the GOP primary "to defeat Democrat Bob Kerrey." ... The AP reports NV2 Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) "is reintroducing herself as a champion for veterans with her first TV ad in" her bid to oust appointed Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (R).

House.

The New York Times writes that Rep. Louise Slaughter (D), running in the new NY25, "has always been a fighter," but she is hampered as she faces a tough challenge from Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks (R) in part because she has been hospitalized for the last four weeks in a hospital with a shattered leg. ... The San Jose Mercury News writes, "By many accounts," CA15 Rep. Pete Stark's (D) "re-election campaign should've been a cakewalk" but a series of "recent gaffes have left some wondering whether he's got a real race on his hands" against Eric Swalwell (D) and businessman Chris Pareja (I) in the open primary.


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


May 4, 2012 Friday 10:04 AM GMT


Manchin faces ex-W.Va. lawmaker in US Senate race


BYLINE: By JOHN RABY, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 899 words


DATELINE: ST. ALBANS W.Va.


It's been 18 months since Joe Manchin became a U.S. senator. Now he's going after a full six-year term on Capitol Hill, starting with the Democratic primary against an opponent he's faced before.

Former Monongalia County legislator Sheirl Fletcher garnered just 6 percent of the vote in the 2010 special primary two months after the death of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd. She's using Manchin's actions in office to try to drum up more support for herself in Tuesday's primary.

Manchin come under recent scrutiny about his decisions and party loyalty, in part for saying he's not sure whether he'll vote for President Barack Obama or presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November.

Manchin said no matter how people view him, he calls himself "a pure West Virginia Democrat" and believes he's looking out for the future of the state's residents, especially children.

"Everybody's making so much of the next election," Manchin said during a recent campaign stop in St. Albans. "The next election is going to take care of itself. It's the next generation I'm worried about the financial condition of this country. I'm worried about basically having no energy policy. These are things I'm talking about."

Manchin has been a critic of the Obama administration's economic and energy policies, particularly coal. But he's been critical of Romney's stances to raise the future retirement age for full Medicare benefits and privatize Social Security.

"I've had problems with both (candidates)," Manchin said. "President Obama, I've had differences. I've spoken to his people and representatives. And you know what? I have problems with Mitt Romney. Can he really connect? Does he really know what we're going through? So we'll see."

As governor, Manchin sued Obama's Environmental Protection Agency over its scrutiny of mountaintop removal coal mining, and he's been critical of the EPA's recent power plant plan that's perceived as a job killer in West Virginia.

Asked then why he might vote for the president in November, Manchin said, "I think there's a lot of compassion there."

Manchin's campaign says that's a nod to the president's efforts to protect Social Security and Medicare and making the tax system more fair, his support for renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which awaits U.S. House action; and ordering the mission that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

Manchin's vote on reproductive health care issues cost him the longtime support of the anti-abortion group West Virginians for Life, which is now supporting Fletcher. The group said Manchin failed to support a complete repeal of the federal health care overhaul and voted against cutting funding both for that law and Planned Parenthood.

And a recent editorial in the state's largest newspaper, The Charleston Gazette, cited the senator's failure to support some of his party's core principles and his hedging in support of Obama in declaring it would let readers decide whether to vote for Manchin. The Gazette had endorsed him during the 2010 special primary and general elections.

Rather than lament any erosion in his support base, Manchin prefers to look at the backing of both labor and business, something he said he covets.

The winner of the Manchin-Fletcher race will move on to November's general election to face Republican John Raese, who is unopposed in Tuesday's primary. Raese's campaign has already launched a radio ad challenging Manchin's support for Obama's health care plan.

Fletcher is trying to make some noise of her own.

She's skeptical of Manchin's Democratic allegiance, pointing at his voting record going back to his days in the state Senate, his former ties to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council and his family's friendship with former Republican Gov. Arch Moore.

She questioned whether Manchin would change parties after the election. She chided Manchin for his "indecisiveness" in supporting the Democratic ticket and the party's issues, a statement Manchin took issue with.

"Not indecisiveness. I think that basically I've been very independent," he said. "... No one should take me for granted."

A former Republican, Fletcher received just 9,100 votes in the 2010 special primary and also lost to Jay Rockefeller in the 2008 U.S. Senate primary. She won two terms to the House of Delegates as a member of the GOP in 1998 and 2000.

"I am a true Democrat," Fletcher said. "I can assure you of that. One of the most important characteristics of Sheirl Fletcher is her honestly. I can assure you that I am a Democrat."

Manchin said he is, too.

"I'm basically a pure West Virginia Democrat," he said. "I'm not a Washington Democrat, and I'm the first to tell you that. I'm a West Virginia Democrat through and through, but with that I'm looking for ways to fix problems."

Fletcher said she doesn't believe Manchin's mantra that he's doing what's best for the state.

"I think his votes are very calculated and he's doing what he thinks he needs to do to promote his political career," she said.

Fletcher owns her own environmental consulting firm and is a former longtime employee of Consol Energy. She said her experience will give her an authoritative voice on energy in Congress. Her son served in the Marines in Iraq and she said that gives her firsthand knowledge on veterans' issues. And she would push hard for national changes in education, including helping children in poverty.


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The Associated Press


May 5, 2012 Saturday 09:36 PM GMT


Obama plunges into campaign, tears into Romney


BYLINE: By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1408 words


DATELINE: COLUMBUS, Ohio


Plunging into his campaign for a new term, President Barack Obama tore into Mitt Romney on Saturday as a willing and eager "rubber stamp" for conservative Republicans in Congress and an agenda to cut taxes for the rich, reduce spending on education and Medicare and enhance power that big banks and insurers hold over consumers.

Romney and his "friends in Congress think the same bad ideas will lead to a different result or they're just hoping you won't remember what happened the last time you tried it their way," the president told an audience estimated at over 10,000 partisans at what aides insisted was his first full-fledged political rally of the election year.

Six months before Election Day, the polls point to a close race between Obama and Romney, with the economy the overriding issue as the nation struggles to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Unemployment remains stubbornly high at 8.1 percent nationally, although it has receded slowly and unevenly since peaking several months into the president's term. The most recent dip was due to discouraged jobless giving up their search for work.

Romney has staked his candidacy on an understanding of the economy, developed through a successful career as a businessman, and his promise to enact policies that stimulate job creation.

But Obama said his rival was merely doing the bidding of the conservative powerbrokers in Congress and has little understanding of the struggles of average Americans.

Romney "doesn't seem to understand that maximizing profits by whatever means necessary, whether it's through layoffs or outsourcing or tax avoidance, union busting, might not always be good for the average American or for the American economy," the president said.

"Why else would he want to cut his own taxes while raising them for 18 million Americans," Obama said of his multimillionaire opponent.

While Romney has yet to flesh out a detailed economic program, he and Republicans in Congress want to extend all the tax cuts that are due to expire at year's end. Obama and most Democrats want to let taxes rise for upper-income earners.

The president's campaign chose Ohio State University and Virginia Commonwealth University for the back-to-back rallies. Obama won both states in his successful race in 2008, although both have elected Republican governors since, and are expected to be hotly contested in the fall.

Obama has attended numerous fundraisers this election year, but over the escalating protests of Republicans, the White House has categorized all of his other appearances so far as part of his official duties.

The staging of the events eliminated any doubt about his purpose.

He was introduced in Columbus and again in Richmond by first lady Michelle Obama, and walked in to the cheers of thousands, many of them waving campaign-provided placards that read "Forward."

While the president is notably grayer than he was four years ago, he and his campaign worked to rekindle the energy and excitement among students and other voters who propelled him to the presidency in 2008.

"When people ask you what this election is about, you tell them it is still about hope. You tell them it is still about change," he said. It was a rebuttal to Romney's campaign, which has lately taken to mocking Obama's 2008 campaign mantra as "hype and blame."

If the economy is a potential ally for Romney, Obama holds other assets six months before the vote.

Unlike Romney, who struggled through a highly competitive primary season before recently wrapping up the nomination, Obama was unchallenged within his own party. As a result, his campaign's most recent filing showed cash on hand of $104 million, compared with a little over $10 million for Romney, and has worked to build organizations in several states for months.

But in the aftermath of recent Supreme Court rulings, modern presidential campaigns are more than ever waged on several fronts, and the effect of super political action committees and other outside groups able to raise donations in unlimited amounts is yet to be felt.

Already, while Romney pauses to refill his coffers, the super PAC Restore Our Future has spent more than $4 million on television advertising to introduce the Republican to the voters.

Romney had no public events Saturday after spending much of the week campaigning in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, responding to Obama's speech in Ohio, said, "While President Obama all but ignored his record over 3 1/2 years in office, the American people won't. This November, they will hold him accountable for his broken promises and ineffective leadership."

With his rhetoric, Obama belittled Romney and signaled he intends to campaign both against his challenger and the congressional Republicans who have opposed most of his signature legislation overwhelmingly, if not unanimously.

After a spirited campaign for the Republican nomination, Obama said the GOP leadership found a nominee in Virginia he called Romney their champion "who has promised to rubber stamp" their agenda if he gets a chance.

Romney is a "patriotic American who has raised a wonderful family," and has been a successful businessman and governor, the president said. "But I think he has drawn the wrong lessons from that experience. He sincerely believes that if CEOs and investors like him make money the rest of us will automatically do well as well."

In addition to depicting Romney as a threat to the middle class, Obama also tried to blunt the impact of what is likely to be the Republicans' best campaign issue.

"The economy is still facing headwinds and it will take sustained persistent efforts, yours and mine, for America to fully recover," the president said. He noted that jobs are being created and urged his audience not to give in to what he predicted would be negative campaign commercials designed to "exploit frustrations."

"Over and over again they'll tell you that America is down and out and they'll tell you who to blame and ask if you're better off than the worst crisis in our lifetime," he said. "The real question ... is not just about how we're doing today but how we'll be doing tomorrow."

Scarcely more than a dozen states figure to be seriously contested in the fall, including the two where Obama campaigned Saturday.

They include much of the nation's industrial belt, from Wisconsin to Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as Nevada, Colorado and, the president's campaign insists, Arizona; the latter three all have large Hispanic populations. Both campaigns also are focusing on Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire. Together, those states account for 157 electoral votes.

Barring a sudden crisis, foreign policy is expected to account for less voter interest than any presidential campaign since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Since taking office, Obama has made good on his pledge to end the war in Iraq, announced a timetable to phase out the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan by 2014 and given the order for a risky mission by special forces in which Osama bin Laden was killed in his hideout in Pakistan.

One recent poll showed the public trusts Obama over Romney by a margin of 53-36 on international affairs.

While the battleground states tend to be clustered geographically, the state-by-state impact of the recession and economic recovery varies.

In Ohio, for example unemployment was most recently measured at 7.6 percent, below the national average. It was higher, 9.1 percent and rising, when Obama took office, reaching 10.6 percent in the fall of 2009 before it began receding.

In Virginia, it was 5.6 percent in March, well below the national average. It was 6.6 percent in February 2009 and peaked in June of that year at 7.2.

In a measurement that shows an economy recovering, yet far from recovered, the Labor Department reported this month that 54 metropolitan areas had double-digit unemployment in March, down from 116 a year ago. By contrast, joblessness was below 7.0 percent in 109 areas, up from 62 a year earlier.

No matter the change, Romney attacks Obama's handling of the economy at every turn.

"If the last 3 1/2 years are his definition of forward, I'd have to see what backward looks like," he said late last week in Virginia.

The first lady, who accompanied the president during the day, has attended more than 50 fundraisers since his campaign filed formal candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission 13 months ago.


LOAD-DATE: May 6, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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Defense Department Documents and Publications


May 5, 2012


Secretary Panetta Interview with Judy Woodruff at the Pentagon


SECTION: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RELEASES


LENGTH: 3704 words


Presenter: Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta

May 3, 2012

Secretary Panetta Interview with Judy Woodruff at the Pentagon

JUDY WOODRUFF: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, thank you for talking with us.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LEON PANETTA: Good to be with you, Judy.

MS. WOODRUFF: Let's start with Afghanistan. Are you confident that in two or three years that as the coalition troops withdraw, Afghans themselves are going to be able to secure that country and the Taliban is not going to come in and take over big chunks of Afghanistan?

SEC. PANETTA: Well, Judy, let's put it this way. I think we're on the right path towards that goal. 2011 was really a turning point. In 2011 the Taliban was weakened significantly. They couldn't organize the kind of attacks to regain territory that they had lost, which is something they have done in the past. So they've been weakened.

Secondly, the Afghan army and police really developed a great capability. They were operational. They were involved in the battle and they were doing a great job and they continue to do a great job and provide security.

And thirdly, we're transitioning areas to Afghan security and control. Right now as we speak, 50 percent of the Afghan population is under their security and under their control, and I'd say by late summer 75 percent of their population will be under their security and control. So General Allen has done a great job. We're on the right course. We're in the right direction towards the end of 2014, being able to make that transition.

But let's not kid ourselves. There are going to be challenges. Taliban is resilient. They're going to be there, they're going to continue to attack. We do have problems obviously with Afghan corruption. We've got to make sure that this continues on the right path, so I don't think we ought to take anything for granted. We're going to have to keep pushing to make this work.

MS. WOODRUFF: I asked about that because this week the president was there. He spoke about the light of a new day in Afghanistan, and yet at the same time a semiannual report is being issued by the Pentagon, right here, talking about the corruption problems. At one point the report says setbacks in governance and development that threaten the legitimacy and the long-term viability of the Afghan government. Are we talking about the same country?

SEC. PANETTA: I think -- I think all of that obviously has to be focused on in terms of what are the challenges that we're going to face as we try to achieve the goals and try to achieve the mission in Afghanistan. We are on the right course. We have made significant progress. We are making the transition. Our troops are doing a great job. The Afghan troops are doing a great job. The country is more secure. The level of violence is down.

But to make this work we're going to have to continue to ensure that the Afghan army grows and does a good job. We're going to have to ensure that governance is there, Afghan governance is there. We're going to have to control the level of corruption that goes on. We are going to have to make sure that the gains that have been made are permanent, not just temporary.

MS. WOODRUFF: Well, on the corruption question. An acting special inspector general for reconstruction has told Congress that this week that construction is a huge -- I'm sorry, that corruption is a huge impediment to getting this reconstruction done, that congressional overseers have talked about no real serious effort to prosecute high-level corruption in Afghanistan. How do you see that?

SEC. PANETTA: Well, you know, let's not kid anybody. Corruption, you know, has been part of that culture, just as it was in Iraq, just as it is in other areas of the Middle East. It's one of the things you've got to deal with. If you eventually want to develop a stable, governing operation there that provides stability, they're going to have to do a better job in trying to control the level of corruption that's there. That has to be part of the governance effort. And that's something the Afghans have to focus on and we have to encourage the Afghans to focus on.

I think they're aware of it. They know that it can undermine their ability to achieve the kind of stability they need, so they're working on this but it's something we have to continue to push on as well.

MS. WOODRUFF: The killing of Osama bin Laden. This week John McCain said the president, in his words, he's been high-fiving the anniversary of the killing of bin Laden. He talked about the president giving what he called gloating interviews, cutting commercials attacking Mitt Romney. Are you comfortable with how the administration is talking about this at one year?

SEC. PANETTA: I'm not going to get into the politics of the situation. Obviously there will be a lot of that for this year going on. All I can say is that I think the professional people that were involved that operation, the intelligence people, the military people who were part of that operation -- it was something that I was involved in in my former role as director of the CIA -- they just did an outstanding job putting that operation together and achieving that mission. I think that's something, frankly, all Americans, whether you're Republicans or Democrats, independents, whatever, all of us ought to be very proud of what happened.

MS. WOODRUFF: So when Republicans talk about the president speaking of himself a lot in talking about that --

SEC. PANETTA: You know, obviously there's going to be a lot of politics about everything this year, but I think the mission that was involved here is probably one of the best things I've been associated with in 40 years.

MS. WOODRUFF: Pakistan. It was acknowledged this week that the drone strikes have been underway for some time against targets in Pakistan. Are those going to continue no matter what the government of Pakistan desires and wants in that regard?

SEC. PANETTA: Well, you know, without referring to those specific operations because they still remain covert operations --

MS. WOODRUFF: But they were acknowledged. John Brennan.

SEC. PANETTA: There was some acknowledgement of the fact that, you know, that they're used but the basic operations remain sensitive and they remain classified. But let me just say this. We were attacked. The United States was attacked on 9/11. And we know who attacked us, we know that al-Qaida was behind it, and we are going to do everything we can, use whatever operations we have to, in order to make sure that we protect this country and make sure that that kind of attack never happens again.

MS. WOODRUFF: It sounds like you're saying they'll continue.

SEC. PANETTA: The United States is going to defend itself under any circumstances.

MS. WOODRUFF: Let me ask you about another difficult part of the world, and that's Iran. You have clearly indicated that the danger of any Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, you said that it might only set back the program for just a few years. What signals are you and the administration looking for from Iran's supreme leader that would be sufficient to persuade the Israelis not to go ahead with a pre-emptive attack?

SEC. PANETTA: I think one thing that we could take a lot of satisfaction in is that the international community really is together and unified with regards to Iran, including Russia and China for that matter, that there's a clear signal to them that they cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. This is not about containment. This is about preventing them from developing a nuclear weapon.

The international community has brought a lot of sanctions on Iran. They're probably the toughest sanctions we've applied in a very long time. They're having an impact. They're isolating Iran, and I think as a result of that, of all that pressure that's being put on Iran, the result of that is that there is now at least some glimmer that there could be a diplomatic effort to try to see if we can resolve these issues.

There are serious talks going on and I guess the bottom line here is that Iran has to make clear that they're going to suspend any kind of nuclear enrichment and that they will make no efforts to develop any kind of nuclear weapon. All of that has to be part and parcel of any ultimate solution here that would allow everybody, all of us to try to find a peaceful conclusion.

MS. WOODRUFF: You were quoted a few months ago as indicating you were, in so many words, really worried about what Israel might do. Do you think the threat, then, of an attack is diminished?

SEC. PANETTA: I think the president of the United States, all this -- you know, the United States had the opportunity to talk with the prime minister of Israel as well as the defense minister, who is somebody that I know and work with a great deal. And you know, clear messages, this kind of unified international effort that Israel is a part of, to try to go after a common cause here, which is to make sure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon, that we are unified in that.

We ought to continue to operate in a unified way. That's the most effective means of trying to achieve our goal of convincing Iran to become part of the international family of nations and try to take the steps to ensure that if they want nuclear power that they operate on a peaceful basis with nuclear power. We can assist them if they want to do it peacefully and use it for energy purposes, but we are going to stand very firm against them trying to develop this for a weapon.

MS. WOODRUFF: Bottom line, it sounds like you think the likelihood is less.

SEC. PANETTA: I think the bottom line is we don't know whether they've made that decision, whether Israel has made that decision, as the president has said. And frankly, at this point we're not sure that Iran has made a decision to proceed. But what we're doing is sending a very clear signal as to what we will or will not allow.

MS. WOODRUFF: Let me turn to China for just a moment. The blind dissident, Chen Guangcheng, is now pressing the United States to come to his rescue. Is this administration, Mr. Secretary, putting political and economic concerns ahead of human rights in this instance?

SEC. PANETTA: Well, you know, obviously on that one the State Department is deeply involved on that issue. I think the president has made clear that obviously our goal is to engage the Chinese, to be able, from my point of view here at the Defense Department, to try to establish mil-to-mil relations so that we can discuss issues that we're concerned about, try to be transparent about those issues.

But at the same time obviously, the purpose of these discussions is to also indicate our concerns, and one of those concerns, obviously, relates to human rights and I suspect that the State Department is making very clear to the Chinese our concerns in that area.

MS. WOODRUFF: You're going to be meeting the Chinese defense minister in just a few days. Is human rights something you would bring up in those conversations?

SEC. PANETTA: I think our main opportunity here is to try to begin to establish some mil-to-mil relations with them. There are a lot of issues we have to discuss. Talk about North Korea, talk about the ability to have free trade in that region. Talk about trying to keep our sea lanes open. Talk about humanitarian assistance. Talk about proliferation of nuclear weapons. There's an awful lot we have to talk about and I guess what I'm hoping is that we can establish at least a process whereby we can communicate with one another on a peaceful basis. So that's going to be the primary focus that I'm going to be looking at.

MS. WOODRUFF: One brief question about incidents of misconduct in the military, Afghanistan, most recently Cartagena, Colombia. What's the message you would like to send to men and women in and out of uniform who work for the Defense Department?

SEC. PANETTA: You know, obviously when those incidents happen it impacts on the force in terms of, you know, it impacts on the morale, it impacts -- sometimes can even jeopardize lives. It clearly hurts the military when those incidents take place.

But I guess what I would like to tell the American people is that in my experience going out there and meeting with literally thousands upon thousands of men and women in uniform -- let's not forget this is a department of 3 million people -- that this is a very small percentage of those that are involved in this kind of misconduct, that the overwhelming majority of men and women in uniform abide by the highest standards. They're great soldiers. They do the job. They really put their lives on the line for the safety of this country. And I guess I don't want the American people to forget that, that overall the vast majority of our men and women do the job.

Now having said that, you know, I've tried to make clear to our service secretaries and our service chiefs that we have to continue to emphasize character, professionalism, integrity, kind of tough chain of command, discipline. That's very important and that makes our military the best in the world. We've got to continue to emphasize that in the future so that we try to make sure that these incidents don't occur.

MS. WOODRUFF: Defense spending. You're a former budget director, you know the fiscal situation very well. If the administration and the Congress cannot agree by January on what to do about the current disagreement, as you know there's going to be an automatic so-called sequestration that could lead to $500 billion of cuts for this department beyond what you've already proposed.

If that happens, are you better off exempting defense and just taking the pressure off of worrying about the deficit? Or do you just go ahead and show the public, you know, what kind of pain this is and what it would be?

SEC. PANETTA: You know, Judy, having served in the Congress and having worked on budget issues most of the time I was in Congress, I'm very concerned that the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have to show leadership here, and can't just allow sequestration to take effect. I mean, the whole purpose of sequestration, or even developing a crazy vehicle like that, was to ensure that they would exercise leadership to prevent it from happening.

Instead, they weren't able to come together on any proposal and now we have this thing supposedly taking place in January. My approach to that is that this would have a devastating effect on not only national defense but I think on the rest of the country. It's totally unacceptable, and frankly our political leaders cannot allow it to happen. That's where I'm coming from on this issue.

MS. WOODRUFF: At the same time, the U.S. military budget, I understand, is larger than the next 14 countries' defense budgets combined. Why does it need to be so big? In 30 seconds.

SEC. PANETTA: Judy, we're facing a lot of threats. We talked about a lot of those threats. We're facing threats from Iran, facing threats from North Korea, we're facing threats from terrorism. We're still in war in Afghanistan. We're continuing to have turmoil in the Middle East. We're facing cyber attacks. We're facing a number of challenges. We have to protect this country. That's my job. That's what I'm paid to do and that, thank God, is what the United States military does.

MS. WOODRUFF: Well, General Dempsey, who's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that the Pentagon, in his words, has never truly been denied the means, what it's asked for in recent history. But with budget constraints, he said, the Pentagon now needs to confront whether there's another way to do this. What would another way be?

SEC. PANETTA: Look, I don't think you have to choose between protecting national security and fiscal responsibility. I think we can do our share with regards to reducing the deficit and trying to find the savings that we have to find in the Defense Department. But at the same time, we have an obligation to protect this country and to develop the kind of defense force for the future that can be agile. It's going to be smaller. It can be agile. It can be deployable. It can be technologically advanced. But most importantly, it can protect this country. That's what I'm trying to do with the challenge I face right now between the budget and where we need to go on defense.

MS. WOODRUFF: Well, let me ask about a specific program, big program. Lockheed Martin's F-35 jet. The plan is to buy 2,400 of these jets. Again, given fiscal constraints, lacking international support now for this --Australia, Norway, I'm told Canada considering cutting back on what they get -- can that be cut back too? By the United States.

SEC. PANETTA: No, I understand. You know, look, part of our challenge is to try to stay on the cutting edge of the future and that's what the F-35 is all about. It's the fifth generation fighter for the future and it provides the kind of capability we absolutely are going to need in the future. So that's why we're developing it and that's why I think it's important.

Do we have to control costs? You bet. Do we have to make sure that companies and corporations that are involved with this plane do their share to keep costs down? You bet. Do we have to continue to try to make sure that this is the best fighting plane for the future? We have to do that as well. So yes, you know, it is something we have to invest in, but we have to do it smartly, and that's what I'm trying to do here at the Defense Department.

MS. WOODRUFF: So that could mean a smaller buy.

SEC. PANETTA: It means that we have to fully test that plane before we go into production. We have to be damned sure that it is the most effective fighting plane for the future before we go into full production, and that's what I want to ensure.

MS. WOODRUFF: Question about -- a couple of questions about you. You've been in this city, in and out of the city of Washington for, what is it, four decades, give or take --

SEC. PANETTA: At least.

MS. WOODRUFF: The partisanship, the rancor that seems to permeate so much of politics. Is it worse today than it's ever been, or do we just not remember how it was?

SEC. PANETTA: No, I don't think I -- I don't think there's any question. The 40 years that I've been in this town I've never seen Washington as partisan as it is today. And I really am concerned about the dysfunction of our institutions of government to respond to the challenges and crises that are there.

When I was in the Congress, when I was in the administrations, past administrations there was a greater willingness -- politics has always been the case, but there was a greater willingness between Republicans and Democrats when it came to those national crisis issues that we have to confront. There was a greater willingness to work together to solve those problems.

Governing was good politics. Today I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it's much more partisan, much more divided, and we're paying a high price for that.

MS. WOODRUFF: Both parties equally at fault?

SEC. PANETTA: Oh, I don't think there's any question that Republicans and Democrats both bear some responsibility for the situation.

MS. WOODRUFF: What would you do to make it better?

SEC. PANETTA: I think it's really important that those who are elected to office understand that they are elected to take risks in order to govern this country. They aren't elected just simply to save their seat. They're elected to take risks, to make the kind of decisions that have to be made in order to solve the problems facing this country.

I've done that in the past. I mean, when I was in Congress we faced tough decisions, but both Republicans and Democrats made those decisions. You took risks. But those risks were worth it because in the end we were solving some of the challenges that this country faces. So I guess that's what I would urge. Both leaders and members, elected members of the Congress, do what is right for this country. Don't simply do what you need to do to protect your seat.

MS. WOODRUFF: Can you name one or two Republicans whom you most admire in public office right now?

SEC. PANETTA: I think there are a lot of good members in Congress. I work with a lot of them on both sides of the Hill, chairmen and ranking members and members on both sides who are really good people, who are trying to do the right things. You know, I'm not going to just pick a few names. There are a lot of good people up there that want to do the right thing.

I think what's wrong right now is the politics because the politics of both parties is kind of poisoning the well. And you have to allow these members to be able to work together to solve problems. That's important. And very frankly, from a national security point of view, all the things I do, all the things others do to try to protect the national security in this country, one of the most important things affecting our national security is the ability of our institutions of government to work, solve problems. That is part and parcel of the national security.

MS. WOODRUFF: Final question. In a sentence or two. You've worked with both Democratic presidents -- President Obama, President Clinton. How are they different?

SEC. PANETTA: Well, you know, they are two different -- very different individuals in terms of their backgrounds and how they came to office. But they're both extremely bright, they're both extremely capable. They've got minds that can focus very much on the issues. And they both want to do the right thing for the country. I think that's probably the most important thing I care about: do they want to do the right thing for the country. And I think in both cases they made decisions that they thought were important for the country, and that's all I ask for in any president.

MS. WOODRUFF: You even served under a Republican president.

SEC. PANETTA: That's right.

MS. WOODRUFF: Speaking of bipartisanship.

SEC. PANETTA: That's true. I've covered them all. But in the end, if it's a good leader, you know, it doesn't make a lot of difference whether they're Republican or Democrats. If they're good leaders, that's important for the country.

MS. WOODRUFF: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, thank you very much.


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The New York Times


May 5, 2012 Saturday
Late Edition - Final


At Sunday Meetings, Team Obama Prepares For a Grueling Fight


BYLINE: By JEFF ZELENY


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 15


LENGTH: 1261 words


WASHINGTON -- President Obama walks into the Roosevelt Room of the White House and takes his seat around a table. The West Wing, as on most Sunday evenings, is quiet except for the tight circle of advisers who gather for a confidential briefing on his re-election.

The gathering often takes place after Mr. Obama's regular Sunday round of golf, and while the atmosphere is casual, the agenda is anything but: keeping the president immersed in what it will take to win a second term. He receives an update on how his operation is expanding in battleground states, he watches previews of television ads and he studies a presentation on his various paths to victory.

These previously undisclosed sessions, which take place nearly every other week just across the hall from the Oval Office, are designed to bridge a divide between his campaign headquarters in Chicago and his aides in Washington in preparing for what Mr. Obama and his team anticipate will be a grueling race against Mitt Romney.

The cast of top advisers -- a group limited to 10 in hopes of streamlining the meetings -- offers a revealing look at the pecking order of the hierarchy in the Obama campaign.

Neither Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. nor any other cabinet members are on hand. Instead, the room is filled with a group of trusted confidants who were at Mr. Obama's side during the last campaign.

The attendance roster, which was confirmed by multiple people familiar with the list, reveals a mix of White House staff, including David Plouffe, a senior adviser and campaign manager from 2008; Jacob J. Lew, the chief of staff; Valerie Jarrett and Pete Rouse, senior advisers; Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director; and Alyssa Mastromonaco, a deputy chief of staff who has worked for Mr. Obama since his days in the Senate.

The campaign team includes Jim Messina, the campaign manager, who sets the agenda for the meeting; David Axelrod, a senior strategist; Stephanie Cutter, a deputy campaign manager; and Larry Grisolano, a top political adviser.

The president, who is set to open his re-election campaign formally on Saturday with back-to-back rallies in Ohio and Virginia, has been preparing to run against Mr. Romney since well before the Republican nomination was settled. Mr. Obama has been studying the statements and record of his opponent -- particularly on the Massachusetts health care law, a model for the national law -- and is well on his way to becoming a student of Mr. Romney's positions.

Mr. Obama, who three years ago became the first president to demand a BlackBerry to keep in touch with the outside world, has now become the first sitting president to rely on an iPad to stay informed. He watches campaign commercials, offering his seal of approval to the first wave of advertisements to be used against Mr. Romney, and he follows his rival through newspaper articles and blogs.

The president has already made clear that he is well acquainted with Mr. Romney's views. At a news conference this week, Mr. Obama urged people to ''take a look'' at his opponent. He reprised a comment by Mr. Romney in 2007 when he said he would not invade a country to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

''I said that I'd go after Bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him,'' Mr. Obama said, ''and I did.''

If running for president the first time is a full-time job, running for re-election is a bit like moonlighting. For all the planning that Mr. Obama's team employs, uncertainties like the jobs report on Friday mornings often end up driving the election.

Even so, some presidents are more political than others. Mr. Obama is intensely competitive, but far from obsessive about politics in the way that former President Bill Clinton is. Mr. Obama's approach is closer to that of former President George W. Bush, who assumed a bird's-eye view of his re-election bid.

In a contest increasingly guided by factors beyond the direct control of either candidate, Mr. Obama has gradually increased the attention he has devoted to the race. Yet aides say he still spends far more time on his iPad checking scores on ESPN than obsessively reading up on Mr. Romney, or digging into the weeds of his own polls or campaign metrics.

The Sunday meeting, which participants have sworn to keep secret, was devised by his advisers to help Mr. Obama begin focusing on his re-election bid. The time is intentionally carved out to discuss big-picture themes that the president will use to challenge Mr. Romney.

''They have a candidate now, and the president is certainly paying more attention to that candidate, his arguments and his record and approach,'' said Mr. Axelrod, a senior adviser, whose cellphone rings with increasing frequency, with the president on the line hoping to talk about the campaign. ''He's homing in on the race, but unlike the other guy, he has a day job, and that is still where the bulk of his attention has to be.''

Mr. Obama has told associates that he is aware of the precariousness of the political environment for him. He asks aides about his campaign message. He craves the bullet-point summaries of polls, but he does not delve into the fine print of surveys or other campaign research.

They say he is intensely motivated to win not only because of his personal legacy and the historic nature of his presidency. He also sees a second term as essential, they said, to ensuring that key policies like his national health care law, which could be overthrown by the Supreme Court, are not wiped from the books.

''Every election is the most important election in our history,'' Mr. Obama said the other night at a fund-raising event, offering a window into his campaign message. ''But let me tell you, this one matters. This one matters. This one matters.''

The president will make his case against Mr. Romney on Saturday more forcefully than he has, aides said, hoping to define his opponent before the fall campaign.

He has met Mr. Romney only once -- they shared the stage at a 2004 Gridiron dinner in Washington -- and he has told friends that he respects Mr. Romney's intellect, but bristles at his view of government and economic fairness.

When their paths crossed eight years ago, Mr. Obama playfully mocked Mr. Romney and encouraged him to ''go for it.'' He reflected on the losing presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and jabbed Mr. Romney, ''I hear that Massachusetts is a great launching pad.''

The rallies for the president on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., are expected to help capture the enthusiasm of students before the summer begins.

Campaign aides will register volunteers with iPads, and keep their information for the fall campaign. Aides said more than 48,000 people signed up by text message to win ''Backstage with Barack'' passes.

Six months before Election Day, Mr. Obama waxes nostalgic at the events of his presidency. He seldom talks about the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded. The oil spill along the Gulf Coast -- once described as his Hurricane Katrina -- is rarely mentioned. But he warns Democrats that the trials of his first term are about to be unspooled in a bare-knuckle campaign.

''There's nothing more humbling, actually, than being president,'' Mr. Obama said the other day at a fund-raiser, where his words almost lapsed into past tense as he stood beside Mr. Clinton and talked about Air Force One. ''It's a great plane, and I'll miss it, too!''

''But not yet!'' a supporter shouted from the audience, trying to buck him up.

As applause rose from the crowd, Mr. Obama paused and declared, ''But not yet!''


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San Jose Mercury News (California)


May 5, 2012 Saturday


The Globalist Quiz


BYLINE: TheGlobalist.com


SECTION: NEWS; National; World


LENGTH: 483 words


THE GLOBALIST QUIZ

How world leaders measure up

The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.

QUESTION

In the United States, it is almost a matter of dogma that in order to succeed in the business of politics -- and especially to reach the Oval Office -- a politician must be tall. Height, it is felt, is a reflection of the candidate's authority and confidence. We wonder: Which of the following major countries has the shortest leader?

ANSWER

A. France

B. Japan

C. Russia

A.

France is not correct.

The incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who took office in May 2007, measures 1.68 meters (5 feet, 6 inches) in height. He is rather short in physical stature, especially compared with several of his predecessors. Both Jacques Chirac (in office from 1995-2007) and Valery Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981) are 1.89 meters (6 feet, 2 inches) tall. In comparison, France's most famous president, Charles de Gaulle, reached 1.96 meters (6 feet, 5 inches). However, Sarkozy is not much shorter than his opponent in his hotly contested bid for re-election. Socialist Francois Hollande is 1.70 meters (5 feet, 7 inches). And he compares quite favorably with Napoleon Bonaparte -- the French military and political leader and emperor of France from 1804 to 1815 -- who stood only 1.57 meters (5 feet, 2 inches).

B.

Japan is not correct.

Since 2000, nine different men have served as the country's prime minister. The incumbent, Yoshihiko Noda, who took office in September 2011, measures 1.73 meters (nearly 5 feet, 9 inches). He is just two centimeters shorter than his predecessor Naoto Kan. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is only 1.64 meters tall (5 feet, 4 inches). Her counterpart in Brazil, one of the world's up-and-coming economic powers, is Dilma Roussef, who stands 1.72 meters (5 feet, 7 1/2 inches).

C.

Russia is correct.

Russia's outgoing president, Dmitri Medvedev -- a big fan of leather jackets and 1970s Western rock bands such as Deep Purple -- is only 1.62 meters (5 feet, 4 inches) tall. Vladimir Putin -- who served two previous terms as president from 2000 to 2008 and will assume that office again on May 7 -- is 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches). In Russia, as in many other countries, a relative lack of height is evidently no hindrance to winning top political office. However, the United States may be an exception. The last man of average height to win the presidency was Jimmy Carter (1.75 meters, or 5 feet, 9 inches), who served only one term, from 1977 to 1981. If height is a factor in this November's election, the race is sure to be neck and neck. Incumbent Barack Obama -- at 1.85 meters (6 feet, 1 inch) -- is just a tiny bit shorter than his challenger, Mitt Romney, who stands 1.88 meters (6 feet, 2 inches).


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The Washington Post


May 5, 2012 Saturday
Met 2 Edition


BYLINE: - Felicia Sonmez


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A04


LENGTH: 474 words


Obama to officially kick off reelection bid in Ohio and Va.

President Obama's reelection bid formally kicks off Saturday with events in Ohio and Virginia, after a week of events that largely were geared toward, well, Obama's reelection bid.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama are scheduled to hold a 1:25 p.m. rally at Ohio State University followed by a 4:35 p.m. rally at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ohio and Virginia are among the swing states expected to be hotly contested by the Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns this fall, and Obama has been maintaining a steady schedule of trips to both states.

Since his inauguration in January 2009, Obama has visited Ohio 20 separate times, including four times this year, according to the Washington Post's POTUS Tracker. Obama visited Virginia 66 times in the same period, including five visits this year.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has criticized Obama's time on the trail, arguing late last month that "his campaign ought to be reimbursing the Treasury" for his three-state swing to college campuses last week to urge Congress to pass an extension of current federal student loan rates.

Of course, it's worth noting that members of Congress spend their fair share of time on the trail, too - the House is scheduled to be in session only 109 of 261 weekdays this year, and the Senate is expected to meet for only 22 of the first 36 weeks of the year. Both chambers are in recess this week.

While Saturday's events mark the formal beginning of the general election, the past week has been a particularly active one for the Obama campaign.

On April 27, the campaign launched a Web video suggesting that a President Mitt Romney would not have killed Osama bin Laden.

There was a campaign event Sunday night headlined by Obama and former president Bill Clinton.

On Monday, the Obama campaign released a Web video unveiling its new slogan, "Forward." There was the campaign's Tuesday release of a new TV spot blasting Romney for having had a Swiss bank account - an ad unveiled on the same day that Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death.

On Wednesday, as Newt Gingrich exited the GOP race, the campaign marked the occasion with a Web video reminding voters of the former House speaker's attacks against Romney. later Wednesday, Obama attended back-to-back fundraisers at the W Hotel in Washington.

Thursday brought the release of the Web slideshow "Life of Julia." And on Friday, Obama held a roundtable with students at Washington-Lee High School followed by a speech on "the importance of having a fair shot at an affordable higher education."

So, Saturday's events may mark a "kickoff" of sorts, but it's worth bearing in mind that in the run-up, the Obama campaign hasn't exactly been sitting around twiddling its thumbs.

- Felicia Sonmez


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Austin American-Statesman (Texas)


May 6, 2012 Sunday
FINAL Edition


POLITIFACT TEXAS


BYLINE: Compiled by the American-Statesman Politifact Texas team


SECTION: INSIGHT; Pg. G03


LENGTH: 515 words


These items are explained at greater length, with detailed source lists, on our website, www.politifacttexas.com.

Donna Howard

Statement: Says legislative cuts mean Texas is "spending on average $500 less per student."

True

Democratic state legislator from Austin was making a point about the effect of two major legislative actions on public school funding. Faced with a shortfall in projected state income, the 2011 Legislature changed the formulas that govern how much aid flows to school districts; as a result, districts will get $2 billion less a year through the 2012-13 budget period than they would have gotten if the long-standing formulas had gone unchanged. Lawmakers also reduced by $1.3 billion the two-year appropriation of state funding for grants that finance targeted programs such as teacher incentive pay and dropout prevention. By every measure we found, those actions resulted in a per-student funding reduction of at least $500 on average; some districts were likely to be hit harder, others less hard.

Barack Obama

Statement: Says Mitt Romney's comments indicated he would not have pursued Osama bin Laden.

Half True

An Obama campaign ad suggested Romney wouldn't have aggressively pursued bin Laden by citing Romney's 2007 statement that "it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." The Obama campaign is right that Romney used those words, but Romney also said he wanted to pursue all of al Qaeda, not just its leaders. Or, as Romney explained later, "Global jihad " involves millions of people and is going to require a far more comprehensive strategy than a targeted approach for bin Laden or a few of his associates." So, the Obama ad takes Romney's words out of context.

Mitt Romney

Statement: In the "Obama economy ... the youth unemployment rate is double the unemployment rate for all Americans."

Half True

Romney has a point that young Americans are hurting in today's job market, and the statistic he cites is correct. However, the youth unemployment rate has been roughly twice as high as the broader rate for some time, going back to when George W. Bush was president. So, there's no question that employment prospects have dried up for many recent graduates. But it is disingenuous to suggest that this is a new phenomenon under Obama.

Clay Dafoe

Statement: Says bus riders subsidize the "expensive, romanticized" Leander-to-Austin train.

False

Austin mayoral candidate says Capital Metro should devote less spending to trains and more money for bus service. He said the bus service is subsidizing the commuter rail line that connects Leander to downtown. We found that neither system is covering its own expenses - nor is either intended to. Most of Cap Metro's budget comes from a sales tax on purchases made in the agency's service area. So, even though Cap Metro's buses pull more of their weight, neither system is "subsidizing" the other.

Find coverage of Texas issues at politifacttexas.com.

Contact Politifact Texas at

Twitter: @politifacttexas

Facebook: Politifact Texas

Email: politifact@statesman.com

 
 

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Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)


May 6, 2012 Sunday


Obama goes Willie Horton on Romney


BYLINE: Sherman Frederick


SECTION: D; Pg. 3D


LENGTH: 697 words


Sherman Frederick

COMMENTARY

There comes a time in any presidential election when reality slips into the mist of admen. Thoughtfulness and truth make an exit to create room for political bedtime stories.

One of the most effective modern examples featured a black man from Massachusetts by the name of Willie Horton. He earned a life sentence without possibility of parole for murder. But thanks to a liberal state furlough program, Horton roamed free on weekends under the guise that such practice rehabilitated prisoners. On one such weekend pass in 1986, Willie Horton never returned to prison. Free for almost a year, he traveled to Maryland, where he raped a woman.

When Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis ran for president in 1988, his primary Democratic rival, Al Gore, used the furlough program to hammer Dukakis, even though Dukakis didn't invent the program or directly have anything to do with Horton's weekend pass. As a progressive thinker, though, Dukakis thought the program had merit, and that put Dukakis in the political vicinity of the crime.

In the fall of 1988, Republican admen forever linked Horton and Dukakis with brutal television ads on the weekend passes. Whatever the Horton tie-in lacked in honesty, it made up for it in political effectiveness. It devastated the Dukakis campaign.

Democrats at the time called the ad fundamentally untrue. Even racist.

Funny how they're strangely quiet now as President Barack Obama went full-out Willie Horton on presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney last week. Obama admen unleashed a most specious television ad that suggested Romney probably ... might ... perhaps ... just maybe ... weather permitting ... would not have pulled the trigger on the operation to kill Osama bin Laden.

The ad begins righteously enough, extolling the merits of President Obama's decision to green-light the operation to kill the al-Qaida leader. It was a good call. It was a gutsy call. It was probably ... might ... perhaps ... just maybe ... weather permitting ... was the best decision Obama has made, or will ever make, in his short political career.

Obama admen used this isolated quote from 2007 to make the connection: "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person," Romney told The Associated Press. "(Osama bin Laden) is by no means the only leader."

Of course, it is a leap of extraordinary proportions to stretch that quote into a guess about what Romney might or might not have done given the same circumstances that Obama faced the night he authorized Navy SEAL Team 6 to kill bin Laden.

Ryan Zinke, a former commander in the U.S. Navy who spent 23 years as a SEAL and led a SEAL Team 6 assault unit, makes another point on the Romney assertion: "The decision was a no-brainer. I applaud (President Obama) for making it, but I would not overly pat myself on the back for making the right call."

So, let's take the Obama line of thinking a step further. If, as President Obama says in his ad, making the right call on killing bin Laden is a litmus test for the presidency, then why is he keeping Vice President Joe Biden on the ticket? Biden himself advised against the raid on bin Laden's headquarters on the grounds that it might go badly and look bad politically.

"It got to me," Biden said. "I said, 'Mr. President, my suggestion is don't go.' "

Leon Panetta, then director of the CIA, was the only Obama insider to unequivocally tell the president "go." It was a no-brainer, but Obama had to sleep on it before proceeding.

So, ahem, Mr. No Brainer, why do you make such a big deal questioning a hypothetical about what Romney might have done in your shoes when you damn well absolutely, positively know the guy you're running with does not possess the judgment and guts to be president? By your own definition, Biden doesn't have the right stuff. Shouldn't Panetta replace him?

As long as anything goes in this bedtime story, how about Willie Horton? He's probably rehabilitated by now.

Sherman Frederick, former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, writes a column for Stephens Media. Read his blog at www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm.


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Palm Beach Post (Florida)


May 6, 2012 Sunday
FINAL EDITION


Scott ad blitz not swaying Floridians ;
His weak polling bolsters Obama supporters' hopes.


BYLINE: By JOHN KENNEDY Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau


SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 1059 words


DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE


Despite six weeks of upbeat television ads and a wholesale image makeover, Republican Gov. Rick Scott continues to draw lousy ratings from Floridians, a position Democrats are eager to exploit in the nation's biggest presidential tossup state.

The Republican Party of Florida has paid almost $1 million since March for a TV campaign, promoting the governor's push for $1 billion more for public schools and helping state unemployment fall to a three-year low behind what the ads label Scott's "pro-business initiatives."

But even with the PR offensive, Scott's approval numbers continue to scrape bottom.

Two separate polls late last month showed 54 percent of Floridians dislike what he's done.

"There's something about Rick that just doesn't seem to be captivating to Floridians," said Scott Peelen, an Orlando financial adviser and Republican fundraiser. "He's a great guy. But nothing he is saying seems to get people excited."

Still, even as Democrats strategize about using Scott, President Obama has his own problems in Florida.

A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed 50 percent of Florida voters disapprove of Obama's job performance and the same number say he doesn't deserve to be re-elected.

But while Obama's numbers have roller-coastered, Scott's have been down most of his administration. His latest standing with Floridians is slightly better than his low point, a 59 percent disapproval mark in summer 2011.

But since then, Scott has reshuffled his staff, lost his necktie most days, spent more time schmoozing with voters and begun visiting newspaper editorial boards he formerly shunned.

As a second-year governor, Scott has become less confrontational. And he's trying out different optics.

GOP support strong

Unlike last year, when he unveiled his state budget proposal at a hard-edged tea party event, Scott signed this year's spending plan at an elementary school, flanked by a bowl full of red apples and a classroom of kids.

Still, Scott isn't moving the needle much among Floridians. And the state GOP has been airing upbeat Scott ads across the state -- except more TV-costly South Florida -- since March 21.

"It's not about polls: They go up and down," said Kristen McDonald, a Florida Republican Party spokeswoman. "We really just want to promote the governor's policies as a path to prosperity."

Although he's not on the ballot this fall, Democrats are eager to lash Scott and his lackluster numbers to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Democrats say the recent TV campaign is aimed at softening Scott's negatives.

"It's clear that the Republican Party sees Rick Scott as a drag on the ticket and is doing everything it can to try to prop him up," said Brannon Jordan, a Florida Democratic Party spokeswoman.

But Republican activists dismiss talk that the governor's poor support among Floridians will hurt the party's political brand in the state. They point out that Scott polls strongly among Republican voters.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey showed 72 percent of Florida Republicans approve of Scott's work, despite his mediocre 43 percent backing from overall voters.

In the presidential contest, Florida Democrats hope to capitalize on their party's almost 500,000-registered-voter advantage in helping Obama again carry the state. Republican activists, though, say Scott can help counter that by pushing supporters to the polls.

"Gov. Scott is enormously popular with the base," said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist who is one of Romney's top state fundraisers and a member of his national fundraising operation.

"He appeals not just with tea party supporters, but with people all across the party. We'll need that to counter the Obama turnout," he added.

Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein said Scott's draw among Republicans was evident at last weekend's state GOP meeting in Tampa, where the governor drew a standing ovation that refused to quit.

"He couldn't get people to sit down," Dinerstein said. "They love him. He's done the Lincoln Day dinners. He's been a partner in our fundraising. If the Democrats want to use him against Romney, I say bring it on."

Tied to Romney policies

Democrats and their allies have test-driven the Scott-Romney linkage in Florida.

A TV spot aired shortly before Florida's January Republican primary ties the former Massachusetts governor's business background to that of Scott, while a narrator ominously warns: "... corporate greed, Medicare fraud. Sound familiar?" A photo of Romney then morphs into that of Scott.

The spot was paid for by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has battled Scott on several fronts in Florida and is suing his administration over mandatory employee contributions to the state pension fund.

"Rick Scott's not on the ballot, but the philosophy he espouses will be, and that's what will be our focus," said Rich Templin, a spokesman for the Florida AFL-CIO, which represents 500,000 workers in the state.

"Gov. Romney promotes some of the same old tired economic policies Scott does," he added.

Experts dismiss linkage

Still, the Quinnipiac poll of voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- critical election swing states -- shows Floridians give Romney a 49 percent to 40 percent edge over Obama on which candidate can best power the economy.

Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute, said given the closeness of the Florida race, Scott is a "factor, but one that is impossible to measure at this point."

Brown said getting voters to transfer feelings for one candidate to another is always tough, whether they are positive or negative.

"In 2008, Gov. Charlie Crist was enormously popular when he endorsed John McCain for president," Brown said. "And that didn't do much for McCain, who lost Florida to Obama."

Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist who has written extensively on presidential politics, agreed. He said history shows "almost no correlation" between how well a presidential ticket does in a state with an unpopular politician.

"But to avoid controversy, I wouldn't be surprised to see that when Gov. Romney comes to Florida, he tries to share a stage not just with Gov. Scott, but with more popular Florida Republicans like (former Gov.) Jeb Bush and (U.S. Sen.) Marco Rubio," Sabato said. "Why take a chance?"

~ john_kennedy@pbpost.com


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


May 6, 2012 Sunday
WEB Edition


Obama's gutsy call


BYLINE: Michael Smerconish


SECTION: NEWS; P-com Opinion; Pg. WEB


LENGTH: 923 words


Thank you, Navy SEALs, for killing Osama bin Laden. And thank you, President Obama, for turning them loose to do their job, just as you said you would.

This past week, an Obama campaign Web commercial featuring Bill Clinton quotes Mitt Romney, in 2007, downplaying the significance of getting bin Laden: 'It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person.'

That ad got the goat of Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.). 'Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of Sept. 11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad,' he indignantly declared.

Romney himself said 'even Jimmy Carter would have given that order' to get bin Laden. His comparison served only to unintentionally highlight the mission's considerable risks, as it invoked the memory of the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission on April 24, 1980. (The mission failed, but Carter did give the order.)

Obama responded to the debate by saying, 'I hardly think that you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here,' and suggested that people should look to prior statements regarding whether it was appropriate to go into Pakistan.

I know exactly to what he was referring and it has its roots in the last presidential campaign, not the current one.

Long before many gave him a serious shot at the presidency, then-Sen. Obama announced his intentions with regard to Pakistan. On Aug. 1, 2007, he said: 'If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will.'

That drew a rebuke from then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during a Democratic debate on Aug. 7: 'I think it is a very big mistake to telegraph that and to destabilize the Musharraf regime, which is fighting for its life against the Islamic extremists who are in bed with al-Qaeda and Taliban.'

En route to capturing the GOP nomination, McCain, on Feb. 20, 2008, also chastised Obama: 'The best idea is to not broadcast what you're going to do. That's naive.'

But Obama stood his ground, repeating his willingness to pursue bin Laden in five different conversations I had with him (three while a candidate, two while president). His previous words now look prescient.

On March 24, 2008, he told me: 'Sen. Clinton, Sen. McCain, and George Bush all suggested I had said something wrong when I said we should be going after bin Laden and high-value targets, and if we've got them in our sights we should ask for Pakistan's cooperation, we should ask Pakistan to take them out, but if they don't, we shouldn't need permission to go after somebody or folks that killed 3,000 Americans.'

And on Oct. 9, 2008, he said to me: 'Now we need to work with Pakistan to dismantle those training camps and kill bin Laden. But if Pakistan is unwilling or unable to take bin Laden out, and we have him in our sights, we've got to do it.'

The irony of the current debate is that Romney and McCain - the GOP's most recent standard-bearers - are leading the chorus of those seeking to diminish Obama's authorization of the raid at Abbottabad by implying that 'any leader' would have made the same decision.

But if their previous public statements were to be believed, neither would have been a lock to pull the trigger. At the time, Romney called Obama's August 2007 statements about pursuing high-value targets in Pakistan 'ill-timed and ill-considered.'

And a year after he called Obama's remarks 'naive,' McCain demurred in a discussion with me about the possibility of unilateral U.S. action to bring bin Laden to justice.

'Pakistan is a sovereign nation and we have to have the cooperation of Pakistan to have these operations succeed,' McCain said during our June 2008 interview.

'If you alienate Pakistan and it turns into an anti-American government, then you will have much greater difficulties,' he continued. 'Do they do what we want them to do? No. Have they been helpful to us? Yes. Has Musharraf been a friend of ours? He has been.

'I wish there were better relations between [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai and Musharraf. I wish a lot of things were different in this world. But … you and I just have an honest disagreement if you think we can just get tough on Pakistan and they will do what we want them to do.'

Obama was the first to voice a willingness to give the order to launch such a mission, and has never wavered. Moreover, given the surgical precision with which the SEALs operated, it is easy to overlook the possible perils that the mission presented. The decision to give the order to launch the attack appears to have been easy only in retrospect. It bears remembering that then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Vice President Biden had serious reservations about the plan.

Had the mission failed, Obama would have been roundly chastised by the same people who now refuse to accord him any credit for the mission's success. Again, the president was decisive, and deserves credit for making a decision that was fraught with peril, politically, militarily, and diplomatically.

He's earned the right to say, 'Mission accomplished.'

Contact Michael Smerconish via www.smerconish.com. Read his columns at www.philly.com/smerconish.


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 6, 2012 Sunday
TWO STAR EDITION


OBAMA CLAIMS UNDUE CREDIT;
HE EXAGGERATES HIS ROLE IN THE KILLING OF BIN LADEN


BYLINE: Jack Kelly


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. B-3


LENGTH: 729 words


The one unalloyed success of Barack Obama's presidency came a year ago when he gave the green light to Navy SEALs to "get" Osama bin Laden at his safe house in Pakistan. That was the right call, and he made it at some political risk. Mr. Obama no doubt remembered how Jimmy Carter's political fortunes plummeted after the mission he ordered to rescue American hostages in Iran came a cropper at Desert One.

Since it is his lone triumph, it's understandable why Mr. Obama has changed his mind about "spiking the football" by claiming credit for it. But red flags flew when Team Obama asserted Mitt Romney wouldn't have ordered the hit.

To make this outrageous claim, Team Obama distorted wildly a 2007 interview in which Mr. Romney said killing or capturing one man was not enough to deal with the Islamist threat. He clarified his remarks a short time later at a GOP debate in Iowa:

"Of course we get Osama bin Laden and track him wherever he has to go, and make sure he pays for the outrage he exacted upon America. ... But I don't want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person. ... It's more than Osama bin Laden. But he is going to pay, and he will die."

The attack on Mr. Romney shifted discussion from the president's courage to his ethics.

"Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of Sept. 11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Releasing a campaign ad exploiting 9/11 and the killing of bin Laden is "one of the most despicable things you can do," agreed liberal activist Arianna Huffington on CBS.

Mr. Obama's "nonstop campaigning is looking, well, sleazy," wrote Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank. "His ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have killed Osama bin Laden is just the beginning of it."

By inflating the president's role, Team Obama also has raised questions about how gutsy the "gutsy call" really was -- and who made it.

The "timing, operational decision making and control" of the mission was in the hands of Adm. William McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, according to a memo by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. This clashes with Team Obama's depiction of a "hands on" president carefully monitoring the mission and making key decisions.

"The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president," the memo continued. "Any additional risks are to be brought back to the president for his consideration."

Michael Mukasey, attorney general under George W. Bush, interpreted this to mean that "if the mission went wrong, the fault would be Adm. McRaven's, not the president's." Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Mukasey said he couldn't imagine Presidents Lincoln, Eisenhower or George W. Bush trying to duck responsibility for the failure of a mission they'd ordered.

U.S. intelligence couldn't have located bin Laden's hideout were it not for policies instituted by President Bush, which President Obama shut down, wrote Jose Rodriguez, former chief of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, in The Washington Post. And some SEALs are unhappy that Mr. Obama is claiming credit which belongs to others, wrote columnist Toby Harnden of the London Daily Mail. "Obama wasn't in the field, at risk, carrying a gun," a serving SEAL told Mr. Harnden. "He should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line."

The president "was not the man who made the call" to get bin Laden, former SEAL sniper Chris Kyle told Mr. Harnden. "He can say he did, and the people who really know what happened are inside the Pentagon, are in the military, and the military isn't allowed to speak out against the commander- in-chief, so his secret is safe."

But at least one liberal journalist fears retired SEALs -- who are free to speak out -- will do to Mr. Obama what the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did to inflated claims of Sen. John Kerry's heroism in Vietnam.

"The frustration -- or, even anger -- within the SEAL community is real, and has been brewing for months," said Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed. "It wouldn't be surprising to see the website NavySealsAgainstObama.com sprout up soon."

Mr. Obama's unseemly victory lap already has tarnished what should have been his strongest asset.

"I never underestimate this White House's ability to overplay their hand," said Bush administration press secretary Dana Perino.


LOAD-DATE: May 9, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Jack Kelly is a columnist for the Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio (jkelly@post-gazette.com, 412 263-1476)./


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South Bend Tribune (Indiana)


May 6, 2012 Sunday
Mich Edition


The thrill is gone


BYLINE: ERIN BLASKO, South Bend Tribune


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A1


LENGTH: 560 words


SOUTH BEND - When then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, locked in a tight race for the Democratic nomination for president, visited the area in March 2008, more than 4,000 supporters packed the Mishawaka High School gym to hear her speak.

Twelve days later, her opponent, then-Sen. Barack Obama, spoke before a crowd of 3,500 at Washington High School in South Bend.

The excitement generated by the race drove voters to the polls. More than 9,200 people cast early ballots that year, and an additional 62,879 came out on primary election day.

All told, more than 72,000 people, or about 38 percent of registered voters in the county, participated in the election, an increase of about 235 percent compared with 2004 and about 336 percent compared with 2000.

Four years later, that excitement is gone.

President Barack Obama is unopposed in the Democratic primary, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is now the presumptive Republican nominee.

On top of that, only four local races are competitive.

And it shows.

According to numbers provided by the county clerk's office, just 2,511 people had cast early ballots as of Thursday morning, down more than 73 percent compared with 2008.

Statewide, early voting is down about 40 percent.

Some voters could not even be bothered to get on a bus and vote.

According to Lisa Plencner, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area, an attempt by the group to organize a "Flash Vote" at the County-City Building on April 28 fell flat.

The League registered more than 700 young voters prior to the event, but on the day of, she said, none showed up to be bused to the polls.

Early voting ends at noon Monday.

"I think the biggest factor is that we really do not have competitive presidential primaries at this point," Elizabeth Bennion, associate director of political science at Indiana University South Bend, said of the low turnout so far.

As a result, Bennion said, "there is less of a feeling that primary voters in Indiana will make a big difference in those top-of-the-ticket races."

The one race that does seem to matter to voters is between Richard Lugar and Richard Mourdock, both candidates for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Both candidates visited South Bend this past week, and the race has generated thousands of dollars in local ad buys, both from the campaigns and outside interest groups.

A look at the number of Republican ballots cast during early voting tells the story.

According to information provided by the county voter registration office, of the 2,511 ballots cast as of Thursday, about 50 percent were Republican.

Typically, that number is closer to 25 percent.

To what extent "raiding" - one party voting in the opposing party's primary in an attempt to affect the outcome of a particular race - has influenced that number is unknown.

Some have suggested that Democrats might cross over and vote for Mourdock, under the assumption that he would be a weaker candidate than Lugar in November, giving presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly a better chance at victory.

Bennion is not so sure.

"Political scientists have not found widespread evidence of raiding ? in the past," she said, and Democrats "do, of course, have down-ticket races of their own."

"So I doubt there will be a huge number of crossovers."

Staff writer Erin Blasko: eblasko@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6187


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States News Service


May 6, 2012 Sunday


ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT RELEASES NEW WEB VIDEO, "SILENCE"


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 748 words


DATELINE: BOSTON, MA


The following information was released by Mitt Romney for President:

Today, Romney for President released a new web video, "Silence." Yesterday, President Obama launched his campaign by telling Americans not to ask if they are better off than they were four years ago, but how they'll be tomorrow. This follows a jobs report that found more than 340,000 Americans dropping out of the labor force and an unemployment rate that remains unacceptably high.

To View "Silence" Please See: http://mi.tt/IMzwLQ

AD FACTS: Script For "Silence"

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: "Tonight, new evidence the economic recovery is slowing."

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: "Tonight, new evidence that the economic recovery is slowing." (CBS' "CBS Evening News," 5/4/12)

HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC: "The unemployment rate 8.1 percent."

HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC: "The unemployment rate 8.1 percent." (CNBC's "Squawk Box," 5/4/12)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "Over and over again, they'll tell you that America's down and out""

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "Over and over again, they'll tell you America's down and out." (President Barack Obama, "Remarks," Columbus, OH, 5/5/12)

BRIAN SULLIVAN, CNBC: "The unemployment rate did drop to 8.1 percent, but only, guys, because fewer people are in the workforce."

BRIAN SULLIVAN, CNBC: "The unemployment rate did drop to 8.1 percent, but only, guys, because fewer people are in the workforce." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 5/4/12)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "And ask if you're better off than you were before""

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "And ask if you're better off than you were before"" (President Barack Obama, "Remarks," Columbus, OH, 5/5/12)

JARED BERNSTEIN, FORMER OBAMA ADVISOR: "I'm just not seeing a ton of sunshine in here."

JARED BERNSTEIN, FORMER OBAMA ADVISOR: "I'm just not seeing a ton of sunshine in here." (CNBC's "Squawk Box," 5/4/12)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN: "Transportation and warehousing is where we lost some jobs."

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN: "Transportation and warehousing is where we lost some jobs." (CNN's "Starting Point With Soledad O'Brien," CNN, 5/4/12)

BRIAN SULLIVAN, CNBC: "That is a terrible number."

BRIAN SULLIVAN, CNBC: "That is a terrible number." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 5/4/12)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "The real question""

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "The real question""(President Barack Obama, "Remarks," Columbus, OH, 5/5/12)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: "Job creation numbers fall for the third straight month."

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: "Job creation numbers fall for the third straight month." (CBS' "CBS Evening News," 5/4/12)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "It's not just about how we're doing today, but how we'll be doing tomorrow."

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "It's not just about how we're doing today, but how we'll be doing tomorrow." (President Barack Obama, "Remarks," Columbus, OH, 5/5/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "Today Millions Of Americans Are Suffering In Silence."

VIDEO TEXT: "Job Growth Is Not Nearly Fast Enough To Recover The Losses From The Great Recession"

"Job Growth Is Not Nearly Fast Enough To Recover The Losses From The Great Recession And Its Aftermath." "Such job growth is not nearly fast enough to recover the losses from the Great Recession and its aftermath. Today the U.S. economy is producing even more goods and services than it did when the recession officially began in December 2007, but with about 5 million fewer workers." (Catherine Rampell, "U.S. Adds Only 115,000 Jobs In April," The New York Times, 5/4/12)

VIDEO TEXT: ""More Than 340,000 Workers Dropped Out Of The Labor Force""

"More Than 340,000 Workers Dropped Out Of The Labor Force." "April's jobs report was, in a word, disappointing. The economy added only 115,000 jobs. Hiring slowed. More than 340,000 workers dropped out of the labor force." (Charles Riley, "Why Obama Can't Match The Reagan Recovery," CNN Money, 5/4/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "More Than 5 Million Americans Have Been Unemployed For Six Months Or Longer"

"More Than 5 Million Americans Have Been Unemployed For Six Months Or Longer"" "More than 5 million Americans have been unemployed for six months or longer, an astonishingly high number almost three years into a recovery." (Christopher S. Rugaber, "US Hiring Slows Sharply With Just 115K Jobs Added," The Associated Press, 5/4/12)

VIDEO TEXT: "This Is The Obama Economy."

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "That's why I'm running again for President of the United States."

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "That's why I'm running again for President of the United States." (President Barack Obama, "Remarks," Columbus, OH, 5/5/12)

###


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Tampa Bay Times


May 6, 2012 Sunday
0 South Pinellas Edition


OBAMA HINTS OF A ROUGH CAMPAIGN


BYLINE: ALEX LEARY, TIMES STAFF WRITER


SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 1164 words


DATELINE: RICHMOND, Va.



HIGHLIGHT: At a pair of rallies, he tries to recapture 2008's energy while taking aim at Mitt Romney.


President Barack Obama opened an aggressive phase of his re-election campaign Saturday with rallies in Ohio and Virginia that acknowledged great economic struggle but summoned the optimism that propelled him four years ago while pointedly attacking his Republican rival.

"Yes, there were setbacks. Yes, there were disappointments. But we didn't quit. We don't quit. Together, we're fighting our way back," Obama said to a crowd of 8,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"We're still fired up. We're still ready to go," he said to deafening applause.

For a moment, at least, it was 2008, the president's rolled-up sleeves projecting eagerness. But it's 2012, and Obama has significant challenges heading into the general election with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Obama is the incumbent now, and for all the advantages that affords him, it also puts his record on display. He can point to accomplishments but must shoulder Americans' frustration with a still-struggling economy.

He must translate the enthusiasm inside the gym here to Democrats across the country, but also win over weary independents who were key to his 2008 success. And he faces the tricky balance of communicating the good and bad while making the case for four more years.

"We have come too far to abandon the change we fought for these past few years," Obama said. "Virginia, we have to move forward, to the future we imagined in 2008."

Large banners, cast in a familiar light blue, captured that sentiment in a word: Forward.

Obama's central argument is that the country under his leadership persevered in exceedingly difficult times and cannot afford to slip back. He displayed a harder edge than four years ago in hopes of defining Romney as a throwback and protector of big business and the wealthy.

"I don't care how many ways you try to explain it: Corporations aren't people. People are people," Obama said, referring to a remark Romney made during the GOP caucuses in Iowa. He tried to spin the worries of ordinary Americans into a warning.

"I've heard from too many people wondering why they haven't been able to get one of the jobs that have been created; why their home is still under water; why their family hasn't yet been touched by the recovery," Obama said. "The other side won't be offering these Americans a real answer to these questions."

The Romney campaign on Saturday cast Obama as a failure, saying he had broken his promise to jump-start the economy.

- - -

Obama's 2008 campaign was a marketing dream, a young, fresh and historic figure propelled by a simple, inclusive slogan of hope and change.

"Four years ago he was running against the party of a massively unpopular president and Democrats were overjoyed about voting," said Peter A. Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "John McCain wasn't George Bush, but he might as well have been."

The optimism clashed early with a darkening economy, the worst in a generation. Obama pursued the economic stimulus against universal Republican opposition and hundreds of billions of dollars produced results that were often hard to see. He pursued a health care overhaul in the face of the same partisanship and calls from even his own party to focus more on jobs. At the same time, he upset liberals by not going far enough on health care and backing down on environmental regulations.

"When you're the incumbent, you make decisions that people like and don't like," said Democratic strategist Chris Lehane. But he repeated what has become an unofficial slogan of sorts: Osama bin Laden is dead and Detroit is alive, themes Obama hit Saturday.

"When some wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt," Obama said, "we made a bet on American workers, on the ingenuity of American companies. And today, our auto industry is back on top of the world."

The economy has shown flickers of recovery, but stubbornly so. Jobs were added at a slower rate for the second straight month in April, and while the unemployment rate fell a notch to 8.1 percent, it was due to hundreds of thousands of people who quit looking for work.

A Quinnipiac poll last week showed tight races in three swing states - Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Virginia, which Obama won in 2008 after years of GOP dominance, is crucial as well.

"This may well be the state that decides who the next president is," Romney said Thursday in Portsmouth, his second stop in Virginia in a week.

Nationally, Obama has a slight edge, and both sides expect a tight race that will rise and fall with the economy.

- - -

The Richmond rally and the one earlier Saturday at Ohio State University in Columbus were designed to rekindle enthusiasm among young voters, who turned out in waves for Obama in 2008. The economy has been brutal for recent college graduates.

"The biggest problem we're going to have is people are fed up with the system," said Susan Smith, a liberal activist from the Tampa Bay area. "I look at the Occupy movement and I think that's what it's about."

Smith said the disillusionment is fueled in part by the growing influence of Super PACs, groups that have taken advantage of a landmark 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on corporate and union money in politics to raise tens of millions for hard-hitting TV ad campaigns. Republicans have made better use of Super PACs, seeing the dividends during midterm elections in which Democrats lost control of the House, further handicapping Obama.

"We'll have to contend with even more negative ads, with even more cynicism and nastiness, and sometimes just plain foolishness," Obama said Saturday, asserting the ads would "exploit people's frustrations for my opponent's political gain."

His attacks on Romney indicate he plans to play rough, a move that pleases Democrats eager for a tougher attitude.

Mixed signals were apparent in the booming Richmond arena. "He's got it in the bag," said Tyra Oliver, 31, who works in finance. But in the next breath she conceded that the enthusiasm is off: "I'm a little worried about that."

The campaign went to great lengths to translate the energy beyond the event. People were asked to pull out their phones and call a friend and ask them to get involved. Volunteers went around signing up recruits, and an announcer warned people to have their ID on hand when they went to vote, a reference to new laws put in place across the country by Republican legislatures.

First lady Michelle Obama reminded college graduates to make sure they register to vote at their new address in the fall and appealed to a sense of personal responsibility.

"With every door you knock on, with every call you make, with every conversation you have, I want you to remember that this could be the one that makes the difference," she said.

The message resonated with D'Juan Thomas, 24. He did not vote in 2008. Now, when Obama needs him most, he is headed to the polls. "As long as he keeps us motivated and believing, I think he'll get re-elected."

Alex Leary can be reached at leary@tampabay.com Follow @learyreports on Twitter.


LOAD-DATE: May 7, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: PHOTO - Getty Images: President Barack Obama greets supporters Saturday at a rally at Ohio State University. PHOTO - Getty Images: President Barack Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama on Saturday at a rally at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, sought to paint Mitt Romney, his likely GOP challenger in the November election, as a protector of big business and the wealthy.


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Tampa Bay Times


May 6, 2012 Sunday


BEWARE MEDISCARE


BYLINE: ANGIE DROBNIC HOLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER


SECTION: PERSPECTIVE; POLITIFACT; Pg. 1P


LENGTH: 1621 words


Barack Obama has slashed Medicare by $500 billion. Mitt Romney and House Republicans want to end Medicare. And a new board is going to ration care so Washington can waste more money.

Believe any of that? You shouldn't.

But it's what the political ads likely will be saying between now and Election Day in November.

We have some advice for voters sorting out the claims: Believe nothing you hear in a 30-second TV ad.

Here are a few facts about Medicare:

- It's the government-run health insurance for Americans over age 65.

- It's a Canada-style, single-payer system. Liberals love that; conservatives don't.

- It has approximately 50 million people on its rolls.

- That 50 million will grow to 80 million as baby boomers retire. Paying for that will be a challenge.

Those realities about Medicare have sparked a full-fledged political brawl for 2012.

On one side are House Republicans, inspired by a Medicare plan from Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The Ryan proposal moves the program toward private insurance. In the future, seniors would get money from the government to shop for new health plans - a dramatic departure from the current system.

Democrats have said a vote for the Ryan plan was a vote to end Medicare, making the charge over and over again in special elections across the country. PolitiFact rated the statement Pants on Fire, because changing a program is not ending it. We saw the charge so often that we named it our 2011 Lie of the Year.

On the other side are President Barack Obama and Democrats who supported the 2010 health care law. It reins in future Medicare spending in a variety of ways - none of them easy to explain in 30-second ads. Generally speaking, the Democratic proposals would move Medicare away from paying for each treatment (called "fee for service"). Instead, Medicare would pay doctors and hospitals for improving patient health.

Republicans and super PACs have attacked on two seemingly contradictory lines: that Democrats have slashed Medicare spending, and that Democrats are ignoring Medicare's spiraling costs.

To sort out today's political attacks on Medicare, it helps to understand how long we've been fighting about it.

- - -

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965, but the sparring started even before that.

In the 1964 election, Johnson launched a TV ad against Republican Barry Goldwater showing yachts and jet planes:

"On Sept. 1, 1964, Sen. Barry M. Goldwater interrupted his vacation cruise and headed for shore in a big hurry. Destination: Washington, D.C. He arrived just in time to cast his vote -NO! Then he turned around and headed back. Sen. Goldwater flew across the continent twice, almost 6,000 miles, to vote against a program of hospital insurance for older Americans."

Four years later, Johnson's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, took credit for the new law. Humphrey's ad showed a voter thinking hard, asking himself what Richard Nixon had done for him.

"What has Richard Nixon ever done for me? Uhh ... Medicare? No, that was Humphrey's idea." (Humphrey had worked on early legislation as a senator.)

Later elections turned to accusations of cutting Medicare. In 1984, Democrat Walter Mondale charged President Ronald Reagan with "trying to slash the program" while Mondale pledged to protect it.

In 1992, a Republican president turned the tables on the Democrats. President George H.W. Bush launched an ad calling out Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. Bush's campaign said Clinton's health plan was "socialized medicine" and "would require $218 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts in the next five years."

For the past 20 years, Medicare has popped up regularly in political ads. Usually, Democrats attacked Republicans for failing to support the program.

Then came Obama's health care law in 2010. That fall, Republicans and conservative groups unleashed a storm of ads accusing Democrats of cutting the program.

It was unusual, but not entirely unexpected.

"Democrats always go after Republicans on Medicare, and it often works," Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told PolitiFact in 2010. "Why not neutralize and short-circuit the attack by getting in the first licks?"

After winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans put forward the Ryan plan to largely privatize Medicare. And that's put Democrats back in attack mode. Democratic strategists believe the issue helped them in several tough special elections last year.

Which brings us to 2012.

- - -

The Ryan plan will be a central part of this year's Medicare debate, both sides agree. The plan received overwhelming support from Republicans in a 2011 House vote on a budget blueprint.

Future beneficiaries could opt to receive "premium support payments" from the government to help pay for the private insurance starting in 2023.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the idea would save the government money. But it does so by asking future beneficiaries to pay more for the same benefits.

The Republican plan has the virtue of recognizing it's not fiscally sustainable for Medicare to keep promising benefits that are not paid for, said Robert Moffit, a health care analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation. If anything, he criticizes the plan for exempting people near retirement and not kicking in soon enough.

"We don't exist in an alternative universe where you can have it all and have 80 million people in the system, including the baby boomers," Moffit said.

If 2011 was any indication, Democratic attacks will focus on the Ryan plan, warning seniors that the plan will make dramatic changes to Medicare. That's a fair charge, but where Democrats go too far is when their ads claim Republicans intend to eliminate or abolish Medicare entirely. PolitiFact has consistently rated those statements Pants on Fire.

Ryan put forth a modified proposal at the end of 2011: He now supports leaving traditional Medicare as an option.

- - -

Obama and the Democrats, meanwhile, have offered changes to Medicare aimed at treating more people while reducing overall costs. Many of their ideas are now law through the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

One idea you may have heard of - because it's been featured in ads with 1950s crooner Pat Boone - is the Independent Payments Advisory Board. In Florida, an ad from the conservative 60 Plus Association featured Boone attacking Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., for voting for the health law.

The IPAB, Boone said, will "ration care and deny certain Medicare treatments so Washington can fund more wasteful spending." In reality, the board is charged with making system-wide recommendations to rein in spending, and it makes those recommendations within limited parameters. Congress can override the recommendations as long as it institutes other cost-cutting measures. PolitiFact rated Boone's statement Pants on Fire.

The health care law, though, is loaded with other changes to Medicare. Most notably, Democrats found ways to reduce projected spending by $500 billion over 10 years, which they then counted as deficit reductions against new spending in the health care law.

The idea is to steer Medicare away from paying for each treatment (called "fee for service") and toward a system that pays doctors and hospitals based on improving patient health.

The savings came from reducing payments to Medicare Advantage and to hospitals, nursing homes and other skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies. The reductions are part of programs intended to improve care and make it more efficient - for instance, by lowering payments for preventable hospital readmissions.

In a campaign memo, the Romney team said that all those changes taken together are dramatic enough to say that it's actually Obama who is "ending Medicare as we know it."

PolitiFact's rating for that statement? Pants on Fire.

Other political ads have said simply that Democrats had "cut" Medicare by $500 billion, wrongly implying that the current program was receiving less funding.

Romney recently said Obama "is the only president to ever cut $500 billion from Medicare." PolitiFact rated that False: It wasn't a straightforward cut but a reduction in future growth. And other presidents have trimmed future Medicare spending, too.

While Republicans run ads saying Democrats have cut Medicare, they will also accuse them of ignoring Medicare's fiscal imbalances.

Yet the health care law is loaded with ideas to make Medicare more cost effective, said John Rother, president of the National Coalition on Health Care, which represents unions, churches, medical societies and consumer advocates.

But the ideas take time to explain to voters and don't fit into easy sound bites.

"There's no one word that captures it the way that vouchers or privatization captures the Republican plan," Rother said. "So it is more complicated to talk about. But Democrats haven't even made the effort, and they're paying the price for it now."

* * *

"Republicans voted to end Medicare."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a TV ad, April 18, 2011

The Ruling: PANTS ON FIRE

---

President Obama "is the only president to ever cut $500 billion from Medicare."

Mitt Romney, in a speech, April 14, 2012

The Ruling: FALSE

---

A new board will "ration care and deny certain Medicare treatments so Washington can fund more wasteful spending."

Pat Boone, in a TV ad, March 12, 2012

The Ruling: PANTS ON FIRE

* * *

About this series

Today we begin an occasional series that will apply the rigor of our PolitiFact approach to broad topics that will be central issues of the presidential campaign. Our goal is to give you a toolbox full of facts and context to assess the claims that are certain to come in the weeks ahead. We start our series with Medicare.


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


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Advertising Age


May 7, 2012


IN RACE FOR WHITE HOUSE, PUSH FOR LATINO VOTERS IS ON


BYLINE: ANA RADELAT


SECTION: Pg. 104 Vol. 83


LENGTH: 417 words


While President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney will make special efforts to appeal to certain groups, the competition for the Latino vote will be one of the most intense. And it's already started.

Hispanic voters are the fastest-growing voting bloc in the U.S. A record 12.2 million Latinos are expected to cast ballots this year.

More important, Latinos will cast a lot of those votes in swing states.

Hispanic votes helped Mr. Obama turn New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Nevada from red to blue in 2008 and may have also made a difference in Virginia and North Carolina, two other Republican strongholds the president won.

In all, Mr. Obama received 67% of the Hispanic vote. Mr. Romney told donors in Florida if he can't chip away at that support, "it spells doom for us."

Lionel Sosa, owner of a Hispanic advertising firm in Texas and adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain, said Mr. Romney has to distance himself from the hard-line stance on immigration he adopted when he was battling primary rivals.

The Obama campaign spent $25 million in 2008 on Spanish-language ads. Mr. Sosa said Mr. Romney has to pour money into both Spanish-language ads and English-language ads that appeal to Latinos, as most Hispanic voters are English-dominant.

But Mr. Sosa said the best thing Mr. Romney could do is pick a Hispanic running mate, preferably Sen. Marco Rubio, a Tea Party favorite from the swing state of Florida.

"If Romney does all of these things, he can get 50% of the Latino vote," Mr. Sosa said. "But if the election were held today, he would lose."

Mr. Obama also has to work hard to shore up his popularity among Latinos, many of whom are dismayed that the president has set records for deportations and failed to spend political capital on a comprehensive immigration bill.

The president launched "Latinos for Obama" in April and ran the first Spanish-language ad of the 2012 presidential race in Florida.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee has rolled out a "Hispanic Outreach Program" that sent organizers to Florida, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and North Carolina.

David Candelaria, general manager of a Univision station in El Paso, Texas, that has about 20,000 viewers in New Mexico, said both campaigns as well as some Democratic PACs have contacted him about advertising.

"They're talking, but nobody has placed anything yet," Mr. Candelaria said. "We're thinking it's going to happen in late May or early June. And we're expecting a lot more buys than four years ago."


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Advertising Age


May 7, 2012


Obama, Romney camps craft narratives as general-election season heats up;
Already targeting loyalists and swing states, both candidates focus on economy


BYLINE: ANA RADELAT


SECTION: Pg. 3 Vol. 83


LENGTH: 833 words


As the general-election season kicks off, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be looking to weave competing narratives out of the same set of numbers, analysts say. While crucial undecided voters most likely aren't paying attention yet, the campaigns and their affiliated Super PACS are testing out approaches in key swing states.

Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, should focus on the economy, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

"His key will be to make [economic] data sing in short, punchy TV ads," Mr. Sabato said. "Taken together, the ads should simply answer, in the negative, Ronald Reagan's famous question from his 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'"

Mr. Sabato said the president has a tougher task.

"He has to use his ads to convince voters that they are better off, even when they may not feel they are. Selective use of economic data is key," he said. "Obama must stress the positive-remind viewers of his domestic and foreign-policy accomplishments in his first term."

Mr. Obama should also go negative, Mr. Sabato said, defining Romney as a change for the worse.

Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on TV ads by the candidates and supportive PACs, most of it in about a dozen swing and battleground states where the goal is persuading undecided voters, mostly independents, who will decide the election.

But "at this point both campaigns are using advertising as symbolic messages to reach party loyalists," said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. "They are trying to advance a narrative."

Based on recent speeches and campaign material, the Obama campaign narrative could be read as: "Stick with me, I saved you from the Bush administration's ruinous economic policies and am winning the war on terrorism because I killed Osama Bin Laden. I will also, unlike my opponent, look out for the 99%."

For the Romney campaign, it's: "I'm the guy who can fix the economy because I'm the true conservative job creator who will make America exceptional again through lower taxes and smaller government. My opponent promised change, but it's been in the wrong direction."

Ads are already running in some swing states, including Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and North Carolina.

These states often vote Republican in presidential elections but were in Obama's camp in 2008.

Obama may funnel advertising dollars into Arizona because it is home to many Democratic-leaning Latinos. It's thought the state went Republican in 2008 only because the GOP presidential nominee was Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio-traditional Democratic states that have become less so-will also be in play.

An Obama ad called "Swiss Bank Account" running in Iowa, Virginia and Ohio slams Romney for outsourcing jobs as a businessman and governor and says it's "just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account."

Mr. Romney, meanwhile, is frantically trying to raise money to counter Mr. Obama's superior fundraising ability. Mr. Romney's campaign has produced plenty of YouTube videos attacking Mr. Obama, but has yet to air a general election ad, leaving that for now to "independent" super PACs, which are expected to dwarf the campaigns in the amount of money spent on advertising.

Americans for Prosperity, a coalition of conservative groups, is running ads attacking Obama in Florida, Nevada, and Virginia, and plans to spend about $100 million on TV advertising before Labor Day.

Meanwhile, the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA has a $1 million buy in Nevada and Colorado.

Tax-exempt advocacy groups that aren't required to disclose their donors, such as Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, are also slowly entering the fray.

Mr. Gonzales, who is also the founder of PoliticsInStereo.com, predicts that "hundreds of millions of dollars" will be spent on the race for the White House this year. But he said the real ad spending will begin later in the summer-and peak in early fall.

"Swing voters aren't paying attention right now and won't be paying attention until after Labor Day," he said.

Mr. Gonzales also predicts that both campaigns, and especially their allies, will air mostly biting and misleading ads. "The dirty secret about negative ads is that they work," he said.

Not all advertising dollars will be spent on TV.

"By necessity, advertising strategies have become pretty complicated formulas," said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report. "The internet has changed things considerably, as has microtargeting. In 2004 ... you saw the Bush campaign rely on radio in some states and very specific cable audiences nationally, like the Golf Channel. I think that you will see a lot more of this."

Ms. Duffy said she expects "some fluidity" in the buying strategies of both campaigns and their Super PAC supporters as they react to "ever-changing events and hot spots."


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American Banker


May 7, 2012 Monday


"It Can't Get Any Worse" - Why Banks Are Making a One-Sided Political Bet


BYLINE: Kevin Wack


SECTION: REGULATION & REFORM Vol. 177 No. 87


LENGTH: 1073 words


WASHINGTON - In a sign of how angry many bankers are after the passage of Dodd-Frank, the industry is backing Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee by a nearly 2-to-1 margin through political donations in the 2012 campaign.

Though some may see it as a political risk - especially given that President Obama is still considered the favorite in this race - bankers argue they see only upside, and little potential backlash, from their support of the president's rival.

"There are a lot of bankers who feel that it can't get any worse," said Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association, who has formed a political action committee. "What more can this administration do to our industry? Are they going to be more hostile than they are, more critical than they already are, impose more regulatory burdens than they already have?"

There are several reasons why the industry's strategy may be valid. Obama has already passed a major financial-reform law, so it's hard to imagine that he'll try to pass another overhaul.

And while perceptions vary widely about how much pain the Dodd-Frank Act is causing the banking industry, there is little doubt that a second-term Obama will fiercely defend the law, no matter how much money he raises from bankers.

The possible benefits of supporting Romney, meanwhile, are obvious. A Romney administration would support policies more favorable to banks than Obama would in his second term.

Furthermore, it is unlikely that the banking industry, which plays such a key role in the U.S. economy, will get shut out of the policy-making process if Obama wins in the way that a smaller industry might. Conversely, it is not clear whether bank industry support for the president's re-election effort would yield many concrete benefits.

"The problem for bankers is that even if they give money to Obama, they probably are not buying anything other than courtesies that don't mean much in terms of policy," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

The banking industry's strong backing of Romney in 2012 marks a sharp reversal from four years ago.

In 2008, commercial banks and their employees gave $3.4 million to Obama and $2.4 million to Republican nominee John McCain, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, though the RNC raised about $1 million more from commercial banks than the Democratic National Committee did.

Looking more broadly at contributions from the entire financial sector, Obama's advantage in 2008 was larger. He raised $42 million from the sector, compared with $31 million for McCain. For Obama, that $11-million advantage has turned into a $10-million deficit in 2012, according to campaign-finance records.

The banking industry's distaste for Obama reached the point recently where a Goldman Sachs executive joked publicly that the firm has banned its employees from supporting the president's re-election campaign, prompting CEO Lloyd Blankfein to make clear that Goldman employees can give to whomever they want.

The reasons for the industry's shift away from Obama are complicated - a mix of hard-headed calculation and a more emotional response to the president's public criticism of banks.

Headlee, a Romney supporter whose family has been connected to the Romneys since the 1960s, when his father held a high-ranking position on George Romney's presidential campaign, expressed the frustration that many bankers feel with President Obama.

"We're at the heart of the community, we're at the heart of the economy," Headlee said. "And they seize at opportunities to attack banks, and then they wonder why the economy is struggling."

Ralph "Chip" MacDonald, an industry lawyer at Jones Day, shares the view that banks risk little by supporting Romney.

"What do they have to lose at the moment, since the administration has been so vocal in criticizing the financial services industry?" he asked.

Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University, is not very sympathetic to the complaints of bankers, arguing that financial reform should have gone farther than it did. Still, he said that following the passage of Dodd-Frank, the industry has strong reasons to turn its back on Obama.

"We're not even halfway through the rulemaking," Hurley said, "and it's clear that the banking industry's profits aren't going to be what they were."

Blair Bowie, who works on campaign-finance issues for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which advocates for tough financial reforms, agreed that the banking industry is being rational in its support of Romney.

She expressed doubt that if banks were to support Obama, there would be much impact on his second-term policies.

"What it says more to me is that the financial industry wants Mitt Romney in office," Bowie said.

This year's contribution patterns mark a return to historical partisan norms, with 2008 looking like an outlier. Campaign-finance records from the last six presidential elections show that the contest four years ago was the only time that commercial banks gave more money to the Democratic nominee.

It is more unusual, though, for the banking industry to back an underdog candidate for the White House. The best recent analogy to this year's election may be the 1996 contest, when banks backed Republican challenger Bob Dole over incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton.

The analogy is imperfect, since financial policy was less prominent in the 1996 campaign than it figures to be this year, and Clinton had drawn far less ire from the banking sector than Obama has.

But it's hard to see any negative fallout for the banking industry from its backing the eventual loser in 1996. During Clinton's second term, he signed two important pieces of financial deregulation - the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 - both of which had strong support from the banking industry.

It remains to be seen whether bank industry contributions will begin to even out as November approaches. Interest groups frequently contribute to the campaigns of both their friends and enemies, but for the banking industry, that strategy may be unnecessary this year.

"Failing to make a choice and playing both sides of the street can also have adverse consequences," Sabato said. "Life is full of gambles, and bankers are betting that they will be better treated by Republicans. Surely on that score, they are correct."


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The Associated Press


May 7, 2012 Monday 04:30 PM GMT


THE RACE: French race may be bad omen for Obama


BYLINE: By TOM RAUM, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 366 words


French President Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat could be a bad omen for President Barack Obama.

Sarkozy on Sunday joined a growing list of leaders swept aside by Europe's economic crisis or by austerity measures hated by voters. Some 11 have now fallen, including Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Spain's Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Sure, many European economies are in worse shape than the U.S. But there are some similarities, including broad voter skepticism on both sides of the Atlantic that government programs are doing much to spur growth or produce jobs.

Polls show most Americans still think the country remains in recession, even though it technically ended almost three years ago. They also show Republican Mitt Romney leading Obama on handling economic issues.

That's not good for Obama, with the economy still the No. 1 election issue.

Romney often links the president to Europe, suggesting Obama "wants to make us a European-style welfare state."

In Charlotte, N.C., Romney recently quipped that Obama won't stand alongside Greek columns at this year's Democratic convention as he did in 2008. "He's not going to want to remind anyone of Greece, because he's put us on a road to become more like Greece." Charlotte hosts the Democrats in September.

North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia hold GOP primaries Tuesday, with Romney expected to sweep all three in his march toward the Republican presidential nomination.

The Europeanization of Obama is a GOP attempt to distance him from his own country. Never mind that government programs in Europe have little in common with Obama's, that GOP budgets propose more austerity than Obama's or that Sarkozy was beaten by a real socialist.

The president's re-election campaign is fighting back by portraying America on the rise under Obama. "We're not there yet. It's still too hard for many. But we're coming back," says an Obama television ad released Monday.

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012.


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The Associated Press


May 7, 2012 Monday 04:48 PM GMT


Obama campaign emphasizes economy in newest ad


BYLINE: By JULIE PACE, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 677 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama's re-election team plans to spend $25 million on advertising this month, a dramatic escalation of its media presence in a handful of states that could determine the outcome on Nov. 6.

Campaign adviser David Axelrod announced the new figure Monday. He said the campaign intends to provide a positive message about Obama's candidacy, but will respond to negative ads from Mitt Romney, the all-but-nominated Republican challenger.

In that vein, Obama's campaign released a new ad Monday portraying America as on the rise and urging voters to stick with the president.

In a shift from many of the campaign's earlier ads, the latest commercial focuses entirely on promoting Obama's record and makes no direct attacks on Romney.

Axelrod contrasted their approach to that of former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, who they said has continued a negative strategy he set during the campaign against his Republican rivals.

Still, Axelrod said Obama's team will respond to criticism forcefully, saying he expects Romney and outside groups that support him to continue pounding at the president and his policies. He referred to two groups, one counseled by former George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove and another founded by billionaire oil industry brothers Charles and David Koch, as the "Karl and Koch brothers contract killers over there in super PAC land."

"We will treat every ad that comes from those entities as an ad from Gov. Romney and we will compare our record and our vision with his and we'll let the American people decide," Axelrod told reporters on a conference call.

The $25 million will ramp up the Obama team's advertising spending significantly.

The campaign spent about $2 million last week for an ad critical of Romney that aired in a handful of key states, according to a Republican strategist who monitors ad spending. That, by itself, represented an increase in ad spending by Obama's team. The new figure will increase spending to an average of $6 million a week.

The ad released Monday, with its more uplifting message, underscores the campaign's recognition that Obama can't win a second term simply by attacking his opponent. Obama also needs to make the case that, despite continued economic unease, he has made things better for the American people and is the right steward for the economy going forward.

The commercial credits Obama with pulling the economy back from the brink of recession and saving the U.S. automobile industry. It also highlights what the campaign sees as the president's foreign policy accomplishments, including killing Osama bin Laden and ending the war in Iraq.

In the ad, a narrator says of the U.S. economy: "We're not there yet, it's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back."

The Romney campaign responded swiftly. "Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago," spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said. She ticked through areas of the economy where the Romney campaign says Obama has failed, including high gas prices and home foreclosures.

Fresh economic data released last week underscored the economic challenges Obama will have to overcome if he hopes to hold the White House. The economy added just 115,000 jobs in April. While the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent, the decline was largely because more people stopped looking for work. People who are no longer looking for jobs are not counted as unemployed.

The new commercial follows Obama's back-to-back campaign rallies Saturday in Virginia and Ohio, where the president targeted Romney by name as a protector of the rich who will rubber-stamp the agenda of Republicans in Congress. While Obama's team dubbed the rallies as the official launch of the president's campaign, Obama has been in re-election mode for months, headlining campaign fundraisers and holding official White House events in battleground states.

The Obama campaign said the new ad will air in nine politically important states: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.


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The Associated Press


May 7, 2012 Monday 08:01 PM GMT


Did Romney earn tax credits for overseas profits?


BYLINE: By JACK GILLUM, Associated Press


SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS


LENGTH: 242 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


Do you remember what's on page 169 of your income tax return? Neither does Mitt Romney.

At a town hall-style meeting Monday in Cleveland, the GOP presidential candidate got this pointed question about his investments: In this age of tough foreign competition, could Romney explain the "over $1.5 million in foreign tax credits" he received since 2000?

"I'm not familiar with that," Romney told the man who asked. The crowd booed. "I didn't think I paid any foreign income taxes, but I'll be happy to take a look at it."

In fact, Romney and his wife, Ann, paid more than $1.2 million in foreign taxes on so-called passive investments from 2000 through 2010, and paid about $800,000 in taxes on general income to unspecified countries. That's according to the couple's own tax returns.

Their foreign tax bills entitled them to more than $1.5 million in tax credits in the United States since 2000, thanks to Internal Revenue Service rules that prevent businesses and investors from being doubly taxed on money they earn abroad.

Romney's GOP primary opponents and President Barack Obama have sought to make Romney's overseas earnings an issue in the campaign. Just last week, Obama ran a TV ad slamming the former Massachusetts governor for having Swiss bank accounts.

Romney's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press


May 7, 2012 Monday 10:42 PM GMT


AdWatch: Obama pushes recovery in new ad


BYLINE: By HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 565 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


TITLE: "Go"

LENGTH: 60 seconds

AIRING: Broadcast and cable TV stations in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, all key swing states.

KEY IMAGES: The year 2008 flashes across the screen followed by a series of grim images from that year: People waiting in line with pained looks, maps of homes being foreclosed and news footage from the stock market crash. The date 2008 stays in the corner of the screen as each image is shown, emphasizing that the nation's economic tumult started before President Barack Obama took office.

After a scene at Obama's inauguration, the images turn positive. The narrator notes the recovery of the auto industry and the raid that killed terrorist Osama bin Laden. As the narrator talks about Obama ending the Iraq war, a young girl rushes into the waiting arms of her father dressed in military fatigues. A graph showing job growth during Obama's tenure is shown as the narrator says, "Instead of losing jobs, we're creating them, over 4.2 million so far."

"We're not there yet. It's still too hard for too many," the narrator concludes. "But we're coming back, because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he."

ANALYSIS: Obama's ad recalls the positive "morning in America" spot run by Republican Ronald Reagan in his 1984 re-election bid. Like that ad, Obama's presents a narrative of U.S. recovery in an effort to woo swing voters. It reminds viewers just how grim things were in 2008, at the height of the financial meltdown, and presents Obama as someone who worked hard to improve the situation. But unlike Reagan, Obama doesn't have a clear-cut economic recovery to run on. Obama's ad also contains doom-and-gloom elements not present in Reagan's ad.

The largely positive ad is the largest yet from Obama's campaign in terms of states targeted. And its factual claims are true, as far as they go. The economic meltdown largely began under President George W. Bush, and under Obama, the economy has created more than 4.2 million jobs. But millions remain out of work and the unemployment rate is at 8.1 percent, a historically high level. Obama supported bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler and both companies have dramatically improved their standing. The president ordered a U.S. military raid that killed bin Laden and American troops have left Iraq.

Obama's ad presents these accomplishments as strong signs of a recovery and a rejuvenated nation. His GOP opponent, Mitt Romney, has built a campaign around the notion that Obama hasn't done enough to help the economy recover. Romney portrays the president as a feckless leader presiding over a sputtering recovery and not doing enough to key an American comeback. This ad represents Obama trying to blast his side of the story out to voters before Romney gets a chance to pick it apart.

Above all, though, the ad is designed to show Obama as a grounded optimist. In using clips of tea party rallies while a narrator talks about those who said "our best days were behind us" Obama is framing his opponents as the ones with a negative vision. After running a series of negative ads, including some responding to early attacks, this Obama message seeks to present him as aware of the nation's challenges but looking forward.

Follow Henry C. Jackson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/hjacksonap


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CNN Wire


May 7, 2012 Monday 4:02 PM EST


Obama campaign seeks to frame the narrative with new ads


BYLINE: By Jessica Yellin and Paul Steinhauser, CNN


LENGTH: 734 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- The Obama campaign launched Monday the first in a series of positive ads aimed at highlighting the president's record on such issues as the economy and foreign policy.

Called "Go," the first ad begins and ends by addressing voters' concerns about the economy, reminding Americans that President Obama inherited an economic mess from the previous administration. The one-minute spot makes the case that Obama's policies have helped middle-class Americans and will continue to do more in the future.

"Some said our best days were behind us, but not him," the narrator says before the ad cuts to Obama appearing at an auto industry bailout event saying, "Don't bet against the American worker."

The ad claims the American auto industry "is back" -- a message meant to appeal to voters in in the manufacturing industry in states like Michigan and Ohio.

The ad also touts the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- "our greatest enemy brought to justice by our greatest heroes" -- and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq with a picture of a little girl running into her father's arms at his homecoming. Military families are among the groups the campaign is trying to woo.

On a conference call with reporters Monday, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said the campaign will spend $25 million on ads in May, adding that the campaign is also prepared to "respond to the attacks" from Team Romney and the super PACs supporting his candidacy.

On Sunday, Axelrod brushed off Romney accusations that the president is running away from his record, saying in an appearance on ABC's "This Week" that the "extensive ad campaign" would show "where we were and where we've come and things we've accomplished."

Axelrod added that the ads will show "many other things that we're proud of and that show the progress we've made since the president has been elected."

In the portion of the ad the Romney campaign is likely to seize upon, the narrator touts job growth as one of Obama's accomplishments.

"Instead of losing jobs we're creating them. Over 4.2 million so far. We're not there yet. it's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back," the narrator says.

In the most recent jobs report released Friday, unemployment dropped to 8.1% in April in part because more than 340,000 Americans dropped out of the workforce -- a fact the Romney campaign was quick to point out. The campaign released over the weekend its own video critical of the president's economic record, pointing to the weak numbers in the jobs report and saying "Obama isn't working."

"Americans will hear a lot from President Obama in the coming months, but what they won't hear from him is the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said in a statement."

She added: "After a doubling of gas prices, declining incomes, millions of foreclosures, and record levels of unemployment, Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago. Mitt Romney's pro-growth agenda will get America back on track and stop the middle-class squeeze of the Obama economy."

The Obama campaign is seeking to combat that kind of message by building a counter-narrative with ads like the one released Monday.

The campaign is trying to tell a story about the economy and the recovery -- arguing things would have been far worse without Obama in the White House. Offering data to show conditions are improving, the campaign argues that the trend will continue for the middle class if Obama remains in office.

At his campaign rallies in Ohio and Virginia on Saturday, Obama said Romney "doesn't get" how to help the middle class. The new campaign spot offers a positive spin on the message, saying Obama is fighting to defend middle-class Americans.

The ad concludes with the narrator saying: "America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't give up. And neither does he."

Some of the president's most senior advisers say their research shows that even many undecided voters believe Obama works hard and is trying to do his best. The ad's conclusion seems to be playing into that sentiment.

The ad will be released early this week in the key battleground states of Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

A campaign spokesperson says it will be a "substantial" ad buy and more positive ads will follow.


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CNN Wire


May 7, 2012 Monday 11:41 AM EST


For Obama, foreign policy campaign could backfire


BYLINE: By Julian Zelizer, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 1079 words


DATELINE: PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN)


Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" (Times Books) and of the new book "Governing America" (Princeton University Press).

PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- Just as Mitt Romney secured the Republican nomination, President Obama launched his presidential campaign with a weeklong celebration of his foreign policy accomplishments.

He and others in his administration blanketed the airwaves to discuss the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, and the president made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to boast that he had fulfilled his promises.

The president's campaign team rolled out a controversial ad that praised Obama for having made the decision to raid bin Laden's compound and went so far as to raise questions about whether Romney would have done the same. "Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?" reads the screen, followed by quotations and news stories about Romney criticizing the hunt for bin Laden.

Only two election cycles after the GOP hammered away at Democrats for being weak on defense and incapable of handling the challenges of the post-9/11 era, Democrats in the White House are feeling confident enough to present their candidate as the person who has the more muscular foreign policy and the person who has made America safe. There are many reasons to feel this way. As Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne noted, "The polls could hardly be clearer," with 53% of Americans polled reporting they feel more trust in Obama than Romney in dealing with international relations.

But the temptations to pound on this theme should not obscure the serious challenges the president faces in taking this path. Though Romney remains vulnerable on national security given his minimal foreign policy record and the fact that Republicans are still saddled by some of the most controversial parts of George W. Bush's foreign policy record, namely Iraq, Democrats face significant risks if this becomes a central strategy.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter and Facebook.com/cnnopinion.

The first risk is that historically foreign policy is incredibly fickle. New crises can transform the politics of an issue within months, if not days, as the Arab Spring revealed. Many presidents have seen their national security advantage disappear quickly.

In 1952, President Harry Truman and the Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson watched Republicans turn the stalemate in Korea, which followed the fall of China to communism in 1949, into a theme that undercut the political benefits from FDR's historic victory against fascism in 1945. John F. Kennedy saw how his resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 helped Democrats hold on to their seats in the midterm elections, at a time when the GOP had been planning to highlight the president's failed policies in Cuba.

In 2003, President George W. Bush experienced this turnaround as well. After quick triumphs in Afghanistan and Iraq, his speech in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner turned into a sign of weakness when the postwar battles proved difficult. Although Bush won re-election in 2004, the turn of events would severely undercut his popular standing throughout his second term.

Last week provided more examples: A few hours after President Obama's visit to Afghanistan, bombs went off in Kabul. The diplomatic incident with the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng turned from a deftly handled situation into an embarrassing, and apparently botched, process. And this weekend's elections in Greece and France have created great uncertainty about their austerity plans and, as a result, will likely result in turbulence in international stock markets.

Other presidents have learned about the second challenge of playing the national security card, namely that in economically bad times, boasting about foreign policy can make a president look as if he is avoiding the real issues.

Nowhere was this clearer than with George H.W. Bush, who in 1991, after the decisive defeat of Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Storm, seemed invincible. "The number of people who don't like George Bush," Newt Gingrich joked, "is almost down to the number of people running for the Democratic nomination." But as the recession worsened, Bush's desire to play up his foreign policy accomplishments made him look evasive and as if he didn't care much about domestic policy. Bill Clinton capitalized on this vulnerability with his campaign about economic policy. Bush went down to defeat.

The third vulnerability is the fact that foreign policy has been notoriously messy in the post-Cold War world. The kind of clarity that foreign policy had during the Cold War, with a clear enemy and clear areas of competition, has been gone since the 1980s.

That has been replaced by a world of foreign policy defined by amorphous terrorist networks, rogue states whose loyalties are constantly shifting and ethnic warfare in which it is difficult to distinguish the good from the bad. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore learned how difficult it was to develop political capital in this world of foreign policy. Despite a significant victory in Kosovo, where American air power helped bring down Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, foreign policy success did little for Al Gore when he ran against Bush in 2000.

The final danger is that President Obama could turn off some of the loyal supporters who he will need to energize to come out to vote, to organize and give money to his campaign, if the polls showing a close contest are to be believed. If Obama sounds too much like a hawk and engages in the kind of predictable national security scare tactics that other politicians, including his predecessor, used, he will further erode the image he held in 2008 of being a candidate who sought to raise public policy debates to a higher level.

All these are reasons for the White House to think carefully about whether the campaign theme rolled out in the past week should be central in the coming months.

While the temptations are immense for a commander in chief who has enjoyed success to use that record as a battering ram against his opponents, the politics of national security are trickier than they seem. Very often, those who are lured into making war and peace the message of their campaign find that the decision comes back to haunt them in November.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.


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The Daily News of Los Angeles


May 7, 2012 Monday
VALLEY EDITION


PUBLIC FORUM


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A9


LENGTH: 1046 words


No sense of ethics

Has it ever occurred to any of our politicians that accepting campaign contributions from government employee unions is considered unethical by many taxpayers? Oh wait, I'm sorry. I forgot that politicians don't have any sense of ethics.

- John G. Thomas, Northridge

Taking too much credit?

President Obama did not "get" Osama bin Laden - a team of Navy SEALs did. President Obama is not being criticized for getting Osama bin Laden; he's being criticized for taking too much personal credit and for politicizing it with a campaign ad claiming that Mitt Romney would not have done the same. It's very easy to claim that Mitt Romney would not have done the same given the same intelligence reports - just as it's very easy to claim numbers of jobs "saved." Neither can be proved or disproved. Veterans for a Strong America, a nonpartisan veteran and military support group, has produced its own ad highlighting the number of times he used the word "I" in taking credit for a mission he did not plan or execute, but merely approved.

- Gregg Frazer, Castaic

Irresponsible dog owners

Since when is it OK to let your dog drink directly from the drinking fountain? I observed a man allowing his German Shepherd and chocolate Lab doing this. He's probably one of the same irresponsible dog owners who doesn't pick up their poop either. Carry water and bag like the rest of us. I feel sorry for the unsuspecting parents and children using the park who may have forgotten or run out of their own water.

- Lisa Desmond, Torrance

Debunk, not perpetuate stereotypes

Re "New primaries will unseat some who deserve it" (Comment, May 4):

Debra J. Saunders writes that Rep. Pete Stark uses a cane and a hearing aid. This is completely irrelevant in this commentary about his atrocious campaigning tactics. Ms. Saunders' inclusion of this information helps perpetuate the stereotype that people with physical disabilities or ailments need to somehow be forgiven for bad judgment in their professional lives. This leads to making it even more difficult for qualified individuals with disabilities to be considered equal partners in the work place.

- Marilyn Grunwald, Van Nuys

Wistful thinking

Re "Many reasons to vote for Obama" (Letters, May 3) and "Letters discovered in hideaway tell of terror group under siege" (May 4):

Yes, we suffered under former President George W. Bush's brash ineptitude; we have seen President Obama's intestinal fortitude. However, let's not overlook the gall of Bill Clinton's unmitigated innuendos that are on display in the Obama re-election campaign video questioning whether Mitt Romney would have had the gumption to likewise order the raid on bin Laden's compound. Considering that bin Laden had already been named as a suspect (an unindicted co-conspirator) in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Clinton's post-presidency taped rationalization that he couldn't take Sudan up on its 1996 offer to hand him over to our then president because there had been no formal accusation (a U.S. indictment) against him doesn't pass the common sense test. Oh, but what if he had? No 9-11? No ongoing al-Qaida plots? Not even the Iraq War, perhaps? Wow, just to think about it wistfully.

- Harvey Pearson, Los Feliz

Two bad apples ruined the bunch

Re "Teachers demand a return to classrooms" (May 4)

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has some really interesting ideas, i.e. to punish the good teachers who had previously worked at the now infamous Miramonte School. It seems totally unfair that the teachers need to re-apply for their jobs because of two rotten apples.

- Christine Peterson, Woodland Hills

Stores need proper recycling bin

Re "Plastic bag wars kick off in L.A." (April 29):

All this talk about plastic bags. I go to the supermarket with my plastic bags and I can hardly find the container to put them in for recycling. And since it is so small, it's usually overflowing. If they want us to recycle plastic bags, why not make a bigger issue about it? Have large containers available, with colorful, large signs. Then make it illegal to dispose of plastic bags in trash containers.

- Doyle Wolfgang, Torrance

It's still the economy, stupid

When is Obama going to realize that "it is the jobs, stupid." This is what keeps the economy moving and money flowing right along with it - buying and selling. Everybody then prospers rather than just Wall Street.

- William P. Mouzis, Lake Balboa

A dry beach

Re "Manhattan Beach opposes plans to serve alcohol at centennial beach bash" (Daily Breeze, April 19):

First off, let me agree with the Manhattan Beach City Council to drop the booze party on the beach. As a long-term resident and in consideration for the current state of the economy and city finances, I'd be deliriously happy if we could just get the colored downtown walk and street tiles repaired correctly with correct matching tiles and grout. Tiles aren't that hard to make. Given the scope of effort that project originally saw, I'm ashamed for all those involved at how we've let this city feature fall into disrepair. Fix the tiles and hold a celebration to commemorate the effort as something that will last longer than a week-long party.

- Kenneth Thompson, Manhattan Beach

Councilman 'a voice of reason'

Re Water rate uproar (Daily Breeze, May 4):

Thank you, Lomita City Councilman Ben Traina for being the only responsible voice of reason on the Lomita City Council. Mr. Traina challenged the city to find ways to decrease expenses as our $15 million water bond debt threatens the stability of our city. We could save money by eliminating council meetings and community outreach. Councilwoman Margaret Estrada's long history of disregarding the expression of opinions by Lomita residents makes these meetings a complete waste of time and money. Keep shouting Lomita. We must make her listen. Fifteen million dollars is a high price to pay for tolerating such arrogance.

- Patty Boge, Lomita

The dead voting?

Imagine my surprise when I received a primary ballot for my husband who died 10 years ago. I must say that I was sorely tempted to apply for his absentee ballot. This really illustrates the absurdity of our voting system. No IDs needed for the living and ballots after death. How many other dead are voting in this election?

- Emily Wagner, Northridge


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The Frontrunner


May 7, 2012 Monday


Democrats Defend Obama's Record On Jobs


SECTION: WASHINGTON NEWS


LENGTH: 1109 words


Politico (5/6, Slack, 25K) reported that Vice President Biden is "defending the Obama administration's record on jobs, saying the country is on a 'steady path' to recovery, despite unemployment numbers Friday that show the economy last month only added 115,000 jobs. 'Look, this goes up and down. But there's been a steady path -- 26 months straight employment gain, private employment,' Biden said" on NBC's Meet The Press (5/6, Gregory).

David Axelrod said on ABC's This Week (5/6, Tapper), "Let's consider where we were when the President took office. We were losing 800,000 jobs in one month. We lost four million in the six months before he took office, or nearly four million. In the last 26 months, we've gained 4.2 million private-sector jobs. The last six months, we've gained nearly 200,000 jobs a month. And you have to look at the trend, not one month or short periods of time. ... We've come a long way from where we were."

Sen. Charles Schumer, on CBS' Face The Nation (5/6, Schieffer), said the President remains "focused on middle class and the economy and jobs. ... But we have huge numbers of unemployed people. And in the future he's talking about investment to help our future in things like education, in infrastructure, in scientific research, which help create the jobs that make the middle class feel secure about the future."

Sen. Marco Rubio said on Fox News Sunday (5/6, Wallace), "This president asked us to hire him four years ago on the promise that he knew how to fix this economy and that he would be different, that he would unite this country. That's the standard we should judge him by, the standard that he set. The economy is worse off."

Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, on NBC's Meet The Press (5/6, Gregory), said, "I've been all over the country in the last three weeks, and with all due respect to the President, there's a real wariness out there. They've gone from having pneumonia now to having a kind of a strong virus when they look at the economy. ... I think the country has felt they've been through these kind of false upticks two or three times now in the last couple of years, and they're waiting. There's a general feeling that things are beginning to get better, but not fast enough."

Retirement Trends Could Keep Unemployment Rate From Increasing.

USA Today (5/7, Davidson, 1.78M) reports, "Last month's drop in unemployment to 8.1% from 8.2% resulted from a shrinking labor force, suggesting that many discouraged workers gave up job searches," but "analyses...show growing Baby Boomer retirements were behind most of the decline in the labor force." USA Today adds, "That's key because some fear the unemployment rate will rise again when better job prospects draw discouraged workers back to the market," but "a Boomer exodus could more than offset the re-entry of discouraged workers."

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, on NBC's Meet The Press (5/6, Gregory), said, "We saw that jobs report on Friday that was very, very disappointing. And the most disappointing aspect of it is that people are leaving the job market, and obviously, they feel hopeless in terms of where the economy is right now."

Newt Gingrich, on CNN's State Of The Union (5/6, Crowley), claimed that "if he had the same number of people in the workforce that we had on the day he was sworn in, it would be over 10% unemployment. What Obama has succeeded in doing is actually driving people out of the workforce. So unemployment is down because there are fewer people looking for a job."

George Will said on ABC's This Week (5/6, Tapper), "Male participation rate in the economy today is lower than it has been at any time since we began keeping this statistic in 1948. Indeed, if the workforce participation rate were the same today as it was when Mr. Obama was inaugurated, the real unemployment rate would be measured at about 11%. That's no record to run on."

Study Finds Less Than Half Of Recent College Grads Have Full-Time Jobs.

The Wall Street Journal (5/7, Weber, Korn, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), in an article titled, "For Most Graduates, Grueling Job Hunt Awaits," reports that a study from Rutgers' Heldrich Center for Workforce Development determined that just 49% of college graduates from the years 2009-'11 have full-time jobs.

Romney Ad On The Economy Focuses On Those "Suffering In Silence."

The Hill (5/7, Mali) reports the Romney campaign "unveiled a new Web video hitting President Obama on the April jobs figures report and saying that millions of Americans were 'suffering in silence' from the administration's economic policies. The ad, titled 'Silence' begins with footage from news programs announcing troubling news about the economy, amid clips of Obama speaking at a campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, defending his record. The video then cuts to a title card which reads, 'Today millions of Americans are suffering in silence,'" and "ends with a title card reading: 'This is the Obama economy.'"

GOP Bills Would End Fed's Employment Mandate.

Peter Schroeder, in a post for The Hill (5/6) says members of Congress from across the political spectrum, including Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Kevin Brady (R-TX), Barney Frank (D-MA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Ron Paul (R-TX), "are not happy with the current state of the Federal Reserve," and "following that populist anger, bills to alter the Fed are coming from both sides of the aisle." According to The Hill, Pence and Brady want to eliminate half of the Fed's "dual mandate of maximizing employment while controlling inflation" because they oppose "recent steps taken by the Fed in pursuit of the former goal, like near-zero interest rates and two rounds of 'quantitative easing.'"

Krugman Claims Fed Not Doing Enough To Address Unemployment.

Robert Samuelson, in his column for the Washington Post (5/7, 553K), writes, "It's being called the 'battle of the beards' - Paul Krugman vs. Ben Bernanke. ... Krugman accuses Bernanke of being too timid in fighting high unemployment and slow economic growth," while Bernanke "calls Krugman's policy proposals 'reckless.'" Samuelson adds, "Krugman's theory could be right," but, "in this debate, I side with Bernanke" because "flirting with more inflation is treacherous."

Illinois Caterpillar Strike Enters Second Week.

The Wall Street Journal (5/7, Hagerty, Tita, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) reports from Joliet, Illinois on the week-old strike at a Caterpillar plant there. The 500 striking workers are part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The Journal says the strike comes at a time when many unions are making concessions rather than risking layoffs in a weak employment market.


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The Hill


May 7, 2012 Monday


Voters split, but independents say bin Laden death politicized


BYLINE: By Julian Pecquet


SECTION: Pg. 6


LENGTH: 839 words


Just about as many likely voters think President Obama over-politicized the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death as believe he handled it just right, according to a new poll for The Hill. Forty-five percent of likely voters think Obama over-politicized the anniversary, including 65 percent of Republicans. But 46 percent of likely voters asserted that Obama's approach was "about right," including 74 percent of Democrats. Independents however, said by a 52 percent to 36 percent margin that the anniversary was politicized.

Republicans have accused the president of "spiking the football" over the bin Laden issue. Many GOP supporters resented a recent ad released by Obama's campaign that questioned whether Mitt Romney would have made the same decision to send Navy SEALS into the radical Islamicist's compound in Pakistan. Obama, for his part, has defended his approach to the anniversary. "I hardly think you've seen any excessive celebration taking place here," Obama said last week. "I think the American people remember rightly what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice someone who killed 3,000 of our citizens." The poll gave the president low marks for his handling of the war in Afghanistan, with 40 percent rating it as "excellent" or "good" versus 29 percent who said it was "fair" and a full 30 percent rating it as "poor." There was a stark partisan divide, however, with only 19 percent of Republicans and 28 percent of independents rating Obama's approach positively, versus 73 percent of Democrats. The Pulse Opinion Research poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken Thursday, two days after President Obama signed a strategic partnership agreement in Afghanistan with President Hamid Karzai. While respondents in The Hill Poll were split along party lines, in Congress it's Democrats who have been the agreement's strongest critics. "For years, our nation's leaders have spoken about their intention to end the American presence in Afghanistan," said Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa). "All that time, the end date has been pushed further and further down the road." And Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said the agreement marked a continuation of the war, not its end. "The plain fact is we are not exiting Afghanistan, despite the appearances which the White House is trying to create," Kucinich said. "We are staying." Republicans, meanwhile, have varied in the tone and emphases of their responses. While defense hawks like Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised the agreement, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) called the president's focus on the war "long overdue." "It shouldn't require congressional pressure, editorials from leading newspapers and a presidential election to get the president to fulfill his role as commander in chief and speak to the American people about the war in Afghanistan," McKeon said. Voters were just as split on the broader question of Obama's success on the world stage. Asked whether they preferred the president or his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, to handle foreign policy issues, 46 percent of likely voters chose Obama versus 44 percent for Romney -- a difference within the poll's 3-point margin of error. Self-described "liberals" and "conservatives" largely stuck to their respective candidates, while "moderates" picked Obama over Romney 50 percent to 38 percent. The results from independents, in particular, suggest that Democrats have effectively neutralized the decades-old Republican mantra that they're "soft on defense." Romney may therefore believe that his best bet is to continue to keep his focus on the president's economic record. Obama has suffered some foreign policy setbacks, however. His much-touted desire to reset relations with the rest of the world -- particularly the Middle East -- in the wake of President George W. Bush's unilateralism has largely fallen flat domestically. Only 37 percent of likely voters believe Obama has made the United States more respected internationally, versus 42 percent who think the opposite. Seventeen percent don't think he's made any difference. The poll also revealed that a great majority of likely voters --- 63 percent -- rank the strength of the candidates on foreign policy as "very important" to their vote. Another 29 percent answered that foreign policy would be "somewhat" important and only 6 percent said it would be "not very" important. Those figures suggest that the president would be wrong to assume that an unforeseen international crisis can't come around and tank his poll ratings between now and November. Just last week, for example, the administration's handling of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng's escape to the U.S. embassy in Beijing threatened to become a major liability for Obama until diplomats on the ground turned things around and worked out a deal for the blind dissident to come to the United States on a student visa. The Pulse Opinion Research poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.


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Investor's Business Daily


May 7, 2012 Monday
NATIONAL EDITION


Tea Party Movement Still Strong Brew In Indiana, Utah, Texas Senate Races


BYLINE: DAVID HOGBERG


SECTION: FRONT PAGE NEWS; Pg. A01


LENGTH: 779 words


While the media have suggested the Tea Party is in decline, upcoming primaries in Indiana, Utah and Texas indicate that that the movement is still robust.

On Tuesday, the GOP primary in Indiana pits six-term Sen. Dick Lugar against State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who has been endorsed by Tea Party Express and FreedomWorks.

Mourdock has leapt to a big lead, 48%-38%, according to the latest poll from Howey Politics Indiana and DePauw University.

Lugar Under Fire

While Lugar is not the most conservative senator, he has a 77% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. But he seemed to put a target on his back when early last year he told Tea Partyers to "get real" regarding the START arms-control treaty.

Stan Pennington, a member of the Tea Party group We The Hoosiers, is somewhat tepid in his support of Mourdock, saying that "the Tea Party needs people that are like-minded. I've met Mr. Mourdock and he seems to be one of those people. He'd be a better representative for us at this time than Mr. Lugar."

But Pennington makes it clear that Mourdock has benefited from grass-roots support. "That's the main base for his support. I've seen a lot of (Tea Party) people organizing for him."

FreedomWorks has spent $500,000, and Club for Growth $1.4 million, on his behalf.

Lugar has gotten support from outside groups like American Action Network and Young Guns Network. But in an ominous sign for Lugar, American Action Network recently cancelled $200,000 worth of air time.

Mitt Romney winning the GOP nomination is one factor generating stories of the Tea Party's demise. While Romney was clearly not the Tea Partyers' favorite, his inability to woo them dragged the campaign on into April, far longer than most other presidential primary seasons.

Polls purporting to show the Tea Party's fading popularity also have fed stories of the movement's decline. An April ABC News/Washington Post survey found 41% of Americans identify as Tea Partyers, down from a high of 47% last year. Forty-five percent oppose the Tea Party.

Yet Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, suggests that the Tea Party's strength has never been based on its popularity but on its ability to impact elections.

"In 2010 the Tea Party was a big part of the GOP gains. And by the time we get to November the Tea Party is still going to be energized against President Obama in getting a second term," he said. "Right now, the Tea Party is a large factor in why Sen. Lugar might lose and why Sen. Hatch is still in a fight. By those indicators the Tea Party is still strong."

Down The Hatch?

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has spent much of the last two years currying favor with Tea Partyers in his state, hoping to avoid the fate of former Sen. Bob Bennett who was ousted in 2010 by a Tea Party challenge.

"We actually have a lot of local Tea Party people helping with our campaign," said Hatch spokeswoman Evelyn Call.

Hatch's Tea Party challenge comes from former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, who is supported by FreedomWorks. But Tea Party Express has said it will not campaign against Hatch, calling him an "original Tea Partyer."

Hatch has a nearly 90% ACU rating. Yet he angered some Tea Partyers by helping to create the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and by saying in 2009 that he wanted to work on health care reform "as a legacy" for Sen. Ted Kennedy. But Hatch has also voted against a SCHIP reauthorization and ended up opposing ObamaCare.

In Utah's system, a senator must first compete in a state convention where, if he wins 60% of the delegate votes, he can avoid a primary election. Despite Hatch's efforts, he fell 32 votes short at the late April gathering.

Utahan Roger Bringhurst says it was definitely Tea Partyers who kept Hatch from winning the convention. Bringhurst, who has supported local Tea Party groups, is backing Hatch, however.

"Hatch has the experience which we need right now to handle our budget problems," he said.

Hatch will face Liljenquist in a primary on June 26. A survey conducted for Hatch's campaign showed him leading 63%-21%.

Texas Tea

In Texas, Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz has been gaining ground vs. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst is considered the establishment candidate, with the backing of Gov. Rick Perry.

But Cruz has been endorsed by the Tea Party Express and recently ran an ad featuring the support of local Tea Party members.

That may be paying off for Cruz. An April Public Policy Polling survey showed him trailing Dewhurst 38%-26% in the GOP Senate primary. Cruz trailed by 18 points in a January PPP poll.

If no candidate gets more than 50% in the May 29 primary, the top two will face off in a run-off.


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Monterey County Herald (California)


May 7, 2012 Monday


Panetta Lecture Series: Historians predict expensive, dirty presidential race


BYLINE: By LARRY PARSONS Herald Staff Writer


SECTION: LOCAL


LENGTH: 793 words


This year's race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney is shaping up to be the highest-spending, least financially accountable and dirtiest presidential contest in U.S. history, two leading historians said Monday.

But California residents shouldn't worry about having their TV screens plastered with negative campaign spots like the ad wars in the Republic primary that left Romney the last GOP candidate standing.

"This is the first year under the new world order of Citizens United and huge amounts of money coming into a campaign with less accountability than anytime since 1972," said historian Michael Beschloss.

But most of the campaign cash unleashed by last year's Supreme Court ruling on campaign fundraising possibly more than $1.5 billion compared with the $60 million that Richard Nixon raised in 1972 likely will be spent in crucial swing states.

"We are about to see something we have never seen before," Beschloss said.

California, unlike about about seven states including Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania that could tip to either candidate, is viewed as safely in Obama's Democratic camp.

"The upside of that," said Beschloss, author of several books about U.S. presidents, "is that if you don't enjoy seeing negative commercials there won't be many in California."

Beschloss and fellow presidential historian Douglas Brinkley talked with the media Monday afternoon at the Panetta Institute before meeting with CSU Monterey Bay students and an evening lecture in Monterey in the institute's current lecture series.

Beschloss said the Obama-Romney contest will offer voters exactly what the nation's founders wanted a race between candidates representing "different points of view on central issues."

The contest will be driven more by what the candidates' say and do than by their perceived personalities, he said.

"No one can say that voters have not been given a choice," he said.

Brinkley said he was surprised that a "centrist" third-part candidate hasn't arisen like the 1912 race when then-former President Theodore Roosevelt mounted his shortlived Progressive "Bull Moose" Party.

Brinkley said this year's race will be tight, possibly hinging on a swing state or two like the 2000 and 2004 races narrowly won by President George W. Bush.

"We're still in that divided age, in some ways still in the age of Ronald Reagan and trimming the federal government," Brinkley said.

Brinkley, who has written about President Jimmy Carter, said he was "slightly offended" by Romney's comment last week, apparently aimed at minimizing Obama's role in the commando mission to kill Osama bin Laden, that even Carter would have given such an order.

"Jimmy Carter is a great American ... who does extraordinary work around the globe, monitoring elections and on disease eradication," said Brinkley, noting that Carter is in his 80s.

"His presidency is not rated high, but his life has been extraordinary," Brinkley said. He compared Carter's willingness to tell people exactly what's on his mind with the frank candor of former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater.

Who Romney selects for his running mate is the biggest remaining mystery about the upcoming campaign. The Republicans are floating six or seven names to "brand their main players as super-main players," Brinkley said.

Romney's choice could be more important than picking a running mate is for most presidential candidates because Romney needs a shot of enthusiasm for his candidacy, he said.

"They are going to be running very much as a team," Brinkley said.

During the media session, the historians also noted:

· Obama, battling a sluggish economic recovery, is in a position much like President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when was opposed in 1936 by Republican Alf Landon of Kansas.

Roosevelt argued that if voters chose Landon they would "go right back to 1932" and the early days of the Great Depression, Beschloss said. Gunning for a second term, Reagan made the same pitch in 1984 against former Vice President Walter Mondale, he said.

· Future historians will very much be interested in papers and documents from Leon Panetta's tenure as a congressman, chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and CIA director and secretary of defense in the Obama administration.

"Leon Panetta is one of those giants in U.S. history," Brinkley said, tracing Panetta's career from his congressional efforts to protect the Central Coast from offshore oil and gas drilling to his current job as defense secretary.

· Both campaigns have softpedaled environmental issues, mostly notably climate change.

A Romney victory would put California back at "ground zero" for offshore drilling and other conservation issues, Beschloss said.

Larry Parsons can be reached atlparsons@montereyherald.com or 646-4379.


LOAD-DATE: May 9, 2012


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GRAPHIC: Douglas Brinkley, left, listens to Michael Beschloss during a news conference for the Panetta Lecture Series.


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


May 7, 2012 Monday


The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, Granite Status column


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 3814 words


May 07--MONDAY, MAY 4 UPDATE: FIRST TV AD. If you need further evidence that the general election campaign for President is well under way and that New Hampshire is a key state on the electoral map, here it is:

With six months to go before Election Day, today marked the beginning of the television ad wars in the Granite State.

New Hampshire is among only nine states in which President Barack Obama's reelection campaign began airing a new ad crediting Obama with turning the economy around. The 60-second ad also notes that during Obama's first term, Osama bin Laden has been killed and "our troops are coming home from Iraq."

It is the first ad of the general election in New Hampshire, the Obama campaign said.

New Hampshire, despite having only four electoral votes, is considered an important swing state in the general election. The ad is airing in other swing states, as well: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.

The ad begins by citing "an economic meltdown" and the "worst financial collapse since the Great Depression" in 2008.

"America's economy, spiraling down," the ad says, "All before this President took office."

But, the ad says, because Obama "believed in us," and "fought for us," the auto industry "is back, firing on all cylinders," and "instead of losing jobs, we're creating them.

"We're not there yet," the ad says, "but we're coming back." The ad says Americans "don't quit. And neither does he (Obama)."

The campaign is reportedly spending $25 million on this ad and other similar aids tailored to specific states.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reacted to the ad by saying, "For someone whose campaign slogan is 'forward,' President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy."

Priebus said, " While Obama may want you to forget he's been President for the past three and a half years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won't be forgotten. America deserves better than Obama's brand of hype and blame."

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, MAY 7, UPDATE: THE LATEST ENDORSEMENTS. Democratic National Committeewoman and former NHDP Chair Kathy Sullivan is taking sides in her party's primary for governor, backing Maggie Hassan over Jackie Cilley.

Also Monday, Republican candidate for governor Kevin Smith picked up the endorsement of New Hampshire House Finance Committee Chairman Kenneth Weyler, R-Kingston.

Sullivan called Hassan "a forward-thinking leader who fights for what matters and delivers for New Hampshire." She said Hassan had a "strong record" during her service as a state senator "advocating for New Hampshire families on jobs and education."

Hassan said Sullivan will be "an incredible asset" to the campaign organization.

Sullivan took aim at GOP candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne, who, she said, "would be a rubber stamp for an extremist agenda that would roll New Hampshire back decades."

Hassan faces fellow former state Sen. Cilley in a Democratic primary. Gov. John Lynch has announced he will not seek reelection.

Cilley on Monday was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2320.

If elected, "my administration will work closely with the workers of New Hampshire to ensure that we have the best educated workforce in the country and a workforce that will be a strong attractor for business that will grow a vibrant economy during this century," Cilley said.

Last week, Hassan was endorsed by EMILY's List has also been backed by the Women's Campaign Fund, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Council 35, the Carpenters Local 118, the Iron Workers Local 7, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 1445 and 791.

On the Republican side, Weyler said Smith Kevin Smith "knows more about state government and what needs to be done than any other candidate running. Kevin is the most knowledgeable person with the best experience to tackle the difficult challenges that face our state over the next decade."

Smith will begin a statewide town meeting tour with a question-and-answer session at 6 p.m. at the Seacoast Charter School in Weyler's home town of Kingston.

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: An attorney for U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass's campaign today filed a notice to move the state's "push poll" suit against the campaign from state to federal court, saying it should be decided under federal law.

The move by attorney Charles Douglas came just more than a week after the Federal Election Commission issued an advisory opinion saying that the New Hampshire law governing "push poll" telephone surveys is preempted by federal law when it comes to candidates for federal offices.

As a result, the FEC said, the state cannot force federal candidates to identify themselves to voters when they conduct push polling calls that give information designed to persuade voters not to vote for their opponents.

The FEC gave its opinion that such polling calls are governed by the Federal Election Campaign Act, which requires no such disclaimers.

The advisory opinion does not bind the state, but would most likely carry weight in a court challenge.

The state Attorney General's Office sued the Bass campaign in April, charging that the Bass campaign deliberately avoided identifying itself as a sponsor of a negative push poll against Democratic opponent Ann McLane Kuster during the 2010 campaign.

The Bass campaign said it was conducting "legitimate message testing," and not a push poll at the time.

But Douglas said the FEC opinion would "have weight" in the Bass defense, and on Friday, he filed in Merrimack County Superior Court to have the case moved to the U.S. District Court.

The Douglas filing said that as a result of the FEC advisory opinion, "The (Attorney General's) petition is thus a proceeding preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act."

He wrote that the state push poll law "is preempted to the extent that it purports to regulate telephone surveys paid for by federal candidates, their authorized campaign committees and other federal political committees."

The Attorney General's Office has the option of moving to remand the case back to state court if it argues there is no federal issue.

The office has yet to comment on the FEC's advisory opinion, despite several attempts by the New Hampshire Union Leader.

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: MOTHER'S DAY GREETING. The Barack Obama campaign in New Hampshire next week will release "a fact of the day" each day leading up to Mother's Day. The aim is to "highlight the choice at stake in this election for Granite State moms," the campaign says.

The campaign's points will focus on preventative health insurance for women and their children, the resumption of funding for Planned Parenthood, the economy and jobs, equal pay for women, access to contraception and "access to affordable higher education."

The national Obama campaign has also issued a video and memo saying that Obama's policies will help, and Mitt Romney's policies will hurt, women.

(The full May 3 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, MAY 3: ROMNEY GETS ROLLING IN NH. Mitt Romney supporters here say the general election organization in New Hampshire has been ready and waiting since the presidential primary ended.

But in the weeks since Rick Santorum dropped out, not much has happened in the Granite State to indicate that the campaign is gearing up -- until now.

A state director for the general election has been appointed. His name is Phil Valenziano, a New Jersey native who comes to New Hampshire after managing field operations for Romney in South Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri.

He previously worked for the Republican Party of Iowa and was an aide in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Valenziano, who begins work today, is the first of the campaign directors in key states being announced by the Romney campaign this week.

Romney national political director Rich Beeson called Valenziano "an energetic political operative who brings knowledge and a history of success to our growing New Hampshire team. Phil played an important role in several states during the Republican nomination process, and we are pleased that he has agreed to bring his experience and skills to New Hampshire to help Governor Romney turn the Granite State red in November."

Jason McBride, who managed the Romney New Hampshire Primary campaign, has received a promotion. He is now the deputy national political director for the campaign, based in Boston, reporting to Beeson.

Ryan Williams, the former John E. Sununu aide and former spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican Party, has received a promotion from Romney. Instead of being just a "spokesman," he is now deputy national press secretary, reporting to press secretary Andrea Saul.

The Romney camp is looking at office space in the Manchester area and is expected to open a general election headquarters shortly.

STRICKLAND HEADED TO NH. The Obama campaign, which has long been up and running, will bring a former top official of a key swing state to this swing state later in the month.

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, an Obama campaign co-chair, will be in New Hampshire Sunday, May 20, for the Rockingham County Democratic Clambake at the Elks Club in Portsmouth and the Grover Cleveland Dinner at the Grand Summit Hotel in Bartlett.

LANDING THE GREGGS. Ovide Lamontagne on Wednesday added Judd and Kathy Gregg to his list of big-name endorsements.

It's the first time the former senator and governor has endorsed Lamontagne, who has run for the U.S. House (1992), governor (1996) and U.S. Senate (2010).

Gregg said he understands what it's like to serve in the "challenging role" of governor, calling Lamontagne "a trusted conservative and tested leader with the experience to get our economy moving again."

He said Lamontagne "has distinguished himself as a leader in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, and it is this diverse leadership experience that has prepared him to serve with distinction as our next governor."

Lamontagne said he was "honored" to earn the Greggs' support.

Gregg became the second former governor to endorse in the gubernatorial primary. Lamontagne foe Kevin Smith picked up the backing of his former boss, former Gov. Craig Benson, last month.

While Lamontagne was the "outsider" candidate during his Senate primary against Kelly Ayotte two years ago, the Gregg endorsement is further evidence that this time, he has the establishment with him.

Among his other supporters so far are Rep. Charlie Bass, six state senators, three members of the House leadership, a long list of former state lawmakers and former state party officials, and five county sheriffs.

Judd Gregg will join Lamontagne for a tour of the Sig Sauer manufacturing plant in Exeter May 21.

COURT OFFERS COMPROMISE. Two state Supreme Court justices will testify at the State House today against a proposed constitutional amendment question that, if passed by voters, will take away the court's power to make its own administrative rules.

Conservative Robert Lynn and liberal Gary Hicks will represent a "unified" court asking the state Senate to kill a House-passed constitutional resolution that would repeal a 1978 constitutional amendment giving the chief justice unilateral authority to make rules governing the administration of all state courts "and the practice and procedure to be followed" in those courts.

Lawmakers who felt the court has abused that power over the years have twice tried to supplant the amendment with ones that would water down, but not eliminate, the judicial rule-making power.

In 2002, a proposed amendment that would have restored legislative authority to regulate court rules, essentially sharing that power with the courts, failed to gain the necessary approval by two-thirds of the voters.

In 2004, another attempt to clarify the amendment, this time to say the Legislature "shall have a concurrent power to regulate the same matters by statutes," also failed to gain the necessary two-thirds to pass.

This year's proposed amendment question, sponsored by constitutional conservative Rep. Paul Mirski, R-Enfield, is more straightforward, simply calling for the outright repeal of the 1978 provision.

Mirski said that while the court in the past has cited the separation-of-powers doctrine of the constitution to bolster its argument for unilateral rule-making authority, "The fact is you cannot have a free government without public oversight."

He said that since the 1978 amendment passed and became Part 2 Article 73-1, "the court has become isolated. The court has come to say over the years that it means total independence, and you can't have that."

He said court rules should be "subject to review, as they were" prior to 1978.

"The lessons over the years have been that this sort of power does ultimately result in some abuse," Mirski said.

His resolution, CACR 26, passed the House by the required three-fifths majority, 239-114, March 21. At least 15 votes by the 24-member Senate are needed for the question to be placed on this November's ballot.

Lynn supported the 2004 proposal, while Chief Justice John Broderick and Justice Joseph Nadeau, both now retired, opposed it.

Some assumed Lynn and Hicks would take opposite sides of the argument today, with Hicks making the same case Broderick did eight years ago, but that's not going to happen, said Supreme Court spokesman Laura Kiernan.

"There is no conflict on the court," she said. "This is a unified position."

She said both justices will ask the Senate to kill the current proposal, or at least replace it with one similar to the 2002 and 2004 resolutions.

The current proposal sponsored by Mirski "would eliminate the chief justice as the chief administrator of the court system. And the judicial branch, like any other, needs to have a chief administrative officer," said Kiernan.

But, she said, if the Senate is not interested in killing the proposal outright, then, "a unified court is offering an amendment that would adopt language saying that the court would maintain its rule-making authority, but if a statute conflicts with a rule, the statute would prevail unless it is in conflict with the constitution."

In other words, the "unified court," under Chief Justice Linda Dalianis, has now adopted the position Lynn championed, and Broderick and Nadeau opposed, in 2004.

If the Senate agrees with the court's preference and kills CACR 26, the issue is dead. If the Senate agrees with the court-offered compromise, it would set up interesting negotiations in a conference committee between the House and Senate.

REGISTERS OF PROBATE WIN. On another key state government issue that has been largely under the radar, a judge has agreed that two former registers of probate were illegally fired by the state when lawmakers last year overhauled their roles and reduced their salaries to $100 a year.

Judge Richard McNamara has ruled the state violated its contract with Anna Tilton of Rockingham County and Andrew Christie of Cheshire County when House Bill 609 became law last year. The new law drastically reduced not only the duties of the registers of probate across the state but it also reduced their salaries from $55,500 in Tilton's case and from $70,600 in Christie's case, to $100.

The new law also took away their health insurance and other benefits.

While the eight other registers left office when effectively fired by the state, Tilton and Christie stayed and brought suit, represented by Concord attorney Charles Douglas.

They said in their suit they were elected in November 2010 to serve two-year terms with the full-time salary and benefits. They charged the state breached their employment contracts just a few months after they took office.

The state argued it was entitled to modify the registers' role and salaries at any time and in any way as long as it was constitutional.

While the two registers argued that they were "constructively discharged" after being elected by the voters, the state said they remained employed by virtue of their $100-per-year salaries.

But McNamara ruled that registers are county, not state, employees and may be dismissed only by the Superior Court, and only for official misconduct. As a result, he ruled the two registers' "constructive discharge" by the passage of the new law "was improper."

McNamara granted the registers' motion for summary judgment and ordered a hearing on the award of damages to them.

COLIN'S MILESTONE. District 2 Democratic Executive Council candidate Colin Van Ostern has been working the grassroots hard since beginning his campaign last year.

Van Ostern says he is now the first Executive Council candidate on record, and probably in state history, to report receiving more than 1,000 individual donations, and there are still six months to go before the election.

Van Ostern says his campaign has raised over $100,000 with an average contribution of roughly $100 and more than three-quarters of the funds coming from New Hampshire voters. No donor to his campaign has yet given the maximum contribution, he says.

He said he is not sure precisely how many individual donors there are, but said the number is near 1,000. He said he's sure a "handful" of donors probably gave more than once.

But Van Ostern said he checked and found that even the venerable Ray Burton has never, so far at least, reached 1,000 individual donations. Burton had a high-water mark of 962 donations in 2004.

"This overwhelming grassroots support is a clear signal that New Hampshire voters in every corner of the state are rallying behind our call for more focus on jobs and the economy, and less government interference in our personal lives," Van Ostern says in a statement. "Other campaigns may have bigger bank accounts in this election, but I am proud of the widespread, grassroots support that is reflected in the historic number of voters investing in our campaign."

Van Ostern opposes Republican efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood and last week delivered a petition to Gov. John Lynch signed by nearly 2,500 voters calling for an end to that legislation, which was tabled in the state Senate.

ROMNEY-AYOTTE? Don't count on a Mitt Romney-Kelly Ayotte ticket in November.

Ayotte told New Hampshire Union Leader correspondent Gretyl Macalaster at a campaign event in Portsmouth on Monday, "that's not going to happen."

While Ayotte continues to be a rising star in GOP politics, both here in New Hampshire and nationally, she's apparently known primarily among the activists.

Even former Gov. John H. Sununu has downplayed Ayotte's chances, saying that being from New Hampshire "may, in an odd way, be her biggest problem because with two people from the Northeast on the ticket, you don't gain anything geographically."

What do last week's poll numbers on Ayotte mean? Could she help Romney gain swing state New Hampshire's four electoral votes? He is currently losing here to President Barack Obama by 9 percentage points.

Surprisingly, Ayotte, for all of her perceived popularity among those close to the political scene, is really a "wash" among rank-and-file New Hampshire voters, if the WMUR poll is to be believed.

A UNH-conducted poll showed in February 2011 that Ayotte was viewed favorably by 51 percent and unfavorably by only 20 percent of Granite Staters. She was viewed favorably by 73 percent and unfavorably by only 4 percent of self-identified Republicans.

Among self-identified Democrats, her favorable/unfavorable rating at the time was 31/40 and among self-identified registered Democrats, it was 35/35.

In last week's poll, she was viewed favorably by 43 percent of Granite Staters and unfavorably by 29 percent.

And even after 15 months in office, 22 percent still don't know enough about her to render an opinion.

Among self-identified Republicans, she remained strong with a 70/10 favorable/unfavorable rating, but among self-identified Democrats she fell to 21/49 as they saw that she is a much more partisan Republican than, say, Olympia Snowe of Maine.

The view of the all-important independents is moderately good news for Ayotte.

In the latest poll, 46 percent of self-identified independents viewed Ayotte favorably, while 23 percent viewed her unfavorably and 23 percent did not know enough about her to say.

That's consistent with the February 2011 poll, in which 36 percent of independents viewed her favorably, 19 percent viewed her unfavorably and 34 percent did not know enough about her at the time to say.

As a running mate, she could help Romney among independents in New Hampshire. Last week's polling showed that Romney is viewed favorably by 30 percent of independents in the state and unfavorably by 49 percent.

But independents feel no better about Obama, with 34 percent viewing him favorably and 54 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Geographically, Ayotte could help Romney in cities and towns along the Massachusetts border, including her home city of Nashua. In that region, she is viewed favorably by 54 percent and unfavorably by 25 percent, while Romney's favorable/unfavorable rating is 45/43.

BIG BACKING FOR MAGGIE. After picking up four union endorsements, Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan this week won the backing of the pro-Democratic women's group EMILY's list.

It's a fund-raising and grassroots boon for Hassan, but it's far too early to say how it will translate into votes.

EMILY's List called Hassan "a principled leader with a proven record of working hard for New Hampshire's women and families," said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY's List.

DELEGATES AND THE DNC. The New Hampshire Democratic State Committee last Saturday unanimously re-elected Kathy Sullivan and Peter Burling to the Democratic National Committee. Neither faced opposition.

The state committee also chose the remaining 20 members of the New Hampshire delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The party says it is "the most diverse NHDP delegation ever, with 50 percent of the delegates attending their first convention."

The names of those on the delegation to Charlotte can be found at www.NHDP.org.

QUICK TAKES:

-- U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta says he is kicking off his reelection campaign with a fund-raiser at XO on Elm in Manchester May 23. Tickets range from $100 to $1,000.

- Conservative activist Jennifer Horn will host a reception at her home for GOP candidate for governor Kevin Smith next Tuesday, May 8.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


ACC-NO: 20120507-1MN-The-New-Hampshire-Union-Leader-Manchester-Granite-Status-column-0507-20120507


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper


JOURNAL-CODE: 1MN



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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 7, 2012 Monday
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION


STEEL IN HIS SPINE


BYLINE: DONNA BRAZILE


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A-7


LENGTH: 758 words


Let's establish a fact straight off: The killing of Osama bin Laden was a risky, yet unqualified success for America. Since 9/11, bin Laden had been hanging over our daily lives. The terrorist bin Laden infused our politics: Former Vice President Dick Cheney made political hay during the election of 2004 by barnstorming America and talking about a bin Laden-planted nuclear bomb in one of our cities.

Today, as a result of bin Laden's death, our national self-confidence is being restored. Yet, we all know that there remains a serious threat, and it is important that our leaders remain resilient in keep our nation safe and secure.

At the time of bin Laden's death, Tom Gara, a Middle East correspondent for the Financial Times in Dubai, tweeted: "Seriously, Obama doesn't care where you are, he'll just straight up kill you. The dude sees to the death of [U.S.] enemies."

There's a rule here: If President Barack Obama would have gotten the blame if the raid had failed, then he deserves the credit for its success. Yet, crediting Mr. Obama is not what is at issue. The issue of the bin Laden raid is about leadership and sober judgment backed by sound intelligence.

But there's politics, too.

The Obama campaign ran an ad raising the issue of the bin Laden raid as a matter of leadership, and contrasting Mr. Obama's decision with former Gov. Mitt Romney's words back in the last campaign season, that he, Mr. Romney, would not focus on capturing bin Laden.

Republican Sen. John McCain feigned outrage over Mr. Obama's ad, issuing a statement, not through his office, but through the Republican National Committee: "Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad."

As The New York Time's op-ed columnist Ross Douthat wrote in his column, "Impugning a rival's judgment, as the Obama camp's bin Laden advertisement just did, is precisely what a presidential campaign is for."

In the 2008 election, retired Air Force Gen. Merrill A. McPeak said of Mr. Obama: "He's our best hope of restoring our security and standing in today's world. The old Washington hands have let us down. We need a new leader to lift America." Well, the old Washington hands are back, and they don't want to admit they were wrong.

Mr. Obama made good. He kept a repeated campaign promise, clearly stated in July 2008: "We must make it clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights."

At the time, Mr. McCain himself took exception to Mr. Obama's resolve to pursue bin Laden into Pakistan, incorrectly calling it an invasion of another country. Mr. Romney told a Reuter's reporter, "I do not concur in the words of Barack Obama in a plan to enter an ally of ours..."

But, here's the kicker: Mr. McCain himself took Mr. Romney to the woodshed over the same Mr. Romney words quoted in Mr. Obama's ad -- where Mr. Romney said he wouldn't focus on bin Laden. Mr. McCain told Politico he was hesitant to respond to Mr. Romney's comments, but that he "would make an exception for a national security matter."

Mr. McCain said, "It takes a degree of naivete to think [bin Laden's] not an element in the struggle against radical Islam." But, almost five years to the day that Mr. McCain responded to the same Mr. Romney words the Obama ad quoted, as "national security matter," Mr. McCain now calls it a "cheap political attack."

Would Mr. McCain see these following words as "cheap" and "political," written at the time Mr. Romney said his by conservative columnist Byron York: "Perhaps Romney should watch the tape of the planes hitting the towers again."

Jeff Fecke of Lakeville, Minn., understands grandstanding. On Twitter, he took a humorous approach and tweeted: "Obama should be more humble about killing bin Laden. He should, like, just land on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit."

Since this brouhaha broke in the news, the president made a trip to Afghanistan to visit the troops and sign an agreement with Afghanistan that outlines our objectives beyond the 2014 troop withdrawals. Bottom line: the Afghans will take over the defense of their country, and our troops will leave.

Mr. Obama is bringing the war to a responsible end. In a televised address to the nation from Bagram Air Base, the president stated, "The agreement we signed today sends a clear message to the Afghani people: As you stand up, you will not stand alone."

It's about time we bring our troops home safely and responsibly.


LOAD-DATE: May 9, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Donna Brazile is a senior Democratic strategist, a political commentator and contributor to CNN and ABC News, and a contributing columnist to Ms. Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine./


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



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States News Service


May 7, 2012 Monday


PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY, 5/7/12


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 7313 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


The following information was released by the White House:

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:35 P.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room for your daily briefing. It's good to see you. I hope you had a terrific weekend. And I have no announcements to make at the top, so I'll go straight to questions.

Yes.

Q

Does the election of Francois Hollande in France increase your concern that a change in the European economy, a shift away from austerity could worsen the economic situation there and drag the United States down with it? And secondarily, what would the President's role be in any bridging between Hollande and Merkel? Will he be directly involved in that?

MR. CARNEY: Well, let me first say that President Obama, as you know, called President-elect Francois Hollande of France yesterday to congratulate him. In that discussion, President Obama indicated that he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Hollande and his government on a range of shared economic and security challenges. President Obama looks forward to welcoming President-elect Hollande to Camp David for the G8 and then to Chicago for the NATO summit. And he proposed that the two men meet beforehand at the White House.

President Obama and President-elect Hollande each reaffirmed in that phone call the important and enduring alliance between the people of the United States and France. And that alliance is strong, and as strong today as it was last week.

As for the situation in Europe, as the President said just the other day, our economy continues to face some headwinds and the eurozone crisis is one of them. That is why he has worked directly with his counterparts in Europe, why Secretary Geithner has worked with his counterparts in Europe, to advise and consult on the issue of how best to contain the situation in Europe, how best to get control of it. European leaders have taken very significant steps towards dealing with that eurozone crisis and the President and Secretary Geithner and others in the administration will continue to work with European leaders towards that end.

I think that basically answers your question.

Q

No, not exactly. I mean, one of the leaders who took those steps just got ousted. And his replacement is someone who is on record as being opposed to several of the steps that you all applauded in establishing greater security through -- largely through austerity measures. He says he wants to take a step back from that. Does that make that headwind you referred to stronger?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I would make two points. First of all, we will not negotiate on behalf of European countries here at the White House -- or between European countries here at the White House. Secondly, I would say that the President has made clear frequently, as he did in Cannes at the G20, that he believes a balanced approach towards fiscal consolidation -- that includes both fiscal consolidation and efforts to continue to boost the recovery is the right approach for Europe. He has taken an approach here in the United States that has been aimed at growing the economy and creating jobs in the short term as well as dealing with our deficits and debt challenges in the medium and long terms. That's an approach that he thinks ensures that the recovery continues, but also gets our fiscal house in order.

Q

I have one more on a different subject. This morning, the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, put himself on record in favor of gay marriage. Yesterday, the Vice President indicated something along the same lines. Does this box the President in ahead of the election? Have his views changed at all on this subject?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I have no update on the President's personal views. What the Vice President said yesterday was to make the same point that the President has made previously, that committed and loving same-sex couples deserve the same rights and protections enjoyed by all Americans, and that we oppose any effort to roll back those rights. That's why this administration opposes the Defense of Marriage Act and supports legislation to repeal it. The administration also has stopped defending the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in legal challenges.

Secretary Duncan was asked a question about his personal views on an issue and he offered them. And obviously this is an issue that many people have a view on and we respect the right of all people to have an opinion -- a personal opinion.

Q

If asked at this point a similar question for his personal view, would the President give it?

MR. CARNEY: I think the President is the right person to describe his own personal views. He, as you know, said that his views on this were evolving, and I don't have an update for you on that.

Q

I just had one more on the French election. The incoming President Hollande is promising a pro-growth approach as an alternative to strict austerity. Is this an approach that the Obama administration could support?

MR. CARNEY: Well, look, each country has its own circumstances. Europe has its own distinct problems with the eurozone crisis, and we're not going to dictate to any country or any collection of countries what policies they should pursue.

The President has said, as he said in Cannes at the G20, that a balanced approach towards fiscal consolidation and growth is what he believes is appropriate -- that's the approach he's taken here.

Europeans have taken a number of significant steps towards dealing with this crisis and more needs to be done. We have said that for quite some time now and our view on that has not changed.

Q

Will the President be sending Secretary Geithner over to hold discussions with European counterparts?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I don't have any scheduling announcements to make on behalf of Secretary Geithner, but I think, as you know, Matt, the Treasury Secretary has made numerous visits to Europe to discuss eurozone issues with his counterparts there and I'm sure he has not made his last visit there.

Yes, Jessica.

Q

Jay, the President has raised millions of dollars from LGBT donors, many of whom say that they believe in a second term the President will come out in support of gay marriage. So doesn't he owe them -- or owe voters in general -- his direct response and just stop dancing around the issue and telling voters will he or wont he support gay marriage in a second term?

MR. CARNEY: The President was asked this and said that his views on -- his personal views on this were evolving. The President does have, as you noted, significant support in the LGBT community, and that's because of his unparalleled record in support of LGBT rights. That includes the fight to repeal successfully "don't ask, don't tell. It includes signing hate crimes legislation that includes LGBT persons. It includes ending a legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act. It includes --

Q

-- he says to these audiences --

MR. CARNEY: -- ensuring hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients and their loved ones, and I could go on.

Q

On June 23rd --

MR. CARNEY: His record on the LGBT rights is simply unparalleled, and he will continue to fight for those rights going forward.

Q

Jay, on June 23rd, he told an LGBT audience, Everybody deserves to be able to live and love as they see fit. I don't have to tell the people in this room weve got a ways to go in the struggle. What is he referring to if not gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think you have heard him say and those in the administration like myself who speak for him that he strongly opposes efforts to restrict rights, to repeal rights for same-sex couples. He has made his opposition to those efforts in various states known and will continue to do so.

I think its a statement of obvious fact that full enjoyment of rights by LGBT citizens has not been achieved uniformly across the country. And that's why he has taken a stand on -- in opposition to efforts in some states to deny those rights and discriminate against LGBT citizens.

Q

So can you explain then clearly what -- how Vice President Biden, who said, there is a consensus building toward gay marriage in this nation, and then came out yesterday saying that he is absolutely comfortable with men marrying men and women marrying women having equal rights, is not an endorsement of gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think the Vice President expressed his personal views. He also said he was evolving on the issue. I think the description --

Q

When?

Q

When did he say that?

Q

He did not say that, Jay.

MR. CARNEY: He did.

Q

No. His spokesperson said that afterwards.

MR. CARNEY: Let me just be clear, though. The Vice President -- what he said about the protection of rights of citizens is completely consistent with the Presidents position on this issue, and his description of the way the country has moved on this issue I think is wholly accurate. I think we all have seen the data that describes an evolution of views across the country on these issues. So I dont think there's anything surprising about him saying that.

Q

You're trying to have it both ways before an election.

MR. CARNEY: No. Look, this President has been extremely aggressive in supporting LGBT rights. He fought against those who oppose the repeal of dont ask, dont tell, and achieved that in this administration. There are those who want to bring "don't ask, don't tell" back. He very robustly fights against efforts to restrict or deny rights to LGBT citizens and discriminate against them, and hell continue to do so.

And again, you didnt want to hear it, but there's a long, long list of the actions that this administration has taken on behalf of LGBT citizens in this country. And thats a record that the President is very proud of.

Jake.

Q

I want to continue with Jessicas line, but before I do I did want to see if the President had an opportunity to see the hostage video of Warren Weinstein, who has been taken hostage by al Qaeda, and made a direct plead to the President and referenced -- a very personal plea -- and referenced his two daughters and the Presidents two daughters -- if there was any response from the President -- if hes seen it, if he has a response.

MR. CARNEY: Well, the President is aware of it. I do not believe hes seen it, or I do not know that hes seen it. We remain greatly concerned for Mr. Weinsteins safety and his well-being. Our hearts go out to him and his family. We condemn his kidnapping in the strongest terms and call for his immediate release. The U.S. government will continue making every effort to see Mr. Weinstein released safety to his family, but we cannot and will not negotiate with al Qaeda.

Q

Okay. And back to the same-sex marriage issue. I think one of the issues is that when asked about the Presidents position, the President no longer said he is evolving on the issue. He says, I dont have any news to make on that. Thats what Stephanie Cutter, a few minutes ago on cable said -- I dont have any news for you. The suggestion is that there is news there and you guys are just waiting for the proper time to drop it, likely after November.

MR. CARNEY: I think thats your characterization, Jake.

Q

I think thats what it means --

MR. CARNEY: I think the President said that he was evolving, and he had -- I think when people have asked him that and he has no update to give them or no change in his views to put forward, that hes simply saying that I have nothing new for you on that. His position is what it was. And thats with regards to his personal views.

What I think needs to be remembered here is what he has done in office in support of LGBT rights. And that record is extensive and considerable and unparalleled. And hell continue to fight for those rights as long as hes in office.

Q

Positing that the President has done more for LGBT individuals than any other President in history -- so you dont need to say that again -- (laughter) -- the question is --

MR. CARNEY: But I will.

Q

Just for this question. When you get to Norah, whatever you want. But the question is, I think there are very few people who think that the President is not going to, after November, whether he's reelected or not, come out in favor of same-sex marriage. I think there are very few people on the President's campaign who doubt that; very few people who support the President, very few people who oppose the President who have any doubt that that is what is going to likely happen. And if that is the likely future of the President and this position, given that you don't have any news to drop on it where probably his mind has been made up, why not just come out and say it and let voters decide? It seems cynical to hide this until after the election.

MR. CARNEY: Jake, I think the President's position is well known. He's spoken to this. It's gotten a great deal of coverage. I don't have an update to provide you on the President's position. It is what it was. I'm sorry you don't want to hear about the President's support for LGBT rights because it's considerable.

Q

It's not that I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear the same talking points 15 times in a row.

MR. CARNEY: I think the -- talking points to you; serious substantial rights to others. Okay? "Don't ask, don't tell" -- repealing "don't ask, don't tell" is a serious matter. The efforts that this administration has taken on behalf of LGBT citizens are serious matters.

Q

I'm not belittling that, Jay. We're talking about same-sex marriage.

MR. CARNEY: I think that's the context of this discussion. I just don't have anything more to give to you on the issue of the President's views.

Q

Because he's still evolving. Not because you don't have news for me, it's because he's still evolving.

MR. CARNEY: It is as it was, yes.

Norah.

Q

Why does the President oppose same-sex marriage?

MR. CARNEY: I would just point you to what the President has said in the past, both during his campaign for President in 2008 and in answer to a question at the end of 2010. I really don't have an update for you, Norah.

Q

Is the President comfortable with the fact of men marrying men and women marrying women?

MR. CARNEY: The President is comfortable with same-sex couples, as the President -- the Vice President said, being entitled to the same rights and the civil rights and civil liberties as other Americans. And that's why he has fought for those equal rights and why he's opposed efforts to discriminate against LGBT citizens and to take away rights that have been established by law.

Q

Biden -- the Vice President appears to have evolved on the issue, but the President is still evolving -- is that a fair characterization?

MR. CARNEY: I will leave it to individuals to describe their own personal views. What I can explain to you is what the President's positions are on issues, the actions he has taken at a policy level on behalf of LGBT Americans, and his commitment to continue to take actions on their behalf to protect and defend their rights.

Q

Let me ask you this. You have a number of Democratic governors throughout this country -- Governor O'Malley, Governor Cuomo, Governor Malloy, to name a view, now the Vice President, who all support same-sex marriage. Why doesnt President Obama support same-sex marriage?

MR. CARNEY: I just don't have an update for you, Norah, on the President's position on his personal views. I can tell you that he is a absolutely committed supporter of LGBT rights. His record bears that out. It is an unparalleled record of support for LGBT citizens and their rights, and he's proud of it and he'll run on it.

And I think that it's important to remember when we talk about those accomplishments under this administration that they are far more than talking points; they are considerable, serious demonstrations of progress, important progress -- progress that others would take away and reverse. This President is committed to not letting that happen.

Q

When you now say the Vice President is evolving -- he did not say that, as was pointed out, but he used some key words beyond what Norah just quoted. He also said that they are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. Does that mean he supports same-sex marriage?

MR. CARNEY: I was pointing to this statement that the Vice President's office put out yesterday describing his statements, and I don't have any elaboration on that. I can tell you that what he said is completely consistent in that paragraph with the President's views that LGBT citizens should enjoy the same rights and that they should not be discriminated against. And efforts to take away those rights are something that this President strongly opposes.

Q

But how come when the President proposes something like the American Jobs Act -- you could name anything -- and he says -- he travels around the country and says, you're entitled to press members of Congress, tell them, are they for this or are they against it -- why can't you from this podium say whether or not the President supports or opposes same-sex marriage?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I can tell you that the President has spoken about this, and that his views have not changed and I have no update to give you on them.

Q

Okay. Quick question on the economy. We saw the President officially roll out his campaign on Saturday. You saw that the Republican National Committee immediately came out with a video quoting him in 2008 saying, you know, the big question in '08 is going to be, are you going to be better off four years from now? Now on Saturday, he seemed to be saying the big question is, are you going to better off another four years from now? He put out a new ad today -- the campaign. I know that's in Chicago, but the President himself seems to be saying -- four years ago he said, the question is, are you going to be better off in four years? Is he buying more time now?

MR. CARNEY: I think the President has and will continue to defend his record and make a strong case for the actions that he's taken to reverse the most cataclysmic decline in our economy that we've experienced in our lifetimes.

When you talk about where we were four years ago, think about it. We were on the precipice of the worst economic decline since the Great Depression -- under the previous administration. When he took office, we were hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month, okay? We have now seen 25 straight months of private sector job creation, 11 straight quarters of positive economic growth, which stands in contrast to the fourth quarter of 2008 -- the last quarter that his predecessor was in office -- during which the economy shrank 9 percent.

Now, I would argue that most Americans believe that we're going in a far better direction now than we were in 2008.

Q

So that means we're better off than we were four years ago?

MR. CARNEY: I think we are better off gaining jobs than losing jobs at a rate of 800,000 per month. We're better off growing the economy than we are seeing it shrink at a pace not seen since the Great Depression. I think indisputably -- do we have further to go? No question. The President says that all the time when he discusses this issue.

The hole dug by the great recession was very deep. The climb out of it is steep, but we have made significant progress. And we need to make sure that we take the steps necessary to continue to grow the economy, that Congress acts on proposals the President has put forward that they have yet to act on to, for example, put teachers back to work and first responders back to work, to put American construction workers back on the job.

One of the striking things about the recovery that we've seen so far in terms of job creation is that compared with previous recessions -- under President Reagan, for example -- there's been a significant drop in government employment during this recovery. That was not the case under previous Presidents. One, at least in recent months, causes of that has been the laying off of teachers around the country.

The President put forward a proposal to ensure that those teachers were brought back into the classroom. Republicans in the Congress opposed it. They had a choice to support teachers or tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans; teachers or subsidies for oil and gas companies. Unfortunately, they didn't choose teachers.

Yes.

Q

Why did the administration feel like they had to put out a statement clarifying what the Vice President said?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I don't know that the -- the office of the Vice President put out a statement. I think that there was a lot of interest generated by the comments and the office of the Vice President put out a statement to make it clear what the Vice President was saying.

But again, I think that there is a little bit of an overreaction here. The Vice President supports and made clear he supports the Presidents policies when it comes to protecting the rights of LGBT citizens, and he also has his own personal views about the issue, as does the President, as do most people. So the Presidents record on LGBT rights is extensive, and he is committed to working to move forward on that issue.

Q

Is it fair to say that publicly the President and the Vice President disagree on gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: No, I don't think that's what the Vice President said yesterday. But again, I don't think that's the point. The President and the Vice President and everyone in this administration support the initiatives that this President has taken to protect and defend the rights of all Americans, including LGBT Americans.

Q

When it came to the issue of marriage before, there was a time when the President was somebody who believed in deferring it to the states. Does he still feel that way?

MR. CARNEY: Well, the President believes that the states are deciding this issue, and he has made clear --

Q

-- clearly a state issue, not a federal issue?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think that we certainly oppose efforts to take away rights at a federal level, which some politicians suppose -- a constitutional amendment to deny rights to LGBT Americans across the country -- we oppose that. The President opposes that. States have taken action on this issue, and the President believes that when the process works that its a positive thing. He also opposes efforts in states to repeal rights or deny rights to LGBT citizens that have already been established.

Q

So what would that put him -- where would the President be then on the amendment in North Carolina that would ban gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: The President, through the campaign -- but the same person opposes efforts to deny the rights of citizens in any state where those rights have been established.

Q

So he opposes -- so help me out there. He opposes bans on gay marriage but he doesnt yet support gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: The record is clear that the President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples. That is a position he has taken that precedes his taking a position in North Carolina. Its a position hes taken in other states where this has been an issue. Yes, he is opposed to efforts in states to deny rights that have been provided to citizens.

Q

You understand why there is so much confusion --

MR. CARNEY: Well, he believes that states --

Q

-- because youre saying he opposes bans on gay marriage but hes not yet for gay marriage. I mean, thats --

MR. CARNEY: He believes that the states are -- marriage is a state issue, and the states have the right to take action on it. What he opposes is efforts to repeal rights that have been granted to LGBT citizens. He thinks that's discriminatory and wrong.

Q

Let me ask you about Greece. I know theres been a lot of interest in the French election. Does the administration have a position on whether Greece -- if Greece decides to pull out of the eurozone? Is there a concern that they might and that it would set off a greater economic crisis?

MR. CARNEY: I think that we are looking at the eurozone crisis as a whole. We understand that the political parties in Greece are working to form a coalition, and we hope to hear an announcement in the coming days. The Greek people have made many sacrifices to address that countrys economic crisis. And Greeces economic reform program remains vital to sustaining fiscal stability to spurring economic growth into a more prosperous future for Greece and the entire region.

Were going to continue to work with Greece, with whom we have an important relationship and a longstanding relationship, and we will continue to support through the IMF Greeces efforts to implement essential reforms that restore fiscal sustainability and promote economic growth.

We are, as I said earlier in response to other questions, very mindful of the impact that the situation in Europe can have on the American economy. Its been described as a headwind. Thats why we work so closely with our European counterparts and advise and consult with them on the steps theyre taking to deal with it. And Greece is obviously a part of that and well continue to work with the Greeks.

Q

No position yet on whether they -- if they decide theres -- is there a fear that theyre going to leave the eurozone?

MR. CARNEY: Im not going to speculate about --

Q

-- or anything like that?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I would simply say that stability in Europe is important. Its certainly important for Americas economic growth. And were continuing to work with our European counterparts to assist them with that effort in any way we can.

Q

May I follow up?

MR. CARNEY: Let me get Laura, and then yes.

Q

Theres going to be an effort this summer to have support for gay marriage as part of the Democratic platform. Does the President believe its important that the platform reflects his views?

MR. CARNEY: Well, on the issue of the platform, which hasnt been developed yet, I would refer you to the DNC.

Q

My question was whether the President -- this is a question for the President -- whether the President thinks that the platform just kind of doesn't matter, which some people say, or whether it really is a statement of his views whatever those may be?

MR. CARNEY: I think its a statement of the partys view and has long been that. But I don't have -- I havent had that discussion with him. But I think a platform is a statement of a partys views. It is called a Democratic or Republican Party platform. But for questions about the development of that platform Id refer you to the DNC.

Q

He is the head of his party.

MR. CARNEY: Again, I don't have a different answer for you, Laura. Its a platform that hasnt been developed. I would point you to the DNC for questions about it.

Q

On Friday the President said that hed be putting forward ideas for job creation for Congress to consider. Is there anything different about what hes going to be doing this week along those lines? Or is it just another effort at --

MR. CARNEY: I think the President will tomorrow talk about some of the things that Congress should and must do to help the economy grow and create jobs. I wont steal his thunder by giving you specifics, but that is certainly going to be a topic of discussion when the President has his event in New York tomorrow.

Q

And is there -- do you have any reason to believe that this effort will be more successful than past efforts?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think past efforts have to some degree been effective. We have an extension of the payroll tax cut only because of the Presidents firm decision to fight for that despite strong resistance from Republicans. We have an extension of the unemployment insurance through the end of the year, the calendar year, because of his fighting for it. And we also have some other measures that have passed -- the STOCK Act and the so-called JOBS Act, other demonstrations of the ability for Congress to come together and work in a bipartisan way to pass legislation that this President can sign, in spite of the fact that we have experienced a considerable amount of gridlock, and despite the fact that its an election year.

I don't think Congress will act because the President says Congress must act. I think the Congress will act because the people that sent them here are insisting that they act. That's why in the end Republicans finally came to an agreement on extending the payroll tax cut. That is why in the end they have come to an agreement among themselves on a variety of other issues.

I think that, as you know, every member of the House is up for election this year and a third of the Senate, and each of those members who are running for reelection has to explain to his or her constituents what they did while they were in Washington these last two years. Did they just say no? Did they just block every effort put forward to help the economy grow and create jobs? Or did they actually try to work constructively to get something done? And it is perhaps the need to answer that question in an affirmative way that might compel members of Congress to take a more constructive approach.

Jon-Christopher.

Q

Yes, following up on the Hollande question and the Greek election question, domestically, is the administration planning to go to Congress with an economic package that would include a stimulus plan that could cushion the U.S. from the effects of a possible European recession if the euro deal should, in fact, go down?

MR. CARNEY: The President has put forward, with the American Jobs Act and the initiatives that he described in the State of the Union that will help create an America built to last, an economy built to last, a number of initiatives that will help this economy continue to grow, will help this economy to continue to create jobs. And hes going to, as I just mentioned to Laura, talk about initiatives that this Congress could and should pass, the kinds of things that should enjoy bipartisan support if there really is interest in Congress to -- among Republicans in particular -- to -- just one second.

We want to get some -- Lester, are you okay?

Q

Im fine. I just have one question. (Laughter.)

MR. CARNEY: Youre good. (Laughter.) Somebody give him a seat, please, if you could.

Q

Les, can you wait until Jay finishes answering mine?

MR. CARNEY: Please, somebody give Lester a seat.

Q

And then one on al Qaeda --

MR. CARNEY: Let me move around a little bit.

Q

Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY: Sure.

Q

I sort of got the full answer --

MR. CARNEY: The President has put forward a number of initiatives that are built around the notion that we need to continue to take steps to grow this economy after -- as were recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

I think as I mentioned earlier, the context includes issues like the eurozone crisis, issues like global prices for oil that can create headwinds for our economy. But that's one of the reasons why we need to take action here on matters that we can control entirely, which is our capacity to pass legislation that actually does something to help the economy, as opposed to bickering over things when the American people are demanding action.

Q

Thank you.

Q

Al Qaeda?

MR. CARNEY: Connie -- al Qaeda, sure.

Q

What is the difference between not negotiating with al Qaeda and releasing prisoners from -- Afghan military prisoners, as reported in The Washington Post? And also, whats the difference between negotiating with al Qaeda and the Taliban?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think youre conflating a number of things, Connie. And I don't think anybody would -- I think a lot of ink has been spilled over the differentiation between the Taliban and -- certainly rank-and-file members of the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The fact of the matter is, on the issue of prisoner releases, the story in The Washington Post, these kinds of decisions are made by battlefield commanders, and I would refer you to ISAF and the DOD on that. They are not made in Washington.

Secondly, because of this Presidents focus on a specific mission in Afghanistan, it has been this Presidents policy and this administrations policy that the number-one priority of our mission in Afghanistan is to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat al Qaeda. The Taliban exists in Afghanistan, and for ultimate peace in Afghanistan there needs to be reconciliation. And that's why we have supported Afghan-led efforts towards reconciliation with the Taliban on the conditions that members of the Taliban who wish to reconcile lay down their arms, denounce al Qaeda and sever all ties with al Qaeda, and commit themselves to abiding by the Afghan constitution.

Yes.

Q

Jay, is one of the reasons the President wants to meet with the French President-elect before G8 and NATO is to discuss Hollandes stand on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan?

MR. CARNEY: I think the President and President-elect Hollande will have a number of issues to discuss. I think he wants to meet with him because hes just been elected President of one of our oldest allies -- our oldest ally. And he looks forward to doing that.

Q

Does his -- does Hollandes stand jeopardize the Presidents efforts to shore up the alliance in Chicago?

MR. CARNEY: I think we can wait until NATO meets in Chicago to discuss steps going forward on Afghanistan. The President was just in Afghanistan last week, as you know, and his commitment to moving forward with the strategy that he put forward that includes transferring security authority -- the security lead over to the Afghan National Security Forces and ultimately full security lead over to the Afghans by 2014 is something he described last week, and will certainly be a focus of discussion in Chicago.

Yes, Roger.

Q

Thank you. Theres a compromise on the Hill on Export-Import Bank legislation. Its hammered together by Hoyer and Cantor. Will the President be supporting that?

MR. CARNEY: Well, we certainly support the effort to reach a compromise. We think its very important, as weve said before, that this reauthorization take place to help our exports, which is an important component of our economic recovery. The President is committed to expanding exports, and he certainly commends those who are working towards finding a compromise.

Q

There are a couple of restrictions in there, one of which involves ending export subsidies to airline makers. Is there any concern --

MR. CARNEY: Ill have to take that question. I don't have any specifics for you on the legislation.

Steve.

Q

Is the President going to support Charlie Rangels reelection?

MR. CARNEY: Ill have to take that question. I havent --

Q

Why?

MR. CARNEY: Yes, sure. I just don't -- I havent been asked it before, so I --

Q

Yes, sure, youll take the question, or, sure, he supports him?

MR. CARNEY: Ill have to get back to you on that.

Yes, Mara.

Q

Just to get clear on your criteria, you said that you oppose state efforts to take away rights. In North Carolina gays can't marry now, so what is the reason to oppose North Carolina?

MR. CARNEY: The referendum would, as I understand it, restrict and deny rights to LGBT Americans. And the President --

Q

That they currently have in North Carolina?

MR. CARNEY: That's my understanding, yes.

Q

Okay. My other question is, is marriage a civil liberty?

MR. CARNEY: You have to ask civil libertarians or lawyers?

Q

Well, in the White House view, is marriage a civil liberty?

MR. CARNEY: We believe that -- the President believes strongly that LGBT Americans should enjoy the same legal rights, and he opposes efforts to deny rights to LGBT American and discriminate against them.

Q

Okay. Just another question. It's pretty rare when somebody runs for office saying, in effect, I'm getting ready to change my mind. And you've really savaged Mitt Romney for changing his mind, and I'm wondering if you don't run some risk of looking kind of too clever by half here.

MR. CARNEY: Look, I don't have an update for you on the President's personal views. He described them in response to a question. This has gotten a great deal of coverage in the past. That's the answer he has and I don't have a new answer for you.

Q

But what would you say is the definition of "evolving"? You've said it so many times, it has to mean something specific.

MR. CARNEY: The President said that his views on this are evolving. I think --

Q

Is he getting ready to change?

MR. CARNEY: Not necessarily. I think he just said they were evolving. And that's at a personal level. His views on LGBT rights are crystal-clear and this administration has taken actions that are unparalleled to support those rights. And he'll continue to take those actions because he thinks that's the right thing to do.

April.

Q

How could his views be crystal-clear if everybody in this room is needing to ask you questions?

MR. CARNEY: Chris, I think everybody in this room is reacting in the way that folks often do to one story that takes off and then they run down the field and chase it. They're reacting to comments on a Sunday show. Nothing has changed in the President's firm commitment to LGBT rights and nothing's changed and I have no new information --

Q

-- position by the White House.

MR. CARNEY: It's the same position. It's not the position of the White House. The President's position is --

Q

Then why did you guys send out statements to clarify?

MR. CARNEY: Because the Vice President's statements were being misinterpreted by some, so he -- so there was an effort to clarify it by the office of the Vice President.

Q

Jay, what do you think the word "evolving" means?

MR. CARNEY: But that's where the President is, okay.

Q

Is he unevolved?

MR. CARNEY: April.

Q

That means changing.

Q

Okay, now I have the ball, let me run with it.

MR. CARNEY: Policy positions haven't changed, Jake. And I can remind you that his support for LGBT rights is unprecedented and compares favorably to anyone else out there in the political arena who's advocating for these rights. And he'll continue to support them.

April.

Q

All right, now I'm going to take the ball and run down the field with it real quick. And I want you to dissect the evolution.

MR. CARNEY: No, I'm not going to, April. I'm sorry, I don't have anything new for you.

Q

No, no, no, no. Okay, you're not going to, but can you at least say yea or nay when I kind of try to -- (laughter) -- here's the deal. Here's the deal. Before we heard that it was -- he was having a hard time marrying issues of his faith and rights. Is that the evolution? Is that where the evolution issue is a holdup?

MR. CARNEY: The next time the President has a news conference, if you want to ask him that youre certainly welcome to. I do not have an update for you on the Presidents personal views.

Q

No, but Im not finished, Im not finished. Wait a minute, one more question. Going back to what Steve asked about --

MR. CARNEY: Ill have to get back --

Q

Okay, well, let me ask you -- does the President at least want to support a Democrat for that seat?

MR. CARNEY: Yes, April, but I dont have -- I have to take that question.

Yes.

Q

Can you post that answer, Jay?

MR. CARNEY: Sure.

Q

Thanks.

Q

Jay, did the President know before yesterday, did the President know that the Vice President was comfortable with men marrying men? Is this something theyve discussed?

MR. CARNEY: I dont have a readout for you of conversations theyve had on this issue.

Q

Is it something theyve discussed?

MR. CARNEY: Again, I dont have a readout for you of private conversations that theyve had.

Andrei.

Q

Thanks. Do I understand correctly that the Russian President has the same invitation for a bilateral before the Camp David summit that the French President has?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I dont know that weve made any announcement. The President very much looks forward to meeting with President-elect Putin when hes here. Tom Donilon, the National Security Advisor, as you know, met with President -- well, hes President Putin now, hes been sworn in -- President-elect Putin when he was in Moscow, as well as Security Council Secretary Patrushev and Deputy Head of the Government Apparatus Ushakov as part of an ongoing series of high-level consultations on issues of mutual strategic interest. And I think there was a readout by the Russian government on those meetings that Mr. Donilon had.

Q

Wait, so they could meet here?

MR. CARNEY: I dont have an announcement to make on any meetings.

Q

No indication yet of a one-on-one with Putin?

MR. CARNEY: Ill have to take that question.

Q

New topic?

Q

Yes, new topics, Jay. On Afghanistan -- was it mentioned yesterday in the conversation between the two leaders?

MR. CARNEY: I would point you to the readout we gave. I think that contained the topics.

Q

And my second point, President Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy were pretty close. They have been elected -- they knew each other even before being elected. Do you read or do you see any lessons in Nicolas Sarkozys defeat?

MR. CARNEY: I dont think Ill analyze another countrys politics. I would simply say that our alliance with France is enduring and will continue to be a vital part of our national security future.

Q

Since this close alliance, being a European Socialist is such a bad name here, and Francois Hollande is a European Socialist, do you think they can really get close in an election year in the United States?

MR. CARNEY: Look, we have issues with France that we will work on regardless of whos President or which government -- which party is in power. And I think that applies to nations across Europe, especially with such allies as close as France is.

So there have been very close relations between France and the United States, regardless of whether a Democrat or a Republican is in power here, or regardless of which party is in power in France. And I expect that to continue.

Jen.

Q

Thanks, Jay. Is it still accurate to say, then, that President Obama is opposed to gay marriage?

MR. CARNEY: I would simply say that his views are evolving, which is what he said. And I dont have an update for you on that issue.

Amy.

Q

Just to clarify, were you saying that the Vice President's comments were his personal views? Were you looping it together with Arne Duncan's views?

MR. CARNEY: The Vice President spoke very clearly about the President's policies, and they're entirely consistent with the policies that this President has supported. He also -- he talked about evolution in this country and other issues, and those were personal views. I will simply refer you to the statement that the office of the Vice President put out.

Q

One to finish up -- back on Hollande. Do you have any indication that his position will be any different, and could affect yours, on what to do next in Syria? The United States and France have worked fairly closely together to this point. Does this put greater onus on the United States to help come up with a better or different solution?

MR. CARNEY: Well, he was just elected yesterday. I dont have any more insight into that except to say that our position on Syria I think is quite clear. We support the Annan plan but are skeptical about the Assad regime's willingness to comply with it. We will continue to work with the international community and will take steps as necessary if the Annan plan does not succeed.

Yes, Chris.

Q

Jay, just want to get back to -- as someone who's worked with the Vice President before, do you remember him ever speaking so favorably on the issue of same-sex marriage?

MR. CARNEY: I think I will simply point you to what the Vice President said yesterday. The Vice President supports this President's policies in support for LGBT rights.

Q

Well, he said as progress. I mean, is this an evolution --

MR. CARNEY: I would just point you to what the Vice President said.

Lester, you deserve a question after collapsing.

Q

The Methodist General Conference representatives of 12 million voted 685 to 246 to reject a proposal to divest from companies who do business with Israel. Is the President grateful for this support of Israel from our third-largest religious denomination? I have one follow-up.

MR. CARNEY: Well, I'll just take the one question. I'm not aware of that. The President believes strongly that we have an unshakeable alliance with Israel, and I'll leave it at that.

Thank you all very much.

END

2:33 P.M. EDT


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


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The White House Bulletin


May 7, 2012 Monday


Obama Ad Says Economy Is Coming Back


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 86 words


President Obama's reelection campaign today released a new ad portraying the US economy as on the rise and urging voters to give the President more time to continue his work. In the ad, the narrator says of the economy, "We're not there yet, it's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back." The ad focuses entirely on Obama's record, and doesn't directly attract Mitt Romney. Responding to the ad, Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said, "Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago."


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The White House Bulletin


May 7, 2012 Monday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 636 words


President. The Washington Times says President Obama's "re-election effort shifted into a higher gear over the weekend," with the President and First Lady "leading rallies at colleges in Ohio and Virginia on Saturday," and Vice President Biden and David Axelrod defending the Administration "on everything from the killing of Osama bin Laden to the latest jobless numbers" on the Sunday morning talk shows. ... The Columbus (OH) Dispatch reports the President, addressing "a boisterous crowd of 14,000 in the 20,000 seat Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University" on Saturday, offered "a spirited defense of his first 41 months in office and asking for a second term to finish restoring the economy." The Cincinnati Enquirer, however, says the turnout was "about 6,000 short of the campaign's stated goal."

... The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch reports, "Before a boisterous crowd of about 8,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University" in Virginia, the President "said that while the nation's economy still faces headwinds, it's making progress." ... A front page story in the Detroit News reports Mitt Romney will speak at Lansing Community College on Tuesday, "a day after he visits another midwestern battleground state: Ohio." ... The Hill reports the Romney campaign "unveiled a new Web video hitting President Obama on the April jobs figures report and saying that millions of Americans were 'suffering in silence' from the administration's economic policies," highlighting negative news reports on the economy. ... The Hill reported on its website that during an appearance yesterday on Fox News, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) "accused President Obama of having lost the qualities which attracted Americans to vote for him in 2008." ... Newt Gingrich, on CBS' Face The Nation yesterday, had stronger praise for Romney than he has had in the past, saying, "I think you have to come down to, what's the choice this November? And the choice is the most radical president in American history and a failed president at the economy and somebody who has a solid record on jobs and who, in fact, on basic principles, is conservative. ... As far as I'm concerned, I've endorsed him, and we're working with his campaign team." ... The Christian Science Monitor reports that Ron Paul's "strategy is working ? at least it did in Maine and Nevada Sunday, where he won the most number of delegates at state party conventions." ... The AP reports former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson "easily became the party's presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday

Governors.

The AP reported former Rep. Bob Etheridge (D) ripped Democratic North Carolina gubernatorial foe Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (D) "on Saturday for sending out campaign mailings that Etheridge said reminded him of tactics used by the late Republican Sen. Jesse Helms," responding with a TV ad that "accused Dalton of picking and choosing votes from his 14 years in Congress without telling the whole story."

Senate.

The AP reports Sen. Dick Lugar (R) on Sunday stumped "through northern Indiana, fighting hard to beat back the perception that he's already lost" his primary battle with state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R). ... Politico reports the DSCC "has purchased nearly $3 million in statewide broadcast time" in Montana, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester faces Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg," which "roughly" matches what the NRSC has reserved in the state.

House.

The Lansing State Journal reports former Rep. Joe Schwarz, a "Republican-turned Independent-turned almost Democrat," announced on Friday that he would not challenge Rep. Tim Walberg (R) in the MI7 contest. Meanwhile, the Jackson (MI) Patriot Citizen reports Jackson County Democratic Party Chairman Ruben Marquez announced Friday he will challenge Walberg.


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Associated Press Online


May 7, 2012 Monday 1:36 PM GMT


Obama campaign releases ad emphasizing economy


BYLINE: By JULIE PACE, Associated Press


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 416 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama's re-election team, seeking to infuse a bit of positivity into the biting general election campaign, released a new television advertisement Monday portraying an America on the rise and urging voters to stick with the president.

In a shift from many of the campaign's earlier ads, this latest commercial focuses entirely on promoting Obama's record and makes no direct attacks on his presumptive Republican presidential rival, Mitt Romney.

The approach underscores the campaign's recognition that the president can't win a second term simply by attacking his opponent. Obama also needs to make the case that, despite continued economic unease, he has made things better for the American people and is the right steward for the economy going forward.

The commercial credits Obama with pulling the nation's economy back from the brink of recession and saving the U.S. automobile industry. It also highlights what the campaign sees as the president's foreign policy accomplishments, including killing Osama bin Laden and ending the war in Iraq.

In the ad, a narrator says of the U.S. economy, "We're not there yet, it's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back."

The Romney campaign responded swiftly, with spokeswoman Amanda Hennenberg said "Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago." She ticked through areas of the economy where the Romney campaign says Obama has failed, including high gas prices and home foreclosures.

Fresh economic data out last week underscores the economic challenges Obama will have to overcome if he hopes to hold the White House. The economy added just 115,000 jobs in April. While the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent, the decline was largely because more people stopped looking for work. People who are no longer looking for jobs are not counted as unemployed.

The new commercial follows Obama's back-to-back campaign rallies last weekend in Virginia and Ohio, where the president targeted Romney by name as a protector of the rich who will rubberstamp the agenda of GOP extremists in Congress. While Obama's team dubbed the rallies as the official launch of the president's campaign, Obama has been in re-election mode for months, headlining campaign fundraisers and holding official White House events in battleground states.

The Obama campaign said the new ad will air in nine politically important states: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.


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The Associated Press


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 01:00 AM GMT


AP News in Brief at 8:58 p.m. EDT;
Monday, May 7, 2012


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 1847 words


CIA foils 'undetectable' new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot against US-bound aircraft

WASHINGTON (AP) The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said Monday.

The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.

The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, officials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday that she had been briefed about an "undetectable" device that was "going to be on a U.S.-bound airliner."

There were no immediate plans to change security procedures at U.S. airports.

Obama's vague gay marriage stance faces fresh scrutiny as administration officials break ranks

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama's election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well.

Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented personal viewpoints and were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president's position. Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney's history of equivocating on some gay-rights issues, an attempt to turn a potential political problem into an opportunity.

Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past year and a half that his personal views on the matter are "evolving."

The White House held firm on Monday to that position, which polls show puts the president increasingly at odds with his party and the majority of Americans on gay marriage. But with Biden and Duncan's comments reinvigorating the debate, Obama is likely to face renewed pressure to clarify his views ahead of the November election.

Obama, Romney take message to middle-class voters through airwaves, battleground pitch

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) Targeting middle-class voters, President Barack Obama on Monday unveiled a sweeping $25 million, nine-state ad campaign whose centerpiece is a commercial portraying him as the steward of an economic comeback and confronting Republican criticism that recovery has sputtered on his watch.

"We're not there yet," the ad says. "It's still too hard, for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he."

Countering from hard-hit Ohio, Republican Mitt Romney argued that Obama's policies are squeezing middle-income Americans and that his business background could help jumpstart the economy.

"The president and I have fairly different visions for what it'll take to get America working again," the former Massachusetts governor said.

The competing economic visions and the huge Obama investment in TV advertising in battleground states are shaping a White House race that new surveys suggest is competitive six months before Election Day. A poll of voters in a dozen swing states by USA Today and Gallup found Obama and Romney essentially even among registered voters Obama 47 percent, Romney 45 percent.

Americans still getting fatter; forecast predicts jump in severe obesity over next 20 years

WASHINGTON (AP) The obesity epidemic may be slowing, but don't take in those pants yet.

Today, just over a third of U.S. adults are obese. By 2030, 42 percent will be, says a forecast released Monday.

That's not nearly as many as experts had predicted before the once-rapid rises in obesity rates began leveling off. But the new forecast suggests even small continuing increases will add up.

"We still have a very serious problem," said obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worse, the already obese are getting fatter. Severe obesity will double by 2030, when 11 percent of adults will be nearly 100 pounds overweight, or more, concluded the research led by Duke University.

Army investigators say they found no bullet wound in soldier who died during Skype chat

WASHINGTON (AP) Army investigators said Monday they found no bullet wound or evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife.

Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole.

Investigators said an initial probe showed no trauma to the body except that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. Orellana-Clark said he didn't seem alarmed before he collapsed.

Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that the investigation is still under way.

"But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma," except that Clark's nose was possibly broken when he fell on his desk, Grey said in a telephone interview.

Model in plunging evening gown steals the Mexican presidential debate

MEXICO CITY (AP) Who won Mexico's presidential debate? According to the media and Twitter frenzy, at least, the victor wasn't any candidate but a curvaceous model in a tight gown who puzzled millions by appearing on stage for less than 30 seconds during the showdown.

Julia Orayen has posed nude for Playboy and appeared barely dressed in other media, but she made her mark on Mexican minds Sunday night by carrying an urn filled with bits of paper determining the order that candidates would speak.

Not that viewers were looking at the urn.

She wore a tight, white dress with a wide, tear-drop cutout that revealed her ample decolletage. The image was splashed across newspaper front pages and websites by Monday.

"The best was the girl in white with the cleavage at the beginning," tweeted former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, who is also a New York University professor.

Israeli media: Agreement reached for unity government, early election canceled

JERUSALEM (AP) In a surprise move that could influence a possible Israeli strike on Iran, Israeli media reports early Tuesday indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement with the Kadima opposition party for a unity government, canceling an early election.

There was no immediate comment from official sources on the decision that was reported at about 2 a.m.

The reports came as Israel's parliament held debates long into the night over whether to disperse ahead of early elections called for the fall. Knesset spokesman Yotam Yakir said no final vote was taken and parliament is not dispersing.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli government proposed that the election be moved up to Sept. 4.

The election had originally been set for 2013.

Something in the prehistoric air that helped keep it warm methane from dinosaur digestion

WASHINGTON (AP) Potty humor just got prehistoric. A new study suggests that dinosaurs may have helped keep an already overheated world warmer with their flatulence and burps 200 million years ago.

The research published Monday in Current Biology suggests that large dinosaurs made a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect back then. Study author David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University in England estimated that about 570 million tons of methane came from dinosaurs. That's similar to total atmospheric levels of methane today produced by livestock, farming and industry. Cows alone now produce nearly 100 tons a year of methane.

The study looks at the biggest and presumably gassiest dinosaurs, called sauropods. These were the long-necked plant eaters that munched on the top of trees. They were large animals that had food fermenting in their guts for long periods of time because of their giant size, said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, who wasn't part of the study.

Wilkinson said dinosaur gas was just one factor at a time when the world was quite tropical, about 18 degrees warmer than now (10 degrees Celsius). But he said some in the media and blogosphere have misinterpreted his study to say it was the main cause of ancient warming. In a phone interview, Wilkinson said it was only one of the causes, but dinosaur gas "is big enough to be a measurable effect."

What caused the ancient pre-human world to be so hot just the way the dinosaurs needed it was a variety of factors. Volcanoes spewed much more greenhouse gases than now, Holtz said. Swamps, water currents, shallow seas and plentiful plankton combined to raise greenhouse gas levels far higher than today, he said.

'Lost' star Matthew Fox arrested for DUI in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Actor Matthew Fox, star of the television series "Lost," has been charged with drunken driving in Oregon.

Police in Bend say the 45-year-old who lives in the Central Oregon city was stopped early Friday after an officer noticed a motorist failing to signal properly or stay within a lane of traffic.

During the stop, the officer decided Fox was driving under the influence and took him to the Deschutes (duh-SHOOTS') County Jail.

Fox was released Friday after he was booked into custody. He has a court appearance scheduled for June 17.

The authorities would not release the police report or any additional information.

Phillies LHP Cole Hamels suspended 5 games for throwing at Nats rookie Bryce Harper

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Cole Hamels earned a five-game suspension for the way he welcomed Bryce Harper to the big leagues.

The 2008 World Series MVP was suspended for intentionally throwing at the Washington rookie in the Philadelphia Phillies' 9-3 win over the Nationals on Sunday night.

Major League Baseball announced the penalty Monday. Hamels also was fined.

Hamels wasn't available to reporters before the Phillies opened a three-game series against the New York Mets. But he already admitted that he deliberately threw at Harper.

"I was trying to hit him," the two-time All-Star lefty said Sunday night. "I'm not going to deny it. I'm not trying to injure the guy. They're probably not going to like me for it, but I'm not going to say I wasn't trying to do it. I think they understood the message, and they threw it right back. That's the way, and I respect it."


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The Associated Press


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 01:16 AM GMT


Obama targets middle-class voters through airwaves


BYLINE: By KEN THOMAS and STEVE PEOPLES, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1203 words


DATELINE: EUCLID, Ohio


Targeting middle-class voters, President Barack Obama on Monday unveiled a sweeping $25 million, nine-state ad campaign whose centerpiece is a commercial portraying him as the steward of an economic comeback and confronting Republican criticism that recovery has sputtered on his watch.

"We're not there yet," the ad says. "It's still too hard, for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he."

Countering from hard-hit Ohio, Republican Mitt Romney argued that Obama's policies are squeezing middle-income Americans and that his business background could help jumpstart the economy.

"The president and I have fairly different visions for what it'll take to get America working again," the former Massachusetts governor said.

The competing economic visions and the huge Obama investment in TV advertising in battleground states are shaping a White House race that new surveys suggest is competitive six months before Election Day. A poll of voters in a dozen swing states by USA Today and Gallup found Obama and Romney essentially even among registered voters Obama 47 percent, Romney 45 percent.

Just weeks old, the Obama-Romney race is playing out in a country in which unemployment is hovering around 8 percent and where many voters are not feeling growth that economists insist is occurring

Monday's announcement of the new advertising effort came just days after Obama opened the latest phase in his White House re-election effort with a pair of rallies in politically important Virginia and Ohio.

The sheer scope of the ad effort $25 million in one month in the battlegrounds of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado illustrates the huge advantage the incumbent Democrat has over Romney. Obama is tapping into a campaign bank account of more than $100 million to pay for his big opening salvo in the TV ad wars while Romney scurries to catch up after a costly and contentious primary season. The presumptive GOP nominee is relying on outside groups like the pro-Romney Restore Our Future political action committee to keep him competitive on the air against Obama's behemoth campaign.

Liberal-leaning groups were getting a boost of their own from billionaire financier George Soros, whose staff told supporters Monday that he would be donating $1 million to the advocacy group America Votes and another $1 million to the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. American Bridge is a research group that supports Obama's re-election effort.

In the 60-second ad, Obama tries to paint a picture of a nation turning the page on a difficult decade.

The ad traces America's economic landscape from late 2008 and the massive economic downturn that crippled the U.S. economy, with housing foreclosures, job losses and the financial crisis. "The economy spiraling down ... all before this president took the oath," it says. "Some said our best days were behind us. But not him."

"He believed in us, fought for us," the ad says as it highlights jobs being created, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and the return of U.S. troops from a lengthy war in Iraq in Obama's first term.

It could be considered Obama's take on President Ronald Reagan's patriotic "Morning in America" theme, yet with a gritty undertone. It juxtaposes images of unemployed workers and home foreclosure signs with workers assembling cars, a girl jumping into the arms of her soldier father and a woman working behind a cash register. But, despite the optimistic tone, the ad overlooks the challenges Obama faces in selling the message that the economy is improving.

Economic data released last week show his hurdles. The economy added just 115,000 jobs in April, far below monthly totals from December 2011 through February 2012 when the economy grew at a faster pace. While the unemployment rate inched down to 8.1 percent, the decline was largely attributed to more people who had stopped looking for work. People who are no longer looking for jobs are not counted as unemployed.

By emphasizing Obama's record, the new ad showed that Obama's advisers recognize he can't win a second term simply by attacking Romney's record in business and as Massachusetts governor. Instead, the ads are aimed at making a compelling case that despite the economic hardships faced by millions of Americans, Obama is the best overseer of the economy.

The advertising push includes large ad buys in multiple markets in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Colorado, and will cover a number of 30-second and 60-second spots running into early June.

In a conference call with reporters, David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, said the campaign would devote its May advertising to a positive message touting Obama's accomplishments but was prepared to respond to criticism from "the Karl and Koch brothers' contract killers over there in super PAC land."

It was a reference to outside groups linked to Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, and the heads of Koch Industries, longtime supporters of conservative causes. Obama has responded to a handful of critical ads in recent months with his own defensive spots, and Axelrod criticized the GOP-leaning groups even though the White House has signaled to Democratic donors that they too should donate to Democratic-leaning super PACs.

While Obama let his campaign ad shape the race Monday, Romney headed to suburban Cleveland. He softened his tone at times, sharing the stories of struggling Americans he's met on the campaign trail and countering the notion that he came from a privileged background. He said his father, a former auto executive, never had the time or money to get a college degree and his parents "couldn't afford a fancy honeymoon" when they married.

During Romney's town hall meeting, a woman said in a question to Romney that Obama had strayed from the principles of the Constitution and "should be tried for treason." Romney did not respond to her suggestion of treason but told reporters later that "no, of course" the president should not be tried for such an offense.

On Tuesday he was heading to Michigan, the state where he grew up and has identified as a potential Republican pickup, and on Wednesday to Colorado, where Obama staged the 2008 Democratic National Convention and captured electoral votes a few months later. He was to visit the state capitals of Lansing and Denver.

Romney, the expected GOP nominee, was expected to add more delegates to his haul from Tuesday's primaries in North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia. He has 856 delegates, according to The Associated Press' count, nearly 300 delegates short of the 1,144 needed to win the nomination.

Obama, for his part, was taking his economic message to events in Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday, and Reno, Nev., on Friday. He also was holding fundraisers later in the week in Seattle and Los Angeles, where he was attending a high-dollar dinner at the home of actor George Clooney.

Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Stephen Ohlemacher and Jack Gillum in Washington contributed to this report.


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The Associated Press


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 08:32 PM GMT


Obama and Romney campaigns target Hispanic voters


BYLINE: By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 720 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


President Barack Obama's re-election campaign launched a series of Spanish-language television ads in three battleground states on Tuesday. Separately, a Republican official stated that Mitt Romney is "still deciding" his position on immigration, then backtracked. Taken together, the ads and the comment underscored the Democrat's advantages and his Republican opponent's challenge in wooing the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group, Democratic-leaning Hispanics.

The Obama campaign ads, promoting the president's federal health care overhaul, are running in Florida, Nevada and Colorado, states with large Hispanic populations. Obama carried the three against Republican John McCain in 2008, and polling shows a tight contest again this election.

The Spanish-language commercials are running as part of a nine-state, $25 million advertising effort the Obama team unveiled this week. The campaign had previously spent $850,000 on Spanish-language ads in the same three states to promote Obama's education policies, according to Smart Media Group, which tracks political ad spending.

Obama won 67 percent of Hispanic voters to McCain's 31 percent in 2008. Polling shows Obama continues to have a wide lead among Hispanics, even as the limping economy has weakened his position among other demographic groups he carried in the last election.

A Pew Research Center poll taken last month found 67 percent of Hispanic voters backed Obama, compared to 27 percent for Romney. A Quinnipiac University poll also taken last month found a similar result Obama led Romney by a margin of 64-24 percent.

Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, took hardline positions on immigration issues during the contentious Republican nominating contest. He said he would veto the so-called DREAM Act, which would allow the children of illegal immigrants to enroll in college or the military and eventually establish citizenship or permanent residency in the U.S. He also urged a reduction of benefits for illegal immigrants to push them to "self-deport" and praised a controversial Arizona law that allows police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they stop.

Romney has already signaled he'll consider policies that may not line up with opinions expressed during the primary. In April he said his campaign was evaluating a conservative alternative to the DREAM Act proposed by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The legislation would allow some illegal immigrant students to receive visas that would permit them to stay in the U.S. legally for some period of time.

The Romney campaign aired Spanish-language ads in Florida before that state's primary in January but has not run any since. The Republican-leaning super PAC American Crossroads ran Spanish-language ads criticizing Obama in several battleground states in 2011 but has not done so this year.

Republican officials at a news briefing Tuesday in Washington acknowledged the hurdles the party faces with Hispanics. The party has named Hispanic outreach directors in six swing states Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.

Bettina Inclan, the Republican National Committee's Hispanic outreach director, appeared to compound Romney's challenge by suggesting that he hadn't developed a clear position on immigration.

"I think as a candidate, to my understanding, he's still deciding what his position on immigration is. I can't talk about what his position is going to be," Inclan said.

Inclan quickly took to Twitter to say she had misspoken. "Romney's position on immigration is clear," she tweeted.

Romney campaign spokesman Albert Martinez released a statement criticizing Obama on immigration.

"President Obama broke his promise to Hispanics on immigration reform, Americans still oppose his healthcare takeover, more Hispanics have been plunged into poverty as a result of his weak leadership on the economy, and his $800 billion stimulus failed to stem the jobs crisis in the Hispanic community. With a record like that, President Obama has no choice but to spend millions of dollars trying to spin his failed leadership and broken promises," Martinez said.

Associated Press Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta and Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bfouhy


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Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


World in Brief


SECTION: NEWS


LENGTH: 1281 words


Tuesday May 8, 2012

CIA foils 'undetectable' new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot
against U.S.-bound aircraft

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said Monday.

The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials said.

The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, officials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday that she had been briefed about an "undetectable" device that was "going to be on a U.S.-bound airliner."

There were no immediate plans to change security procedures at U.S. airports.

Obama's vague gay marriage stance faces fresh scrutiny as administration officials break ranks

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well.

Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented personal viewpoints and were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president's position. Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney's history of equivocating on some gay-rights issues, an attempt to turn a potential political problem into an opportunity.

Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past year and a half that his personal views on the matter are "evolving."

The White House held firm on Monday to that position, which polls show puts the president increasingly at odds with his party and the majority of Americans on gay marriage. But with Biden and Duncan's comments reinvigorating the debate, Obama is likely to face renewed pressure to clarify his views ahead of the November election.

Obama, Romney take message to middle-class voters through airwaves, battleground pitch

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) -- Targeting middle-class voters, President Barack Obama on Monday unveiled a sweeping $25 million, nine-state ad campaign whose centerpiece is a commercial portraying him as the steward of an economic comeback and confronting Republican criticism that recovery has sputtered on his watch.

"We're not there yet," the ad says. "It's still too hard, for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he."

Countering from hard-hit Ohio, Republican Mitt Romney argued that Obama's policies are squeezing middle-income Americans and that his business background could help jumpstart the economy.

"The president and I have fairly different visions for what it'll take to get America working again," the former Massachusetts governor said.

The competing economic visions -- and the huge Obama investment in TV advertising in battleground states -- are shaping a White House race that new surveys suggest is competitive six months before Election Day. A poll of voters in a dozen swing states by USA Today and Gallup found Obama and Romney essentially even among registered voters -- Obama 47 percent, Romney 45 percent.

Americans still getting fatter; forecast predicts jump in severe obesity over next 20 years

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The obesity epidemic may be slowing, but don't take in those pants yet.

Today, just over a third of U.S. adults are obese. By 2030, 42 percent will be, says a forecast released Monday.

That's not nearly as many as experts had predicted before the once-rapid rises in obesity rates began leveling off. But the new forecast suggests even small continuing increases will add up.

"We still have a very serious problem," said obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worse, the already obese are getting fatter. Severe obesity will double by 2030, when 11 percent of adults will be nearly 100 pounds overweight, or more, concluded the research led by Duke University.

Army investigators say they found no bullet wound in soldier who died during Skype chat

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Army investigators said Monday they found no bullet wound or evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife.

Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole.

Investigators said an initial probe showed no trauma to the body except that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. Orellana-Clark said he didn't seem alarmed before he collapsed.

Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that the investigation is still under way.

"But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma," except that Clark's nose was possibly broken when he fell on his desk, Grey said in a telephone interview.

Model in plunging evening gown steals Mexican presidential debate

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Who won Mexico's presidential debate? According to the media and Twitter frenzy, at least, the victor wasn't any candidate but a curvaceous model in a tight gown who puzzled millions by appearing on stage for less than 30 seconds during the showdown.

Julia Orayen has posed nude for Playboy and appeared barely dressed in other media, but she made her mark on Mexican minds Sunday night by carrying an urn filled with bits of paper determining the order that candidates would speak.

Not that viewers were looking at the urn.

She wore a tight, white dress with a wide, tear-drop cutout that revealed her ample decolletage. The image was splashed across newspaper front pages and websites by Monday.

"The best was the girl in white with the cleavage at the beginning," tweeted former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, who is also a New York University professor.

Israeli media: Agreement reached for unity government, early election canceled

JERUSALEM (AP) --In a surprise move that could influence a possible Israeli strike on Iran, Israeli media reports early Tuesday indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement with the Kadima opposition party for a unity government, canceling an early election.

There was no immediate comment from official sources on the decision that was reported at about 2 a.m.

The reports came as Israel's parliament held debates long into the night over whether to disperse ahead of early elections called for the fall. Knesset spokesman Yotam Yakir said no final vote was taken and parliament is not dispersing.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli government proposed that the election be moved up to Sept. 4.

The election had originally been set for 2013.


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CNN Wire


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 11:39 PM EST


Longest-serving GOP senator trails after tough primary


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 490 words


DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS (CNN)


INDIANAPOLIS (CNN) -- Polls closed in Indiana's Republican Senate primary Tuesday night with the first results showing veteran incumbent Dick Lugar trailing his challenger, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

Lugar is seeking the GOP nomination for a seventh Senate term. But with fewer than 8,500 votes from three counties counted, Mourdock led by more than 2,000 votes.

Meanwhile, CNN projects former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the party's presumptive nominee, will win the Indiana's Republican presidential primary. All but one of Romney's rivals, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, have dropped out of the race.

The 80-year-old Lugar is the former chairman and current ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is widely regarded as one of the party's leading voices on international affairs. But he drew the ire of the tea party and other conservatives who criticized him as a lukewarm conservative, for voting for the 2008 bank bailout and for supporting President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominees.

That record drew him into one of the nastiest and most expensive congressional races in the nation -- one Democrats gleefully called a "tea party war." Tea party activists and other conservatives threw their support behind Mourdock, who led Lugar by 10 percentage points in pre-election polling.

Lugar's campaign accused Mourdock of running a highly negative campaign funded primarily by special interest groups outside the state and of "bullying" Indiana voters. Mourdock's campaign painted Lugar as as an unreliable conservative and highlighted the fact that Lugar has not lived in Indiana since 1977.

As voters trooped to the polls, Lugar told CNN that he was one of the bright spots in a body many see dimly.

"The public as a whole may be unhappy with one party or the other, but they're very unhappy with the Congress as a whole for their inability to make decisions," Lugar said. "I'm a person who makes sure we do get on with it, that there is progress, and with personal vigor I argue with people.

"I try to persuade people, I try to get votes on issues, and I hope to continue to do that," he said.

The winner will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in the general election. But the nonpartisan Cook Political Report calls the race safely Republican.

On Friday, Lugar called his opponent "unqualified to handle the complex situations in our world today." He warned the state's GOP voters, "Do not elect an unqualified person to serve in the Senate if you anticipate that you're serious about jobs and the security of our country and, as a matter of fact, cutting spending and the budget."

But in a final ad released Friday, Mourdock said Lugar "has spent thousands of dollars telling you things about me that he knows are not true."

"He thinks this campaign's about me, but it's not. It's not about him either. It's about America's future," Mourdock added.

CNN's Dana Bash and Shannon Travis contributed to this report.


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CNN Wire


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 10:54 PM EST


Ohio, Florida dominate Obama campaign ad buy


BYLINE: By Kevin Bohn, CNN Senior Producer


LENGTH: 442 words


DATELINE: Washington (CNN)


Washington (CNN) -- In the next month President Barack Obama's re-election campaign will spend more than $5 million each in Florida and Ohio on campaign ads, according to information from an ad tracking source.

These buys are part of the $25 million the re-election campaign plans on spending in nine battleground states. The campaign's senior adviser David Axelrod previewed the new ad buy on Monday.

Political experts have said this amount of spending so early in a general election campaign is unprecedented.

The campaign began airing a positive spot on Monday called "Go," trumpeting the president's record in his first term. Last week it aired a spot defending the White House's energy record and attacking Mitt Romney.

Besides the $5 million buys in Florida and Ohio, the campaign is spending nearly $14 million of the $25 million sum in seven states over the next month, the media tracking source said.

In North Carolina, the campaign will spend $2.237 million, in Iowa, $2.28 million and in Colorado, $2.2 million. The remaining four states are buys under $2 million, with Nevada seeing $1.884 million and Pennsylvania seeing $1.876. In Virginia, the campaign will air $1.779 million, and in New Hampshire, $1.446 million.

Each buy is scheduled for May 4 through June 4, the source said.

Interestingly, the Obama campaign is not yet putting any money into Michigan, signaling it does not see it as a battleground at this stage in the campaign.

A majority of the money will go towards airing ads beginning Thursday. The spots will be a combination of 30 and 60 second ads on broadcast and cable television.

The campaign is trying to make sure its message is heard as a series of Republican super PACs are already on the air with ads. The pro-Mitt Romney group Restore Our Future last week started a $4.3 million ad campaign in nine battlegrounds -- most of the same ones where the Obama campaign is advertising (Restore Our Future went up in Michigan, while it decided not to go on the air in Pennsylvania).

The groups American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity also are running ads attacking the Obama administration's record.

Within the battleground states, the Obama campaign is specifically targeting contested regions.

A majority of the $5,015,000 being spent in Florida is going towards ads airing in the key I-4 corridor of Orlando and Tampa. The other Florida cities where the Obama team is investing are West Palm, Ft. Myers and Jacksonville.

The president's campaign investment in Ohio, totaling $5,120,000, is being spread out among thirteen media markets. The city with the largest buy is Cleveland, followed by Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo.


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CNN Wire


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 3:38 PM EST


Obama going up with second Spanish language ads


BYLINE: By Paul Steinhauser, CNN Political Editor


LENGTH: 255 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's re-election campaign says they're going up with their second round of Spanish language television and radio commercials. 

The re-election team announced Tuesday that the ads will run in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, three battleground states with lots of Spanish speaking voters that both Democrats and Republicans are likely to heavily court ahead of November's presidential election. The first round of Spanish language ads, out last month, also ran in the same three states, which Obama carried three years ago.

According to the campaign, the spots feature "first person accounts from Obama for America organizers and supporters sharing their personal stories of how the President's policies have empowered Latino families and communities."

The second round of ads highlights health care reform.

Last month the campaign launched "Latinos for Obama," which the campaign described as the "largest ever national effort to engage Latino Americans in their communities and involve them in the upcoming election through voter registration, volunteering and voting."

According to exit polls from the 2008 presidential election, Obama won 67% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 31% for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the then-GOP presidential nominee.

A Pew Research Center poll released last month that while the president held a narrow 49% to 45% advantage over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a November showdown among all Americans, among Hispanic voters Obama held a 30-point lead, 67% to 27%.


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CNN Wire


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 1:49 AM EST


Soros donates $1 million to liberal super PAC


BYLINE: By CNN Political Unit


LENGTH: 358 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Billionaire financier George Soros has donated $1 million to the left-leaning super PAC American Bridge, a source with the organization said Monday.

The donation marks the first major foray into the 2012 presidential race for Soros, a high-profile supporter of President Barack Obama. In 2008 Soros helped the president raise a record amount of campaign cash.

In a statement, American Bridge's founder David Brock said Soros' donation would help his organization influence the 2012 election.

"American Bridge is committed to being a permanent part of the progressive community by providing strategic support to organizations across the country and working to influence elections in 2012 and beyond," Brock wrote. "Thanks to investments by progressive leaders like Mr. Soros we have been able to build a cutting edge organization that we will continue to build upon in order to keeping providing effective and efficient services to the progressive movement."

Soros has been critical of Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that made possible the creation of super PACs, which are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on a candidate as long as they don't coordinate with campaigns. In February, told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" the new political organizations would "create an unequal playing field, which will further destroy the political system."

He made the comments shortly after Obama's re-election team announced it would urge donors to contribute to a super PAC supportive of the president's candidacy called Priorities USA. Records filed with the Federal Election Commission in April show Soros has not yet contributed to Priorities USA.

Super PACs backing Republican candidates played a major part in the GOP primary process, spending millions on mostly negative ads in early voting states. The super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, Restore Our Future, spent $38.9 million in the first three months of 2012, much of it on campaign television commercials in support of Romney and critical of his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination.

CNN's Jim Acosta, Ashley Killough and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.


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Dayton Daily News (Ohio)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Rival campaigns focus on economy;
Romney, Obama essentially even in swing states, a poll shows.;
ELECTION 2012


BYLINE: From News Service


SECTION: MAIN; Pg. A2


LENGTH: 364 words


Campaigning in the key battle ground state of Ohio, Mitt Romney said Monday that President Barack Obama has failed in his promises to reduce unemployment, improve the nation's housing market and right the nation's economy.

"At the convention, the Democratic convention about four years ago, the president got up and spoke about hope, change and together we can do anything. But he hasn't lived up to those kinds of expectations," Romney told hundreds of people gathered in a heavy gage-stamping warehouse just east of Cleveland. "The American people are good-hearted people with the desire for good things to happen to one another, and we hoped that this president would be able to be successful. I sure did. And he has not been."

In Washington, the Democratic incumbent targeted middle-class voters Monday, unveiling a sweeping $25 million, nine-state ad campaign whose centerpiece is a commercial portraying him as the steward of an economic comeback and confronting Republican criticism that recovery has sputtered on his watch.

"We're not there yet," the ad says. "It's still too hard, for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he."

The competing economic visions - and the huge Obama investment in TV advertising in Ohio and other battleground states - are shaping a White House race that new surveys suggest is competitive six months before Election Day. A poll of voters in a dozen swing states by USA Today and Gallup found Obama and Romney essentially even among registered voters - Obama 47 percent, Romney 45 percent.

"I know how many people are struggling. I want to do my very best to help them, and I'm convinced that my experience will help me get this economy going and get people back to work and good jobs, which they need," Romney said.

Obama's 60-second ad traces America's economic landscape from late 2008 and the massive economic downturn that crippled the U.S. economy, with housing foreclosures, job losses and the financial crisis. "The economy spiraling down ... all before this president took the oath," it says. "Some said our best days were behind us. But not him."


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Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Dem's student loan bill sinks in the Senate, debate more complicated under the surface


BYLINE: Jackie Hicken Deseret News


LENGTH: 929 words


A looming boost in student loan interest rates may provide President Barack Obama a valuable talking point as he continues his campaign for a second term, after Republicans derailed a Democratic bill in the Senate Tuesday. However, the issue is muddier than it may first appear. The Democratic bill, designed to keep interest rates on college loans from doubling this summer, fell 52-45 Tuesday, eight votes short of the 60 needed to start debate. With Congressional action, today's 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans would be extended for another year.

Without Congress, the rate would go up to 6.8 percent. A debate over funding for the $6 billion extension ultimately led to the bill's demise, as Democrats sought to raise payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders of some privately owned corporations to pay for the bill. In contrast, Republicans in the House and Senate are seeking a vote on their own bill, which would freeze interest rates as well, but pay for it by eliminating a fund included in Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. The House bill, H.R. 4628, passed the House on April 27 and was received in the Senate on Monday. The House GOP bill has been criticized by Democrats and liberal groups, with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calling it an "assault on women's health." "We will not support a bill that robs Peter to pay Paul, which ostensibly supports a middle-class initiative while making those very same people pay for it," Pelosi said during her weekly news conference. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, MoveOn.org Executive Director Justin Ruben echoed this, saying Republicans are threatening women by trying to cut funding for the program. Cooper, however, pointed out that Democrats have tried to cut this same funding before. "When President Obama suggests in his 2013 budget cutting billions of dollars from (this program), I don't see a MoveOn.org ad saying President Obama is attacking women," Cooper said. "You only seem to be targeting Republicans because that meets your political agenda." "I don't think it's fair to say President Obama is waging a war on women, of course not," Ruben said when Cooper pressed the point. "But Republicans are?" Cooper asked. "Yes," Ruben replied. The president has threatened to veto the House's student loan bill if it is passed. The Heritage Foundation objected to both Republican and Democratic versions of the bill, writing that while the bill would cost taxpayers $5.9 billion for a one-year extension, it would impact a narrow group of students, saving them just $7 a month after they graduate. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., also cited the Congressional Research Service's projected $7 in monthly savings as he introduced the Student Loan interest Rate Reduction Act of 2012 on April 25. His bill, he said, addresses government overcharging students on student loans in the first place. "Under the health care law, the government borrows money at 2.8 percent," Alexander said. "The government then loans to students at 6.8 percent. That produces a profit. The Congressional Budget Office has said that the Congress could have lowered the interest rate from 6.8 to 5.3 percent and save all students $2,200 over the life of their average 10-year loan." In a post at Speaker of the House John Boehner's blog, Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote that Democrats are reaping what they sowed, saying Democrats originally lowered the rate in 2007 and are now looking to create a fight over to an expiration date Democrats themselves set. "The president is looking to create a fight over how to deal with the rate hike," Boehner wrote. "What the president hasn't done is explain how he responsibly plans to pay for the cost of the one-year extension he is proposing." In an April 24 speech at the University of North Carolina, the president encouraged students to contact Congress to support the loan interest rate extension, and provided them the Twitter hashtag, #dontdoublemyrate, to help get the word out. "Before they do anything else, Congress needs to keep student loan rates from doubling for students who are here and all across the country," Obama told students at the State University of New York in Albany. "Don't let politics get in the way. Get this done before July 1." In the Obama administration's "The Life of Julia" slideshow, the cartoon states that the fictional Julia's federal student loans "are more manageable since President Obama capped income-based federal student loan payments and kept interest rates low ... Under the Romney/Ryan budget, interest rates on federal student loans would be allowed to double." Politifact ranked this claim as false, pointing out that presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney opposes allowing the rates to double, and that House Republicans ? including Ryan ? have passed a bill that would stop the rate increase from happening. The student loan rate has been a focal point for debate on Twitter, with Obama's #dontdoublemyrate hashtag becoming a punch line for conservatives. "Debt accumulated under George W. Bush in 8 years: $4.93 trillion," National Review's Jim Geraghty tweeted. "Debt accumulated under Obama so far: $4.9 trillion. #dontdoublemyrate." "Long-term unemployed: 1/20/09 2.7 million Americans. 4/24/12 5.3 million. #dontdoublemyrate," Rory Cooper of The Heritage Foundation tweeted. "Gas prices. 1/20/2009: $1.83. 4/24/2012: $3.87 #dontdoublemyrate." If a bargain can't be reached in the student loan debate, the higher rates would begin impacting students who take out new loans starting July 1.


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Environment and Energy Daily


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


POLITICS: Greens launch new attack on Romney but avoid saying 'Obama'


SECTION: POLITICS Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 1215 words


Elana Schor, E&E reporter

After months of million-dollar TV ad buys linking the White House's clean energy agenda to costly gasoline, environmentalists responded with a message as notable for what it does not say -- the words "President Obama" -- as for what it does: GOP nominee Mitt Romney has the most to gain from high pump prices.

The $1 million commercial from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Priorities USA Action is hardly the greens' first negative ad during a presidential election. But LCV's partnership with a political action committee founded by two former top Obama aides, and its portrayal of Romney's oil industry support as a political benefit he can reap from steep gas prices, marks a novel counterpunch from the left to GOP finger-pointing at Obama over the high price of filling up.

"Big Oil's pledged $200 million to help Mitt Romney, and Romney's pledged to protect their profits and billions in special tax breaks," the ad says, referring to the Republican's opposition to Obama-backed plans for rolling back oil industry benefits. "So when you fill up your tank, remember who's in the tank for big oil."

Mark Longabaugh, a partner at political advertising firm Wild Bunch Media, praised the new ad for opening a two-track case against the former Massachusetts governor.

In addition to "the large amount of campaign money he's taken from oil and gas executives and his support for billions in tax breaks for the industry," said Longabaugh, formerly LCV's senior vice president of political affairs, the ad allows conservationists to hit "the enormous profits Romney's friends in Big Oil make while consumers are getting gouged by high gas prices."

The new ad makes no mention of Obama, who disappointed significant segments of his environmental base with a September postponement of stricter ozone rules and a January embrace of the Keystone XL pipeline's southern leg.

LCV spokesman Mike Palamuso described it, however, as the group's latest work "to paint a very clear contrast between" Romney and the president.

"What's different or unique for us is, we're getting in early and we're getting in big," he added.

Indeed, a Sierra Club attack ad on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) run in July 2008 that sounded Big Oil-centric notes and included praise for Obama was described at the time only as a six-figure buy. The seven-figure purchase LCV and Priorities USA jointly made in Colorado and Nevada two weeks ago amounts to the environmental group's entire estimated investment to elect Obama to his first term.

The ad also aligns environmentalists with a super PAC to which Obama has given a highly public green-light for the collection of unlimited donations on his behalf.

Institute for Energy Research (IER) Senior Vice President Dan Kish, whose nonprofit is aligned with the oil industry, questioned whether the match with Priorities USA would risk compromising LCV. Kish likened the LCV-Priorities USA ad to an anti-Obama ad jointly run by the National Rifle Association and the Romney-linked super PAC Restore Our Future.

"A lot of NRA members, they are probably not fans of Obama but probably would wonder whether or not they have climbed a little too far into the bed" with Romney, Kish said.

A bigger issue for political advertising expert Tobe Berkovitz, a communications professor at Boston University, was the ad's quality.

"It's a low-octane ad, not particularly strong -- the kind of thing voters are going to be bombarded with day in and day out" during this campaign season, Berkovitz said. Even the ad's hard-hitting theme is tempered by the "whimsical" music, he added. "The only way you can really make things like this work is to hang a candidate using his own words."

Given Romney's past avowals that human activity is having an impact on climate change, the former Massachusetts governor would make a ripe target for an ad that twists his previous words against him. But the LCV-Priorities ad takes a more subtle hit instead, casting Romney as oil companies' "$200 million man" in a reference to reports that the tea party group Americans for Prosperity -- supported by energy magnates Charles and David Koch -- plans to spend that much on electing Republicans this fall.

The "$200-million-man tag is both a play on his support from Big Oil and his own personal wealth," Longabaugh said of Romney. The 'Texas oilman' tack

When green groups got personal in ads during the 2008 and 2004 presidential cycles, their targeted appeals tended to speak more to voters' regional concerns than to the type of wealthy-outsider case that Democrats of all stripes are making against Romney this year.

LCV ran a 2008 spot in Colorado, one of two states where the new anti-Romney is in rotation, that accused GOP nominee McCain of planning to "take" the state's water by changing the long-standing compact that governs apportionment from the Colorado River. Four years earlier, the group ran an ad in Florida that blasted then-President George W. Bush as a "Texas oilman" in favor of offshore drilling that "can destroy a coastline."

But the Romney hit takes a more universal approach, appealing to any voter feeling the pinch of this spring's seasonally record-high gas prices. While the Obama re-election campaign's energy ads this cycle have taken a similarly harsh line in calling the Kochs "secretive oil billionaires," they added an affirmative defense of the president's policies that the LCV ad eschews.

Going after the oil industry carries little downside for green groups, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund director Heather Taylor-Miesle said in an interview last week.

"Most people vote against the other guy, not for somebody," Taylor-Miesle said, likening oil companies to the Superman nemesis Lex Luthor, "a target nobody feels bad going after" because it "has done so many bad things and has done it in a way that's so visual."

Oil and gas industry employees rank 11th among the top donor sectors to Romney's presidential bid, with nearly $900,000 given so far, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The GOP nominee's overall take from energy and natural resources interests, which does not include money given to his affiliated super PACs, is $1.8 million, or more than double the total collected by Obama.

A March memo from Democratic pollster Geoff Garin promised that tying GOP candidates to oil companies would bear fruit during the runup in gas prices that now appears to be stalling as oil falls below $100 per barrel.

"The money trail between the oil industry and the Republicans in Congress is the most salient point among both independent voters and voters who are angry about the current increase in oil prices," Garin wrote.

But whether greens can successfully take the "Texas oilman" tack against Romney, who supported transit-centric development and emissions limits for power plants during his time as governor, remains an open question.

Kish, of the industry-linked IER, said that in fossil fuel camps "there has been a lot of concern about some of the positions Romney has taken on energy in the past. ... He's not viewed as a guy who bended over backwards for energy, whereas President Bush was in the oil business and Vice President [Dick] Cheney was affiliated with Halliburton."

Click here to watch the ad.


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The Frontrunner


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Obama Camp To Air New TV Ad In Nine Battleground States


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 393 words


The AP (5/8) reports that President Barack Obama's campaign "plans to spend $25 million on advertising this month, a dramatic escalation of its media presence in a handful of states that could determine the outcome on Nov. 6. Campaign adviser David Axelrod announced the new figure Monday," saying that "the campaign intends to provide a positive message about Obama's candidacy, but will respond to negative ads from Mitt Romney." The Obama camp "released a new ad Monday portraying America as on the rise and urging voters to stick with the president. In a shift from many of the campaign's earlier ads, the" new spot "focuses entirely on promoting Obama's record and makes no direct attacks on Romney."

However, Roll Call (5/7, Dennis, Subscription Publication, 19K) reported on its website that Axelrod said Monday "that the president's campaign would respond aggressively to the 'Karl and Koch brothers' contract killers in super PAC-land' and treat their ads as if they came from...Romney himself. Axelrod was referring to GOP strategist Karl Rove's group American Crossroads and the billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, who have bankrolled several conservative political action committees."

The Hill (5/7, Parnes) reported on its website, "In addition to Florida and Ohio, the latest Obama spot will air in Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Virginia."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (5/7, Gomez, 266K) reported on its website, "The minute-long spot, titled 'Go,' credits" Obama "for improved jobs numbers, a rescued auto industry and for Osama bin Laden's death." In te ad, a narrator says, "Some said our best days were behind us. But not him. ... He believed in us. Fought for us. And today our auto industry is back, firing on all cylinders. Our greatest enemy brought to justice by our greatest heroes. Our troops are home from Iraq. Instead of losing jobs, we're creating them."

In an "AdWatch" feature, the AP (5/8) says that the Obama "ad evokes the positive 'morning in America' spot run by Republican Ronald Reagan in his 1984 re-election bid. Like that ad, Obama's presents a narrative of US recovery in an effort to woo swing voters. It reminds viewers just how grim things were in 2008, at the height of the financial meltdown, and presents Obama as someone who worked hard to improve the situation."


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


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The Frontrunner


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Late Night Political Humor


SECTION: LAST LAUGHS


LENGTH: 438 words


Jay Leno:

"The country of France has a new president. He is Socialist Francois Hollande. And he defeated conservative French President Sarkozy in a presidential runoff yesterday. So a Socialist beat a conservative in a country facing weak economy. The Republicans call that a bad sign."

Jay Leno:

"President Obama has admitted that a former girlfriend that he wrote about in his autobiography -- remember the autobiography? He now admitted that was made up. He made up the girlfriend. So you want to read a real autobiography about real former girlfriends you're gonna have to get that Bill Clinton book."

Jay Leno:

"President Obama has his new re-election campaign slogan, 'Forward.' It's just one word, forward. Have you been watching this election? Can we press fast forward?"

Jay Leno:

"During the basketball playoff coverage on TNT over the weekend, you see this? Charles Barkley spotted Mitt Romney at the Boston Celtics game and said, 'We're gonna beat you like a drum in November.' He said, 'You're going down, bro.' That's what he said. He said, 'You're going down, bro.' Which I think is the first time in history anybody's referred to Mitt Romney as 'bro.'"

Jay Leno:

"And the Obama campaign introduced a new ad today in which it talks about the jobs President Obama has created. Wow, you thought the girlfriend was imaginary."

Jay Leno:

"According to the Pew Hispanic Center, for the first time in 40 years, in 40 years, more Mexicans are leaving the United States than are coming in. In fact, this year for the first time ever, there were more Cinco de Mayo parties in Mexico than there were here in LA."

Conan O'Brien:

"Vice President Joe Biden said something interesting. In a new interview, Vice President Joe Biden said the sitcom 'Will & Grace' made America more comfortable with gay people. Yeah. Biden also said the sitcom character Urkel made America more comfortable with President Obama."

Conan O'Brien:

"Speaking of President Obama. He has officially kicked off his campaign. President Obama says his campaign for a second term is still about hope and change. Yeah. That's what he said. The President's exact words were, 'I hope I won't have to change my address.' Slightly less inspiring."

Jimmy Fallon:

"Here's some 2012 election news. Yesterday, on CBS, Newt Gingrich said that it would be inconceivable for Mitt Romney to choose him as running mate. And today Mitt Romney issued a statement saying, 'Yep.'"

Jimmy Fallon:

"Everyone is talking about this. After just one term in office, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, lost his reelection bid because he was unable to fix his nation's economy. Or as Obama put it, 'Uh-oh.'"


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


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The Hill


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


CIA thwarts al Qaeda plot for bin Laden anniversary


BYLINE: By Carlo Munoz


SECTION: Pg. 3


LENGTH: 696 words


The CIA broke up an attempt by al Qaeda to blow up a commercial airliner destined for the United States, according to the National Security Council. CIA agents uncovered the plot, in which an al Qaeda suicide bomber planned to detonate explosives concealed in his underwear once the airliner crossed over into American airspace. The attack was intended to coincide with the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. President Obama was first informed of the impending attack in April by White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan, Deputy National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement Monday.

Since then, the president "has received regular updates and briefings as needed from his national security team" on the ongoing investigation, she said. "The president was assured that the device did not pose a threat to the public [and] he directed the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps necessary to guard against this type of attack," Hayden added. News of the terrorist plot comes after a heated political debate surrounding the anniversary of bin Laden's death. Obama's reelection campaign last week touted the president's decision to send a team of Navy SEALs to Pakistan to kill bin Laden and argued that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would not have made the same decision. That earned criticism from Republicans, who argued Obama was spiking the football and dividing the country over an anniversary that should have united Americans. Romney also argued that any president would have made the decision to go after bin Laden. The fight has continued to percolate this week, with a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff questioning why it took Obama so long to order the raid into Pakistan. Obama also visited Afghanistan on Wednesday to mark the anniversary and sign an agreement with that country's government on the security relationship between the two countries after the exit of U.S. troops. The would-be bomber was based in Yemen and had not bought a ticket when CIA agents stepped in and took the bomb, according to The Associated Press, which first reported on the incident. The AP learned of the attack last week, it said, but agreed to requests from the CIA and the White House to delay publication. The bomber was advised to board any U.S.-bound flight and detonate the explosives at his or her discretion, officials said, according to the AP. No information was available on the whereabouts of the bomber. FBI agents have recovered the device and are conducting a battery of technical and forensic tests, according to a bureau statement issued Monday. "Initial exploitation indicates that the device is very similar to [bombs] that have been used previously by [al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] in attempted terrorist attacks, including against aircraft and for targeted assassinations," according to the statement. A similar device was found on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the al Qaeda operative who attempted to set off his deadly ordnance over Detroit in 2009, officials said. "The device never presented a threat to public safety, and the U.S. government is working closely with international partners to address associated concerns with the device," the statement adds. The Department of Homeland Security has not picked up any "specific or credible information" of additional terror plots targeted at the United States tied to the foiled bombing attempt, DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said Monday. However, the department is implementing "a risk-based, layered approach to ensure the security of the traveling public," including threat and vulnerability analysis, pre-screening and screening of passengers, random airport searches and federal air marshal coverage, according to Chandler. Recently declassified letters found by U.S. special operations forces in bin Laden's Pakistani hideout show the al Qaeda chieftain was plotting an attack against Obama and Gen. David Petraeus, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan. He wanted to target the airplanes that were known to be carrying the two U.S. leaders, according to the letters.


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The Hill


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Series of polls show Obama, Romney in a statistical dead heat


BYLINE: By Jonathan Easley


SECTION: Pg. 6


LENGTH: 636 words


President Obama and Mitt Romney are in a statistical dead heat nationally and in the 12 battleground states likely to decide the election, according to a series of polls released this week. Romney holds a 1-point lead over Obama in Gallup's national five-day rolling average of polls released Monday, which has a 3 percentage point margin of error. But Obama edges Romney by 2 points in the latest USA Today-Gallup poll of 12 swing states. That poll, also released Monday, has a 4-point margin of error.

The two polls suggest a drum-tight race six months before Election Day. Voters in Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire are likely to determine the next occupant of the Oval Office. Obama won all of those states in 2008, but Romney expects to run strongly in all of them this year. In March, Obama held a 9-point lead in the USA Today survey, highlighting the bump Romney has received since wrapping up the GOP nomination. A bright spot in the poll for Obama, who officially launched his campaign Saturday, is that voter enthusiasm has swung sharply in favor of Democrats. Democrats now hold an 11-point lead among voters very or extremely likely to vote. That's a 25-point swing from late 2011, when Republicans held a 14-point lead among those voters. At Obama's weekend rally at Ohio State University on Saturday, the 18,000-seat stadium was not sold out, underlining fears about a drop in enthusiasm for the president. The president's campaign emphasized that 14,000 people showed up, more than twice most estimates for Romney's largest crowd to date. The economy remains the most important issue in the election, and Romney leads Obama 47 percent to 44 among swing-state voters asked who would better handle the economy. Romney is also viewed as the more effective manager, an indication that his campaign's attempt to portray the former Massachusetts governor as a capable businessman ready to step in and clean house has been a success. Obama's campaign is focusing its efforts on swing-state voters and the economy, and on Monday announced a $25 million ad buy in nine swing states. The first ad focuses on the difficult economy the president inherited and touts his success with the auto-industry bailout. If Obama has a problem on the economy, one problem for Romney is his likability. Fifty-eight percent view Obama as the more likable candidate, compared to only 31 who see Romney as likable in the swing-state poll. According to the USA Today-Gallup poll, the gender gap in swing states has widened even further, and there is now a gaping 20-point margin between women's support for Obama and men's support for Romney. Obama leads Romney 52 percent to 40 among female voters, and on Monday's conference call with reporters, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod kept the pressure on, saying Romney's stances are "not the right positions for women in the 21st century" and that Romney will "take us back 50 years" on issues like contraception. But the poll also found Romney extending his lead among male voters, with whom he now leads Obama 50 percent to 42. Working-class white men have always been a problem for Obama, and give Romney a change to neutralize the president's advantage with women. Independents could be the tipping point for the eventual winner. The latest findings from Washington think tank the Third Way show that independent registration is up nearly 6 percent in six battleground states, while Democrats and Republicans both saw declines in registration. According to a Politico-George Washington University poll released Monday, Romney leads by 10 points among independents, while the USA Today-Gallup poll showed that those who are currently undecided have a tendency to lean Republican.


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The New York Times


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


Liberal Donors Will Spend Big On Grass Roots


BYLINE: By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 1


LENGTH: 992 words


After months on the sidelines, major liberal donors including the financier George Soros are preparing to inject up to $100 million into independent groups to aid Democrats' chances this fall. But instead of going head to head with the conservative ''super PACs'' and outside groups that have flooded the presidential and Congressional campaigns with negative advertising, the donors are focusing on grass-roots organizing, voter registration and Democratic turnout.

The departure from the conservatives' approach, which helped Republicans wrest control of the House in 2010, partly reflects liberal donors' objections to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which paved the way for super PACs and unbridled campaign spending.

But in interviews, donors and strategists involved in the effort said they also did not believe they could match advertising spending by leading conservative groups like American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity, and instead wanted to exploit what they see as the Democrats' advantage in grass-roots organizing.

''Super PACs are critically important,'' said Rob Stein, the founder of the Democracy Alliance, a group of liberal donors who will convene near Miami this week to discuss where to steer their money this year. But the liberal groups, he said, believe that local efforts and outreach through social media ''can have an enormous impact in battleground states in 2012.''

In a move likely to draw in other major donors, Mr. Soros will contribute $1 million each to America Votes, a group that coordinates political activity for left-leaning environmental, abortion rights and civil rights groups, and American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that focuses on election-oriented research. The donations will be Mr. Soros's first major contributions of the 2012 election cycle.

''George Soros believes the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates to special interests' paying for political ads,'' said Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Mr. Soros. ''There is no way those concerned with the public interest can compete with them. Soros has always focused his political giving on grass-roots organizing and holding conservatives accountable for the flawed policies they promote. His support of these groups is consistent with those views.''

On Monday, in an indication that he does not expect significant advertising spending from Democratic-leaning outside groups at this stage, President Obama unveiled a $25 million ad campaign against Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee.

A super PAC founded by two former Obama aides, Priorities USA Action, has struggled to raise money against better-financed conservative groups like American Crossroads, which expects to spend $300 million on the presidential, House and Senate elections.

Those difficulties stem in part from Mr. Obama's past opposition to spending by outside groups, which has dampened donor enthusiasm despite his about-face this year. But it also reflects how major liberal donors and independent groups have focused since 2004 on creating a permanent infrastructure of liberal research and voter-outreach groups. That year, liberal groups spent more than $200 million on advertising and grass-roots activity in a failed bid to deprive President George W. Bush of a second term.

Conservative independent groups, including super PACs that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on election ads, dominated the advertising wars in 2010, helping Republicans make major gains in Congress, and their money has had a similar impact so far in this cycle.

''The idea that we're going to engage in an arms race on advertising with the Republicans is not appealing to many liberal donors,'' said David Brock, the founder of American Bridge 21st Century.

The advertising-oriented Democratic super PACs, including Priorities USA and two groups founded to back Democrats in Congress, remain on the list of organizations that the Democracy Alliance recommends to its members. Robert McKay, who is the chairman of the Democracy Alliance and sits on the board of Priorities USA, said the $100 million expected to be spent this year by alliance members would include some money for election ads, but would most likely favor grass-roots organizing and research groups.

''There is a bias towards funding infrastructure as it relates to the elections,'' Mr. McKay said. ''That means get-out-the-vote efforts'' directed toward young voters, single women, black voters and Latinos, he said.

Organizations likely to be a part of the effort include Catalist, which creates voter lists for allied liberal groups; ProgressNow, a network of state-based Web sites for liberal opinion and activism; and the Latino Engagement Fund, a new group that works to register and turn out Latino voters for Democrats. Conservative independent groups are financing similar outreach to Latino voters: the American Action Network, which spent $26 million against Democratic candidates in 2010, last year unveiled the Hispanic Leadership Network, which will seek to mobilize center-right Latino voters.

Liberals outside the Democracy Alliance are also likely to make significant contributions, as are labor unions, which plan to spend up to $400 million on state, local and federal races, and advocacy groups like the Sierra Club.

Some groups will pay for both advertising and organizing. PAC+, a super PAC founded by the San Francisco philanthropist Steve Phillips, a member of the Democracy Alliance, expects to spend about $10 million on Latino voters in six states, with a heavy emphasis on Arizona, which the Obama campaign is seeking to turn into a battleground. Half of PAC+ spending will go to enrollment and half to advertising.

''You can dump 10 or 20 million in TV ads in Ohio and try to reach the persuadable swing voters there, or you can up voter turnout among Latinos in Colorado and Arizona and win that way,'' Mr. Phillips said. ''It's much cheaper.''


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The New York Times


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final


Ad Watch: A Big Advertising Buy as the Incumbent Sets Out to Offer a New Narrative


BYLINE: By JEREMY W. PETERS


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; THE CAUCUS; Pg. 16


LENGTH: 260 words


11:44 a.m. Updated The Obama campaign will begin an extensive advertising campaign this week in nine battleground states, part of a broader effort by the president to frame his first term around a narrative of momentum and unfinished progress.

The president's argument to voters, summed up in the new 60-second commercial: let me finish the job.

David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's strategist, said Monday that the ad buy would be $25 million this month alone.

The commercial begins with a retelling of the events that led to the Great Recession, events that an announcer reminds viewers actually began before Mr. Obama took office: worst financial collapse since the Great Depression; 4.4 million jobs lost; stock market plummets.

''Some said our best days were behind us. He believed in us. He fought for us,'' the announcer says before reciting a list of the president's accomplishments, like the auto industry rescue and the killing of Osama bin Laden. ''But we're coming back.''

The president's political strategists believe that it is important to counter the criticism coming from Mitt Romney and Republicans that Mr. Obama had his chance to turn the country around but failed to do so.

''When you tell the story from the other side, it's that one day the president showed up to a blank slate and now things aren't good,'' said Larry Grisolano, director of paid media for the Obama campaign. ''Having that narrative, knowing the complete story is essential to making the right judgment.''

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.


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The New York Post


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Independents' day Mitt off and running with 1-point lead


BYLINE: S.A. Miller


SECTION: Late City Final; Pg. 10


LENGTH: 547 words


WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney has emerged unscathed from a nasty GOP primary fight and already has President Obama locked in tight race, a national poll revealed yesterday.

Romney not only took a 48 percent to 47 percent lead over Obama among all voters, but also scored a 10-point advantage among independent voters, who are a key group that often decides elections.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee beat Obama among independents, 48 percent to 38 percent, in the national Battleground Poll conducted for Politico and George Washington University.

Those voters also include a large contingent of "angry independents" who are even more unhappy with Obama's job performance on key issues than the average voter, according to the pollsters.

The 1-point lead for Romney among all voters, well within the poll's margin of error, reflects a neck-and-neck race. But it also shows Romney didn't waste any time rallying Republicans to his cause.

A full 91 percent of Republicans now say they support him, slightly larger than the share of Democrats who say that about the president.

Among the declared Romney supporters is Rick Santorum, who yesterday announced in a late-night e-mail to supporters that he was endorsing his one-time bitter rival.

It has been less than a month since Santorum dropped out of the Republican race.

In his endorsement e-mail, he noted that there were areas where he differed with Romney, but he wrote: "Above all else, we both agree that President Obama must be defeated."

The endorsement appeared to be an example of what Brian Nienaber, a pollster with the Terrance Group - which conducted the survey - called Romney's ability to get "the base to coalesce around him."

The data in the poll also revealed several warning signs for Obama that would be extremely troubling for any incumbent:

n A strong majority of the voters - 59 percent - say the country is headed down the wrong track.

n Obama has high disapproval ratings for his job performance on the top issues of the "economy" (53 percent), "budget and spending" (59 percent) and "jobs" (49 percent).

n Americans split on Obama's economic policies, with 40 percent saying he has helped, 39 percent saying he has hurt and 19 percent saying he has made no impact.

Obama yesterday moved aggressively to beat back Romney, with a $25 million ad buy in nine states - six times more than the campaign has spent so far on ads in the 2012 race.

The poll contained some encouraging signs for Obama.

An impressive 70 percent of voters say they have a positive personal impression of him.

---

Poll position

A new poll shows Mitt Romney well ahead of President Obama among crucial independent voters.

ALL VOTERS - OBAMA: 47%; ROMNEY: 48%

Independent voters: Romney 48%; Obama 38%

Female voters: Romney 45%; Obama 50%

Male voters: Romney: 50%; Obama: 43%

Direction of the country: Right track 33%; Wrong track 59%

Obama's performance on economy: Approve 45%; Disapprove 53%

Who stands up more for the middle class: Obama 58%; Romney 35%

Who is better prepared to handle foreign policy: Obama 51%; Romney 38%

Source: Politico-George Washington University Battleground Poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted April 29 through May 3

smiller@nypost.com


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The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, Granite Status column


BYLINE: John DiStaso, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS


LENGTH: 4559 words


May 08--TUESDAY, MAY 8, UPDATE: "VICTORY" DIRECTOR WARD. The Republican National Committee has tapped a Granite State native with deep North Country roots to head its Victory Committee operation in the New Hampshire.

The Granite Status has learned Brennan Ward, the 27-year-old son of former state Rep. Brien Ward, will soon be announced by the RNC as the head of its general election campaign operations in this important, if small, swing state.

Ward, a graduate of Littleton High School and the University of New Hampshire, is also the grandson of the late 20-year state Rep. Kay Ward, who was the matriarch of a well-known political family in the Littleton area.

The hiring of Ward by the RNC follows our exclusive report last week that Mitt Romney's campaign has hired a state general election campaign director, Phil Valenziano, and is gearing up its general election effort in New Hampshire.

The Romney campaign, RNC and New Hampshire Republican Party will work together as they face a formidable tandem of Democratic organizations in the Obama For America campaign, the Democratic National Committee's general election operation and the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

The Obama campaign has been operating in the state for about a year and the state party has added staff and a consultant in recent weeks and has been heavily funded by the DNC.

Dan Herman, a former defense department staffer, former Missouri state director for both Organizing for America in 2009-2010 and the Missouri Campaign for Change in 2008, has been the New Hampshire director of Organizing for America for about a month.

The Republicans, who have just come through a battle for the nomination, are trying playing catch-up with the Democrats organizationally in New Hampshire.

Ward' hiring is part of the RNC's initial wave of Victory committee directors in key states. Directors in North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania were named last week.

The RNC this week announced a "Social Victory Center," which it says is essentially a virtual campaign office, at www.Facebook.com/GOP.

Brennan Ward has spent most of his political career on campaigns in the Northeast and in Washington, D.C.

Most recently, he was the grassroots coordinator for the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Va., a well-known conservative public policy organization.

In the 2010 election cycle, Ward was the RNC's Victory director in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a key swing county in a major swing state.

He worked at the RNC in Washington, D.C. from September 2009 to July 2010, focusing on strategy and political polling.

Previously, Ward worked at polling companies, including the Public Opinion Strategies, a top GOP firm. He focused on policy initiatives, organizing campaign message and tracking polls for U.S. Senate and House candidates.

Ward also worked on state and federal campaigns in Ohio and New Hampshire and has worked for two congressmen.

He has a master's degree from George Washington University in addition to his bachelor's degree from UNH.

In confirming Ward's appointment, RNC chairman Reince Priebus said, "The RNC is poised to run a comprehensive voter outreach and turnout operation in New Hampshire and I'm confident Brennan Ward will help ensure we make more phone calls, knock on more doors, and make more volunteer voter contacts than ever before.

"New Hampshire will be critical in the Path to 270 (the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency), and Brennan is the perfect person to move us forward to victory this November," said Priebus in a statement.

"In the wake of three and a half years of President Obama's failed policies and broken promises, the people of New Hampshire are ready for a change in Washington and Brennan is the start to a team that will demonstrate the RNC's serious commitment to victory in November," said Priebus.

Tory Mazzola, executive director of the NHGOP, said, "We're excited to be expanding our ground game for the November elections, and this is a key step toward our comprehensive victory strategy to get-out-the-vote all across the state. New Hampshire will play a critical role this fall as Republicans unite to help turn our economy around, stop the reckless spending and make Barack Obama a one-term president."

The RNC plans to announce additional New Hampshire staff in the next few weeks. It will also open an office.

For now, Ward is headquartered at the state Republican Party office in Concord.

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, MAY 4 UPDATE: FIRST TV AD. If you need further evidence that the general election campaign for President is well under way and that New Hampshire is a key state on the electoral map, here it is:

With six months to go before Election Day, today marked the beginning of the television ad wars in the Granite State.

New Hampshire is among only nine states in which President Barack Obama's reelection campaign began airing a new ad crediting Obama with turning the economy around. The 60-second ad also notes that during Obama's first term, Osama bin Laden has been killed and "our troops are coming home from Iraq."

It is the first ad of the general election in New Hampshire, the Obama campaign said.

New Hampshire, despite having only four electoral votes, is considered an important swing state in the general election. The ad is airing in other swing states, as well: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.

The ad begins by citing "an economic meltdown" and the "worst financial collapse since the Great Depression" in 2008.

"America's economy, spiraling down," the ad says, "All before this President took office."

But, the ad says, because Obama "believed in us," and "fought for us," the auto industry "is back, firing on all cylinders," and "instead of losing jobs, we're creating them.

"We're not there yet," the ad says, "but we're coming back." The ad says Americans "don't quit. And neither does he (Obama)."

The campaign is reportedly spending $25 million on this ad and other similar aids tailored to specific states.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reacted to the ad by saying, "For someone whose campaign slogan is 'forward,' President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy."

Priebus said, " While Obama may want you to forget he's been President for the past three and a half years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won't be forgotten. America deserves better than Obama's brand of hype and blame."

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, MAY 7, UPDATE: THE LATEST ENDORSEMENTS. Democratic National Committeewoman and former NHDP Chair Kathy Sullivan is taking sides in her party's primary for governor, backing Maggie Hassan over Jackie Cilley.

Also Monday, Republican candidate for governor Kevin Smith picked up the endorsement of New Hampshire House Finance Committee Chairman Kenneth Weyler, R-Kingston.

Sullivan called Hassan "a forward-thinking leader who fights for what matters and delivers for New Hampshire." She said Hassan had a "strong record" during her service as a state senator "advocating for New Hampshire families on jobs and education."

Hassan said Sullivan will be "an incredible asset" to the campaign organization.

Sullivan took aim at GOP candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne, who, she said, "would be a rubber stamp for an extremist agenda that would roll New Hampshire back decades."

Hassan faces fellow former state Sen. Cilley in a Democratic primary. Gov. John Lynch has announced he will not seek reelection.

Cilley on Monday was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2320.

If elected, "my administration will work closely with the workers of New Hampshire to ensure that we have the best educated workforce in the country and a workforce that will be a strong attractor for business that will grow a vibrant economy during this century," Cilley said.

Last week, Hassan was endorsed by EMILY's List has also been backed by the Women's Campaign Fund, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Council 35, the Carpenters Local 118, the Iron Workers Local 7, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 1445 and 791.

On the Republican side, Weyler said Smith Kevin Smith "knows more about state government and what needs to be done than any other candidate running. Kevin is the most knowledgeable person with the best experience to tackle the difficult challenges that face our state over the next decade."

Smith will begin a statewide town meeting tour with a question-and-answer session at 6 p.m. at the Seacoast Charter School in Weyler's home town of Kingston.

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: An attorney for U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass's campaign today filed a notice to move the state's "push poll" suit against the campaign from state to federal court, saying it should be decided under federal law.

The move by attorney Charles Douglas came just more than a week after the Federal Election Commission issued an advisory opinion saying that the New Hampshire law governing "push poll" telephone surveys is preempted by federal law when it comes to candidates for federal offices.

As a result, the FEC said, the state cannot force federal candidates to identify themselves to voters when they conduct push polling calls that give information designed to persuade voters not to vote for their opponents.

The FEC gave its opinion that such polling calls are governed by the Federal Election Campaign Act, which requires no such disclaimers.

The advisory opinion does not bind the state, but would most likely carry weight in a court challenge.

The state Attorney General's Office sued the Bass campaign in April, charging that the Bass campaign deliberately avoided identifying itself as a sponsor of a negative push poll against Democratic opponent Ann McLane Kuster during the 2010 campaign.

The Bass campaign said it was conducting "legitimate message testing," and not a push poll at the time.

But Douglas said the FEC opinion would "have weight" in the Bass defense, and on Friday, he filed in Merrimack County Superior Court to have the case moved to the U.S. District Court.

The Douglas filing said that as a result of the FEC advisory opinion, "The (Attorney General's) petition is thus a proceeding preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act."

He wrote that the state push poll law "is preempted to the extent that it purports to regulate telephone surveys paid for by federal candidates, their authorized campaign committees and other federal political committees."

The Attorney General's Office has the option of moving to remand the case back to state court if it argues there is no federal issue.

The office has yet to comment on the FEC's advisory opinion, despite several attempts by the New Hampshire Union Leader.

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: MOTHER'S DAY GREETING. The Barack Obama campaign in New Hampshire next week will release "a fact of the day" each day leading up to Mother's Day. The aim is to "highlight the choice at stake in this election for Granite State moms," the campaign says.

The campaign's points will focus on preventative health insurance for women and their children, the resumption of funding for Planned Parenthood, the economy and jobs, equal pay for women, access to contraception and "access to affordable higher education."

The national Obama campaign has also issued a video and memo saying that Obama's policies will help, and Mitt Romney's policies will hurt, women.

(The full May 3 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, MAY 3: ROMNEY GETS ROLLING IN NH. Mitt Romney supporters here say the general election organization in New Hampshire has been ready and waiting since the presidential primary ended.

But in the weeks since Rick Santorum dropped out, not much has happened in the Granite State to indicate that the campaign is gearing up -- until now.

A state director for the general election has been appointed. His name is Phil Valenziano, a New Jersey native who comes to New Hampshire after managing field operations for Romney in South Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri.

He previously worked for the Republican Party of Iowa and was an aide in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Valenziano, who begins work today, is the first of the campaign directors in key states being announced by the Romney campaign this week.

Romney national political director Rich Beeson called Valenziano "an energetic political operative who brings knowledge and a history of success to our growing New Hampshire team. Phil played an important role in several states during the Republican nomination process, and we are pleased that he has agreed to bring his experience and skills to New Hampshire to help Governor Romney turn the Granite State red in November."

Jason McBride, who managed the Romney New Hampshire Primary campaign, has received a promotion. He is now the deputy national political director for the campaign, based in Boston, reporting to Beeson.

Ryan Williams, the former John E. Sununu aide and former spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican Party, has received a promotion from Romney. Instead of being just a "spokesman," he is now deputy national press secretary, reporting to press secretary Andrea Saul.

The Romney camp is looking at office space in the Manchester area and is expected to open a general election headquarters shortly.

STRICKLAND HEADED TO NH. The Obama campaign, which has long been up and running, will bring a former top official of a key swing state to this swing state later in the month.

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, an Obama campaign co-chair, will be in New Hampshire Sunday, May 20, for the Rockingham County Democratic Clambake at the Elks Club in Portsmouth and the Grover Cleveland Dinner at the Grand Summit Hotel in Bartlett.

LANDING THE GREGGS. Ovide Lamontagne on Wednesday added Judd and Kathy Gregg to his list of big-name endorsements.

It's the first time the former senator and governor has endorsed Lamontagne, who has run for the U.S. House (1992), governor (1996) and U.S. Senate (2010).

Gregg said he understands what it's like to serve in the "challenging role" of governor, calling Lamontagne "a trusted conservative and tested leader with the experience to get our economy moving again."

He said Lamontagne "has distinguished himself as a leader in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, and it is this diverse leadership experience that has prepared him to serve with distinction as our next governor."

Lamontagne said he was "honored" to earn the Greggs' support.

Gregg became the second former governor to endorse in the gubernatorial primary. Lamontagne foe Kevin Smith picked up the backing of his former boss, former Gov. Craig Benson, last month.

While Lamontagne was the "outsider" candidate during his Senate primary against Kelly Ayotte two years ago, the Gregg endorsement is further evidence that this time, he has the establishment with him.

Among his other supporters so far are Rep. Charlie Bass, six state senators, three members of the House leadership, a long list of former state lawmakers and former state party officials, and five county sheriffs.

Judd Gregg will join Lamontagne for a tour of the Sig Sauer manufacturing plant in Exeter May 21.

COURT OFFERS COMPROMISE. Two state Supreme Court justices will testify at the State House today against a proposed constitutional amendment question that, if passed by voters, will take away the court's power to make its own administrative rules.

Conservative Robert Lynn and liberal Gary Hicks will represent a "unified" court asking the state Senate to kill a House-passed constitutional resolution that would repeal a 1978 constitutional amendment giving the chief justice unilateral authority to make rules governing the administration of all state courts "and the practice and procedure to be followed" in those courts.

Lawmakers who felt the court has abused that power over the years have twice tried to supplant the amendment with ones that would water down, but not eliminate, the judicial rule-making power.

In 2002, a proposed amendment that would have restored legislative authority to regulate court rules, essentially sharing that power with the courts, failed to gain the necessary approval by two-thirds of the voters.

In 2004, another attempt to clarify the amendment, this time to say the Legislature "shall have a concurrent power to regulate the same matters by statutes," also failed to gain the necessary two-thirds to pass.

This year's proposed amendment question, sponsored by constitutional conservative Rep. Paul Mirski, R-Enfield, is more straightforward, simply calling for the outright repeal of the 1978 provision.

Mirski said that while the court in the past has cited the separation-of-powers doctrine of the constitution to bolster its argument for unilateral rule-making authority, "The fact is you cannot have a free government without public oversight."

He said that since the 1978 amendment passed and became Part 2 Article 73-1, "the court has become isolated. The court has come to say over the years that it means total independence, and you can't have that."

He said court rules should be "subject to review, as they were" prior to 1978.

"The lessons over the years have been that this sort of power does ultimately result in some abuse," Mirski said.

His resolution, CACR 26, passed the House by the required three-fifths majority, 239-114, March 21. At least 15 votes by the 24-member Senate are needed for the question to be placed on this November's ballot.

Lynn supported the 2004 proposal, while Chief Justice John Broderick and Justice Joseph Nadeau, both now retired, opposed it.

Some assumed Lynn and Hicks would take opposite sides of the argument today, with Hicks making the same case Broderick did eight years ago, but that's not going to happen, said Supreme Court spokesman Laura Kiernan.

"There is no conflict on the court," she said. "This is a unified position."

She said both justices will ask the Senate to kill the current proposal, or at least replace it with one similar to the 2002 and 2004 resolutions.

The current proposal sponsored by Mirski "would eliminate the chief justice as the chief administrator of the court system. And the judicial branch, like any other, needs to have a chief administrative officer," said Kiernan.

But, she said, if the Senate is not interested in killing the proposal outright, then, "a unified court is offering an amendment that would adopt language saying that the court would maintain its rule-making authority, but if a statute conflicts with a rule, the statute would prevail unless it is in conflict with the constitution."

In other words, the "unified court," under Chief Justice Linda Dalianis, has now adopted the position Lynn championed, and Broderick and Nadeau opposed, in 2004.

If the Senate agrees with the court's preference and kills CACR 26, the issue is dead. If the Senate agrees with the court-offered compromise, it would set up interesting negotiations in a conference committee between the House and Senate.

REGISTERS OF PROBATE WIN. On another key state government issue that has been largely under the radar, a judge has agreed that two former registers of probate were illegally fired by the state when lawmakers last year overhauled their roles and reduced their salaries to $100 a year.

Judge Richard McNamara has ruled the state violated its contract with Anna Tilton of Rockingham County and Andrew Christie of Cheshire County when House Bill 609 became law last year. The new law drastically reduced not only the duties of the registers of probate across the state but it also reduced their salaries from $55,500 in Tilton's case and from $70,600 in Christie's case, to $100.

The new law also took away their health insurance and other benefits.

While the eight other registers left office when effectively fired by the state, Tilton and Christie stayed and brought suit, represented by Concord attorney Charles Douglas.

They said in their suit they were elected in November 2010 to serve two-year terms with the full-time salary and benefits. They charged the state breached their employment contracts just a few months after they took office.

The state argued it was entitled to modify the registers' role and salaries at any time and in any way as long as it was constitutional.

While the two registers argued that they were "constructively discharged" after being elected by the voters, the state said they remained employed by virtue of their $100-per-year salaries.

But McNamara ruled that registers are county, not state, employees and may be dismissed only by the Superior Court, and only for official misconduct. As a result, he ruled the two registers' "constructive discharge" by the passage of the new law "was improper."

McNamara granted the registers' motion for summary judgment and ordered a hearing on the award of damages to them.

COLIN'S MILESTONE. District 2 Democratic Executive Council candidate Colin Van Ostern has been working the grassroots hard since beginning his campaign last year.

Van Ostern says he is now the first Executive Council candidate on record, and probably in state history, to report receiving more than 1,000 individual donations, and there are still six months to go before the election.

Van Ostern says his campaign has raised over $100,000 with an average contribution of roughly $100 and more than three-quarters of the funds coming from New Hampshire voters. No donor to his campaign has yet given the maximum contribution, he says.

He said he is not sure precisely how many individual donors there are, but said the number is near 1,000. He said he's sure a "handful" of donors probably gave more than once.

But Van Ostern said he checked and found that even the venerable Ray Burton has never, so far at least, reached 1,000 individual donations. Burton had a high-water mark of 962 donations in 2004.

"This overwhelming grassroots support is a clear signal that New Hampshire voters in every corner of the state are rallying behind our call for more focus on jobs and the economy, and less government interference in our personal lives," Van Ostern says in a statement. "Other campaigns may have bigger bank accounts in this election, but I am proud of the widespread, grassroots support that is reflected in the historic number of voters investing in our campaign."

Van Ostern opposes Republican efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood and last week delivered a petition to Gov. John Lynch signed by nearly 2,500 voters calling for an end to that legislation, which was tabled in the state Senate.

ROMNEY-AYOTTE? Don't count on a Mitt Romney-Kelly Ayotte ticket in November.

Ayotte told New Hampshire Union Leader correspondent Gretyl Macalaster at a campaign event in Portsmouth on Monday, "that's not going to happen."

While Ayotte continues to be a rising star in GOP politics, both here in New Hampshire and nationally, she's apparently known primarily among the activists.

Even former Gov. John H. Sununu has downplayed Ayotte's chances, saying that being from New Hampshire "may, in an odd way, be her biggest problem because with two people from the Northeast on the ticket, you don't gain anything geographically."

What do last week's poll numbers on Ayotte mean? Could she help Romney gain swing state New Hampshire's four electoral votes? He is currently losing here to President Barack Obama by 9 percentage points.

Surprisingly, Ayotte, for all of her perceived popularity among those close to the political scene, is really a "wash" among rank-and-file New Hampshire voters, if the WMUR poll is to be believed.

A UNH-conducted poll showed in February 2011 that Ayotte was viewed favorably by 51 percent and unfavorably by only 20 percent of Granite Staters. She was viewed favorably by 73 percent and unfavorably by only 4 percent of self-identified Republicans.

Among self-identified Democrats, her favorable/unfavorable rating at the time was 31/40 and among self-identified registered Democrats, it was 35/35.

In last week's poll, she was viewed favorably by 43 percent of Granite Staters and unfavorably by 29 percent.

And even after 15 months in office, 22 percent still don't know enough about her to render an opinion.

Among self-identified Republicans, she remained strong with a 70/10 favorable/unfavorable rating, but among self-identified Democrats she fell to 21/49 as they saw that she is a much more partisan Republican than, say, Olympia Snowe of Maine.

The view of the all-important independents is moderately good news for Ayotte.

In the latest poll, 46 percent of self-identified independents viewed Ayotte favorably, while 23 percent viewed her unfavorably and 23 percent did not know enough about her to say.

That's consistent with the February 2011 poll, in which 36 percent of independents viewed her favorably, 19 percent viewed her unfavorably and 34 percent did not know enough about her at the time to say.

As a running mate, she could help Romney among independents in New Hampshire. Last week's polling showed that Romney is viewed favorably by 30 percent of independents in the state and unfavorably by 49 percent.

But independents feel no better about Obama, with 34 percent viewing him favorably and 54 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Geographically, Ayotte could help Romney in cities and towns along the Massachusetts border, including her home city of Nashua. In that region, she is viewed favorably by 54 percent and unfavorably by 25 percent, while Romney's favorable/unfavorable rating is 45/43.

BIG BACKING FOR MAGGIE. After picking up four union endorsements, Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan this week won the backing of the pro-Democratic women's group EMILY's list.

It's a fund-raising and grassroots boon for Hassan, but it's far too early to say how it will translate into votes.

EMILY's List called Hassan "a principled leader with a proven record of working hard for New Hampshire's women and families," said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY's List.

DELEGATES AND THE DNC. The New Hampshire Democratic State Committee last Saturday unanimously re-elected Kathy Sullivan and Peter Burling to the Democratic National Committee. Neither faced opposition.

The state committee also chose the remaining 20 members of the New Hampshire delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The party says it is "the most diverse NHDP delegation ever, with 50 percent of the delegates attending their first convention."

The names of those on the delegation to Charlotte can be found at www.NHDP.org.

QUICK TAKES:

-- U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta says he is kicking off his reelection campaign with a fund-raiser at XO on Elm in Manchester May 23. Tickets range from $100 to $1,000.

- Conservative activist Jennifer Horn will host a reception at her home for GOP candidate for governor Kevin Smith next Tuesday, May 8.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.

___ (c)2012 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services


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Palm Beach Post (Florida)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION


Obama repairing mess he inherited, ads tell Floridians


BYLINE: By GEORGE BENNETT Palm Beach Post Staff Writer


SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. 1A


LENGTH: 814 words


President Obama's re-election campaign launched a $25 million TV ad blitz Monday that seeks to convince voters in Florida and other swing states that the economy is "coming back" from a meltdown that Obama inherited.

The ad campaign comes as polls show a tightening race between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, with the economy the issue where the president is most vulnerable.

The first quarter of Obama's new 60-second ad revisits the economic crisis of 2008, with the narrator telling viewers that the dismal job, foreclosure and stock market indicators were "all before this president took the oath."

Republicans accused Obama of trying to duck responsibility for continued economic doldrums.

"For someone whose campaign slogan is 'forward,' President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said.

The TV spots will run in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina and Colorado -- all states that Obama carried in 2008, most by narrow margins.

Senior Obama strategist David Axelrod said the campaign is spending about $25 million over a month on the ads.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll of Florida and 11 other swing states shows a virtual tie in the presidential race, with Obama holding a 47-to-45 percent lead that is within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. The same poll showed Obama with a 9-point lead in late March.

A new national poll for Politico and George Washington University finds a statistical dead heat. Romney leads, 48 percent to 47 percent, in a survey with a 3.1 percent margin of error. That poll showed Obama ahead by 10 points in February.

In the new national poll, 45 percent of voters approve of Obama's handling of the economy, while 53 percent disapprove -- including 44 percent who "strongly" disapprove.

In the poll of 12 swing states, Romney edges Obama as the candidate who would do a better job handling the economy, 47 percent to 44 percent.

The swing-state survey has some good news for Obama: 57 percent of Democrats are "extremely or very enthusiastic" about the presidential race, compared with 46 percent of Republicans. Republican enthusiasm has dropped from 62 percent in late January, while Democratic enthusiasm has climbed 10 points since December.

That poll also shows a continued gender gap. Women in the 12 key states favor Obama 52 percent to 40 percent -- down from an 18-point Obama advantage among female voters in the same poll in late March. Men favor Romney 50 percent to 42 percent in the new poll, compared with a 48-to-47 percent edge for Romney in March.

Obama's new ads mention the killing of Osama bin Laden and the withdrawal of troops from the unpopular war in Iraq, but the main focus is the economy.

After detailing the economic woes before Obama took office, the ad credits Obama policies with rescuing the auto industry and adding 4.2 million private sector jobs.

"We're not there yet. It's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class," the narrator says.

Priebus sketched a different picture.

"While Obama may want you to forget he's been president for the past three and a half years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won't be forgotten. America deserves better than Obama's brand of hype and blame," Priebus said.

But Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said it's necessary to point to the economic conditions before Obama took office to evaluate his presidency.

"The Romney campaign likes to pretend that world history started in January 2009," Messina said. "The president has faced a combination of crises few others have ever had to deal with all at the same time and starting on day one. He's made bold and brave decisions to help get our economy back on its feet and bringing our troops back from war."

Before Obama's January 2009 inauguration, the U.S. economy lost 4.4 million jobs in the final 13 months of George W. Bush's administration, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The economy shed another 4.3 million jobs during Obama's first 13 months in office, with nonfarm employment bottoming out at 129.3 million in February 2010.

Since then, the economy has grown more than 3.7 million jobs. April's nonfarm employment total of nearly 133 million is 572,000 fewer jobs than the January 2009 total.

The new ad notes 4.2 million private jobs were added between March 2010 and last month -- but doesn't note a nearly equal number lost during Obama's first 13 months.

Private sector employment stood just under 111 million in January 2009 and was just over 111 million in April -- a gain of about 35,000 jobs over 39 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

~ george_bennett@pbpost.com


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The Philadelphia Inquirer


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
CITY-C Edition


Obama ads target Pennsylvania and other swing states


BYLINE: By Thomas Fitzgerald; Inquirer Politics Writer


SECTION: NATIONAL; Inq World & Nation; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 515 words


President Obama's campaign says it is spending $25 million in Pennsylvania and eight other battleground states to air a television ad that touts his accomplishments and reminds voters of the economic mess his administration inherited.

"We're not letting our foot off the pedal," campaign manager Jim Messina told reporters Monday in a conference call. "We have a very simple choice between going forward and going back."

Messina and senior campaign adviser David Axelrod said the new 60-second spot, titled "Go," is part of a broader effort to frame the election as a choice between continuing hard-won progress to climb out of the deepest recession since the Great Depression and what they portrayed as a return to policies that caused the problems in the first place.

The Obama ad emphasizes the bailout of the domestic auto industry, the end of the Iraq war and the killing of Osama bin Laden. It mentions a modest increase in jobs, and a narrator intones, "We're not there yet; it's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back."

Tightening race

Whether voters agree with that assessment remains to be seen. A new Gallup poll found the race tightening in a dozen swing states, with Obama at 47 percent to Republican Mitt Romney's 45.

The new Obama ad is also airing in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

Though his latest TV spot has a positive message, the president briefly ran an attack ad in Ohio, Virginia, and Iowa that intimated Romney had grown rich by closing companies as head of a private-equity firm.

Axelrod said Romney, the all-but-certain GOP nominee, is trying to blame the administration for every ongoing economic problem without offering a plausible alternative plan. "We're fighting through," Axelrod said of the economy. "There are still significant headwinds."

Amanda Henneberg, spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said Obama is shirking responsibility for the failure of his policies to turn around the economy.

Better off?

"After a doubling of gas prices, declining incomes, millions of foreclosures, and record levels of unemployment, Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago," Henneberg said. "Mitt Romney's pro-growth agenda will get America back on track and stop the middle-class squeeze of the Obama economy."

By the Obama campaign's count, Romney has already spent $55 million on ads this year, with 90 percent of them attacks leveled against his GOP primary opponents.

Axelrod said the Obama campaign was prepared to go negative to counter any attacks from Romney, adding that it would "vigorously" answer ads by super PACS supporting the Republican as if they came from the candidate himself.

He referred to GOP strategist Karl Rove and the Koch brothers, billionaire conservative donors, as "contract killers over there in super PAC land who are going to continue to pound away on behalf of Gov. Romney."

Contact Thomas Fitzgerald

at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com, or on Twitter @tomfitzgerald.

Read his blog, "The Big Tent,"

at www.philly.com/bigtent.


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
SOONER EDITION


OBAMA OPENS $25 MILLION AD CAMPAIGN IN KEY STATES


BYLINE: James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


SECTION: NATIONAL; THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE; Pg. A-1


LENGTH: 461 words


Barack Obama's presidential re-election campaign is launching a $25 million commercial blitz of battleground states, including Pennsylvania, designed to remind voters of the challenges the Democrat confronted as he entered the White House.

The spot opens with contemporary news reports on the grim developments of the 2008 economic collapse -- "all before this president took the oath."

Its focus shifts to more positive recent jobs news, the auto bailout and the killing of Osama bin Laden before the acknowledgement that "It's still too hard for too many."

The commercial ends with a reference to the value of the middle class and this statement: "You don't quit and neither does he."

In addition to Pennsylvania, the ad will air over the next month in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia. Republicans were quick to denounce the general election salvo.

"For someone whose campaign slogan is 'forward,' President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy," Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement emailed to reporters.

"While Obama may want you to forget he's been president for the past 3 1/2 years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won't be forgotten."

The ad makes no mention of Mitt Romney, although it is an implicit rebuttal to the presumptive Republican nominee's regular denunciations of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy.

"The Romney campaign likes to pretend that world history started in January 2009," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a conference call announcing the ad campaign.

Obama strategist David Axelrod, who also spoke on the call with reporters, said that, while this spot is positive, the campaign would be quick to respond to attacks either from the Romney campaign directly or from allied super-PACs, such as those affiliated with "Karl [Rove] and Koch brothers contract killers over there in super-PAC land." He was referring to the former Bush strategist and to Charles and David Koch, the billionaire backers of various conservative causes.

"We're prepared to respond when we're attacked," Mr. Axelrod said. "We're going to be tough about that even as we make our positive case to the American people."

The ad was unveiled as USAToday reported a new poll showing that with six months to go, the race essentially was tied among the voters of a dozen battleground states, including those that were the targets of the sizable ad placement by the Obama campaign. Mr. Romney was stumping in one of them, Ohio, in a Cleveland appearance two days after Mr. Obama had courted votes at a rally in Columbus.


LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION


CONSERVATIVE SCHADENFREUDE


BYLINE: JACK KELLY


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A-7


LENGTH: 732 words


Schadenfreude (taking pleasure from the misfortune of others) is a sinful pleasure, which all but the saints among us indulge in from time to time. These days conservatives have ample reasons for indulgence.

Let's begin with Fauxcohantas, Elizabeth Warren, appointed to the faculty of Harvard Law School despite less than sterling academic credentials because she claimed Cherokee blood flows through her veins.

Harvard took Ms. Warren's word she is part Native American. She listed herself that way in the annual directory of minority law professors published by the Association of American Law Schools.

When Ms. Warren became a candidate for the U.S. Senate, she was asked to substantiate her claim. She's had difficulty doing so. Ms. Warren produced a birth certificate for her great-great-great-grandmother -- which doesn't, alas, mention great-great-great-grandma's ancestry. So Ms. Warren relies upon "family lore." A female relative told her that her grandfather had "high cheek bones like all the Indians do," she said.

If Ms. Warren is 1/32nd Cherokee, she still would qualify as "Aryan" under Hitler's Nuremberg laws, noted Mark Steyn.

But George Zimmerman, accused of killing Florida teen Trayvon Martin, would not. Mr. Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian, which makes him as much Hispanic as Barack Obama is black. A great grandfather was black, which makes Mr. Zimmerman four times as black as Ms. Warren is Native American. But in the bizarro world of the Politically Correct, Fauxcahontas is a minority entitled to affirmative action; Mr. Zimmerman, a cracker.

The absurdity isn't lost on the voters of Massachusetts. Ms. Warren's campaign is tanking.

Let's stay in Massachusetts. Democrats attack Mr. Romney because he is rich. Sen. John Kerry is nearly as rich. But since he got his money by marrying it rather than by earning it, as Gov. Romney did, liberals give him a pass. They shouldn't.

"The five-term senator has a well-documented history of investing in companies that would benefit from policies he supports, as well as making conveniently timed and highly profitable trades coinciding with the passage of major legislation and, in some cases, the dissemination of privileged information," wrote Andrew Stiles in the Washington Free Beacon.

Sen. Kerry invested heavily in the "green" energy companies that received federal subsidies, Mr. Stiles said. He profited from inside information on which banks would receive federal bailouts, and which drug companies stood to benefit from Obamacare.

Finally, there is President Obama, who wanted to appoint the ethically challenged Ms. Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and who made the ethically challenged Sen. Kerry his chief foreign policy surrogate. (Will Democrats designate the "ethically challenged" a disadvantaged minority entitled to affirmative action?)

The president extended all the way to Afghanistan the victory lap he's taking for giving the green light a year ago to Navy SEALs to "get" Osama bin Laden. He should have paid more attention to what happened to Sen. Kerry after he made his alleged heroism in Vietnam the centerpiece of his presidential campaign in 2004.

At the time of the Democratic convention, Sen. Kerry led in the polls. His lead vanished after many who served with him -- the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- challenged his inflated claims.

SEALs think the president's politicization of their mission destroyed the intelligence value of documents they risked their lives to obtain, and endangered their safety, wrote Michael Hastings in Buzzfeed.

Many resent Mr. Obama for inflating his role. "In years to come there is going to be information that will come out that Obama was not the man who made the call," former SEAL sniper Chris Kyle told Toby Harnden of the London Daily Mail.

Blowback's already begun. A Web ad produced by Veterans for a Strong America that chides Mr. Obama for claiming credit for the heroism of others "went viral," with more than 250,000 views on YouTube, Mr. Hastings said. The president dawdled for nearly a year before making his "gutsy call," said retired Gen. Jack Keane. Mr. Obama planned to blame the military if anything went wrong, said former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Fauxcahontas, Sen. Kerry, and Barack Obama regard themselves as worthy subjects of veneration. They're becoming objects of ridicule. There is some justice in this world.


LOAD-DATE: May 9, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: Jack Kelly is a columnist for The Press and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio. jkelly@post-gazette.com, 412 263-1476./


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Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
State Edition


Obama follows Va. visit withTV ad


BYLINE: WESLEY P. HESTER


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B-02


LENGTH: 257 words


Just two days after kicking off his re-election campaign in Richmond, President Barack Obamahas a TV ad running in Virginia and several other battleground states.

The positive one-minute ad, titled "Go," stresses the auto industry's recovery, Osama bin Laden's death, troops' return from Iraq and job creation.

It also echoes Obama's stump speeches here and in Ohio Saturday, casting the president as a warrior for the middle class.

"We're not there yet. It's still too hard for too many. But we're coming back, because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he," the ad concludes.

Republicans were quick to attack the ad.

"Americans will hear a lot from President Obama in the coming months, but what they won't hear from him is the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class," said Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign.

"After a doubling of gas prices, declining incomes, millions of foreclosures, and record levels of unemployment, Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago. Mitt Romney's pro-growth agenda will get America back on track and stop the middle-class squeeze of the Obama economy," she added.

In addition to Virginia, the ad will air other potential swing states -- Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Nevada.

whester@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6976

Copyright © 2012, The Richmond Times-Dispatch and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@timesdispatch.com


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Tulsa World (Oklahoma)


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Final Edition


Nation Briefs


BYLINE: Wire Reports


SECTION: News; Pg. A7


LENGTH: 1055 words


 Obama's gay marriage stance faces fresh scrutiny WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny. Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well. Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented personal viewpoints and were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president's position.

Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney's history of equivocating on some gay-rights issues. Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past 18 months that his personal views are "evolving." The White House held firm on Monday to that position, which polls show puts the president increasingly at odds with his party and the majority of Americans on gay marriage. But with Biden and Duncan's comments reinvigorating the debate, Obama is likely to face renewed pressure to clarify his views ahead of the November election. Candidates take message to middle-class voters EUCLID, Ohio - Targeting middle-class voters, President Barack Obama on Monday unveiled a $25 million, nine-state ad campaign whose centerpiece is a commercial portraying him as the steward of an economic comeback and confronting Republican criticism that recovery has sputtered on his watch. "We're not there yet," the ad says. "It's still too hard, for too many. But we're coming back. Because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit, and neither does he." Countering from Ohio, Republican Mitt Romney argued that Obama's policies are squeezing middle-income Americans and that his business background could help the economy. "The president and I have fairly different visions for what it'll take to get America working again," the former Massachusetts governor said. The competing economic visions are shaping the White House race. A poll in a dozen swing states by USA Today and Gallup found Obama and Romney essentially even among registered voters - Obama 47 percent, Romney 45 percent. Indiana's Sen. Lugarfaces primary challenge INDIANAPOLIS - Early voting wrapped up Monday ahead of Indiana's primary election, with the Republican Senate race between Sen. Richard Lugar and a tea party-backed state treasurer failing to grab voter interest like the Democratic presidential primary did four years ago. The early voting period at county election offices ended at noon Monday. State figures showed that through Friday about 89,000 people had cast ballots for Tuesday's primary. That's down some 40 percent from the comparable time in 2008 when Indiana's record for primary voter turnout was shattered after Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton targeted the state in their presidential campaigns. Lugar is fighting to win the GOP nomination for a seventh term in the Senate against Richard Mourdock, who argues the senator is too moderate for the state. Wisconsin Democratsin primary spotlight KENOSHA, Wis. - The leading Democratic candidates in the race to take on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a historic recall election made their final pitches to voters Monday. Walker faces only token opposition in Tuesday's primary and is focused on the June 5 general election. Walker has emerged as a national conservative hero since his successful push to end nearly all collective bargaining rights for most state workers. The Democratic primary candidates are led by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Kathleen Falk, former Dane County executive who has been the favored candidate of the major unions that spurred the recall against Walker. Two other Democratic candidates are Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout It's only the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history. Governors were recalled from office in North Dakota in 1921 and in California in 2003. Barrett lost to Walker by 5 points in 2010. Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, daughter found GUNTOWN, Miss. - Authorities said late Monday they have found the bodies of a missing Tennessee mother and her 14-year-old daughter behind a house in north Mississippi. The FBI said in a news release that the bodies of Jo Ann Bain and her 14-year-old daughter Adrienne Bain had been positively identified. The FBI believed that Bain's two other daughters are still with alleged kidnapper Adam Mayes. He is accused of abducting the girls from the family's home in Whiteville, Tenn. The FBI said the bodies were found behind Mayes' residence near Guntown, Miss. Abbott Labs agrees to pay $1.5B over Depakote WASHINGTON - Abbott Laboratories has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion over allegations that it promoted the anti-seizure drug Depakote for uses that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The case includes a criminal fine and forfeiture of $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and states totaling $800 million. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said Monday the settlement reflects the determination by government "to hold accountable those who commit fraud." U.S. Attorney Timothy Heaphy said that the top levels of Abbott carried out a strategy of systematically marketing the drug for purposes other than what federal regulators had allowed. The illegal conduct was not the product of "some rogue sales representatives," said Heaphy, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. He said the company engaged in the strategy from 1998 to at least 2006. Separately, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced a $100 million settlement with Abbott of consumer claims in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The consumer claims over Abbott's promotion of Depakote for unapproved uses were brought under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Depakote is an anti-seizure and mood-stabilizing drug prescribed for bipolar disorder. However, the company admitted that it marketed the drug for unapproved uses, including treatment of schizophrenia, agitated dementia and autism.


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UPI


May 8, 2012 Tuesday 10:00 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 1553 words


Double agent foiled bomb plot

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Operatives inside al-Qaida, including a double agent working for the CIA, broke up a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger jet, U.S. and other officials said.

The operatives were working on behalf of the CIA as well as its Saudi Arabian and Yemeni counterparts, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Saudi intelligence infiltrated al-Qaida's Yemen operation and retrieved the explosive device before it could be detonated, the newspaper said, citing officials who outlined an operation in which CIA agents tracked the device's movement and then killed suspected saboteurs with a drone attack after the device was retrieved.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan Tuesday said air travelers can be assured U.S. intelligence is working "day in and day out" to stop bomb plots.

Brennan, a White House expert on counter-terrorism, said measures were being taken to prevent any type of improvised explosive device from thwarting airport security procedures.

"I think people getting on a plane today should feel confident that their intelligence services are working day in and day out, to stop these IEDs from getting near a plane," he said during an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"Also, I think when they go through security measures at airports, they understand why they're in place because there are terrorist groups, like al-Qaida, that continue to try to evade those security measures."

The plot was foiled about two weeks after intelligence assets in Saudi Arabia provided a tip, a source familiar with the operation told CNN Tuesday. "We're confident that neither the device nor the intended user of this device posed a threat to us," Brennan said.

Officials said Monday U.S. and other intelligence agencies seized a bomb similar to ones used before by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, described by Western officials as the terror network's most dangerous affiliate.

The plot was discovered before it posed a threat any Americans, and no airplanes were at risk, a U.S. counter-terrorism official said. Police said they recovered a non-metallic explosive device, which was being analyzed by the FBI.

"Clearly our intelligence allowed us to have visibility into the existence of this device early on," Brennan said on CBS' "This Morning." "We were able to take the appropriate steps necessary to prevent its possible use against innocent Americans and others."

Voters favoring N.C. gay marriage ban

RALEIGH, N.C., May 8 (UPI) -- North Carolina voters appeared to be favoring a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, early returns showed Tuesday.

Results posted on the North Carolina secretary of state's Web site said supporters totaled 336,157 (55.13 percent) to 273,550 (44.87 percent) for those opposed to the measure.

"The people of the state recognize the importance of protecting marriage between a man and a woman," Tami Fitzgerald, who is leading the campaign in support of the amendment, told Fox News Channel prior to the polls closing.

The amendment, known as Amendment 1, stipulates "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

The amendment would not just ban recognition of same-sex marriage, but also civil unions and domestic partnerships of any kind.

"We didn't want civil union to be a marriage clone," Republican state Sen. Dan Soucek, one of the amendment's primary sponsors, told Fox.

"We wanted that institution to be protected, not just the word," he said.

About 12 percent of North Carolina domestic partnerships are between same-sex couples, 2010 U.S. Census data indicate.

Recent polls showed support for the measure, but opponents said they were counting on their efforts to spread awareness.

The Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families, which opposed Amendment 1, raised $2.2 million. Vote For Marriage NC, which supported the marriage-defining amendment, raised $1.1 million.

North Carolina law already bans same-sex marriage, but the state had not changed its Constitution to ban it.

Ten other Southern states have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage and, in some cases, on civil unions as well.

Lugar loses Indiana re-election bid

INDIANAPOLIS, May 8 (UPI) -- Longtime Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana was soundly defeated Tuesday by conservative Richard Mourdock, early primary election results showed.

NBC News and CNN projected Mourdock, Indiana's state treasurer, had derailed Lugar's attempt to win a seventh term. Results posted on the Indiana secretary of state's Web site gave Mourdock 134,152 votes to 94,905 for Lugar.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, said Lugar's defeat in the primary "will probably make it more of a contest" in the general election "but I'm confident we'll hold the seat."

Mourdock will face off against Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in November.

The White House issued a statement by President Barack Obama expressing "deep appreciation for Dick Lugar's distinguished service in the United States Senate."

"While Dick and I didn't always agree on everything, I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done," Obama said. "My administration's efforts to secure the world's most dangerous weapons has been based on the work that Senator Lugar began, as well as the bipartisan cooperation we forged during my first overseas trip as Senator to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan."

Obama said Lugar came "from a tradition of strong, bipartisan leadership on national security that helped us prevail in the Cold War and sustain American leadership ever since. He has served his constituents and his country well, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Mourdock was backed by national conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association and FreedomWorks, an organization that has helped build the Tea Party.

Mourdock has painted Lugar, 80, as too moderate, too friendly with President Barack Obama, too removed from his home state and too old.

Lugar is the first incumbent senator defeated in a primary battle this election year.

Barrett ahead early in Wis. Dem primary

MADISON, Wis., May 8 (UPI) -- Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett took the early lead in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial recall primary election, returns showed.

Results posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gave Barrett 54 percent (12,574 votes) with 3 percent of the state's precincts reporting. Kathleen Falk was in second place with 38 percent (8,941 votes), followed by state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout at 4 percent (981), Secretary of State Doug La Follette at 3 percent (767) and Gladys Huber at 1 percent (197).

The winner of the Democratic primary will square off in the June 5 general election against the subject of the recall, Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who easily fended off a challenge in the Republican primary by Arthur Kohl-Riggs. Walker had 96 percent of the vote (50,817) to 4 percent (1,921) for Kohl-Riggs.

Walker, who has battled public employee unions since taking office last year, framed the recall election as damaging to the state's economic health, particularly job creation.

He told the Journal Sentinel last week if he loses, it will open the door to "recall ping-pong."

"It will go back and forth. I don't think that's just bad for elections -- it's bad for jobs," he said.

Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs between March 2011 and March 2012, data released last month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated.

By comparison, no other U.S. state lost more than 3,500 jobs.

Walker was one of six Wisconsin Republicans facing recalls Tuesday. The others include Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP state senators.

Romney takes credit for automaker rebound

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who opposed the bailout of the auto industry, says he'll "take a lot of credit" for Detroit's rebound.

In an interview with an Ohio television Monday, Romney said President Barack Obama ended up picking up the idea that the auto companies should be forced into bankruptcy, CNN Money reported Tuesday.

"I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back," Romney said. "My own view is that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And frankly, that's finally what the president did. He finally took them through bankruptcy."

Romney opposed government assistance that helped General Motors and Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy in two months, CNN said. Filing for bankruptcy allowed GM and Chrysler to unload plants and workers.

Van Conway of Conway McKenzie, a Detroit restructuring firm, said managed bankruptcy was "not an idea no one else had at the same time." He said without $81 billion from the government, the companies might have ended up in liquidation, not bankruptcy.

Bob Lutz, who was vice chairman of GM at the time of the crisis, has said the automakers tried, but were unable to arrange a managed bankruptcy with private lenders.

"[Romney] thinks we didn't try to borrow money from the banks," Lutz told the Detroit Free Press in February. "The banks were even more broke than we were."


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USA TODAY


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Correction Appended
FINAL EDITION


Columbus hit with barrage of political ads;
City attracts attention because of its size in a big battleground state


BYLINE: Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4A


LENGTH: 962 words


Presidential primaries can be counted on to bring flash floods of political advertising to one state after another: brief, intense and noisy. As the amount of money spent on political persuasion has risen, there are now some places where political ads are more like a steady rain. Here in Columbus, it is pouring.

Six months before the election, the evening news, morning news, and even Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are peppered with political ads from candidates, super PACs, and issue advocacy groups from the left and right.

The American Petroleum Institute would like Ohioans to "vote 4 more domestic energy." President Obama would like to remind voters that Republican candidate Mitt Romney has a Swiss bank account. The League of Conservation Voters would like voters to thank Sen. Sherrod Brown for fighting for Ohio jobs. The super PAC Restore Our Future would like everyone to know about the time Romney helped an employee find his missing daughter.

Columbus draws a lot of political advertising because it's the largest city in a big swing state that this year also has a heated Senate contest and congressional races reconfigured by redistricting. What's different here is that when the campaigns end, the advertising keeps on going. Political ads are on the air in Columbus all the time.

That's great news for the local TV stations battered by a recession that torpedoed their commercial advertisers. "We're on the other end saying, 'Thank you.' We're running around with a bushel basket trying to catch it when it falls," said Tom Griesdorn, general manager of WBNS-TV, the Columbus CBS affiliate.

In 2010, viewers in the 22 counties that make up the Columbus television market were treated to 43,134 political ads, including candidates, ballot issues and policy issue ads, according to Kantar Media data provided by TVB, the broadcast stations' trade association. In 2011, without congressional or gubernatorial races, viewers still saw 16,111 ads -- an average of 44 spots a day. Obama ran the first ads of his 2012 re-election campaign in Columbus four months ago.

Political ads will be the top category of ad revenue for the station in 2012, Griesdorn said, even though car companies have begun to revive their ad spending. Since March 2011, the station has run 2,588 political spots at a cost of $2.16 million, according to the publicly available files of political advertising that TV stations are required to maintain. And it's just one of five commercial broadcast station in Columbus.

"You see issue advertising here outside of the election cycle" as well as in it, said Dan Bradley, general manager of WCMH-TV, Columbus' NBC affiliate. "There's always something that's being marketed here that's political in nature."

According to Borrell Associates, an advertising research firm, political campaigns and outside groups are likely to spend $9.8 billion on the 2012 elections, and more than half of that will go to TV ads. In Ohio, which has at least eight media markets, political advertising will reach $391 million, the firm projects.

"From 2010 til now, we've really seen the beginning of the endless campaign. Certainly the issue ads never stop, and the ... presidential runs are getting earlier and earlier and earlier," said Kip Cassino, a political media researcher at Borrell.

The American Petroleum Institute has been on the air in Columbus for more than a year. Some of the spots urge voters to "Vote 4 Energy." Others are aimed at generating popular support for "fracking," the extraction of natural gas from shale. The group runs ads "pretty much all of the time to encourage Americans to become more informed on energy issues," spokeswoman Linda Rozett said.

The ad campaigns are also intense elsewhere. Right now, Las Vegas; Grand Junction, Colo.; Charlottesville, Va.; and Tampa are on the list of top markets for both the Obama campaign and Crossroads GPS, the Republican super PAC that runs ads critical of the president.

Between the two groups, viewers in those cities saw 1,583 ads over 11 days in April, according to figures released Wednesday by the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political ads.

"It's nice to be a swing state," said Mark LeGrand, general manager of WTMJ in Milwaukee. His worry: running out of air time. National political advertisers will wait to run ads until after the state's June 5 gubernatorial recall election and then will not want to air ads during the two weeks of the Olympics, which begin July 27.

That means "all the money is going to drop in a much smaller window," LeGrand said. "At some point, you can run out of inventory. There are only 24 hours in a day."

Ad sales reps have to accommodate both political advertisers and the car dealers and supermarkets that also want to advertise, said Barber, the Columbus NBC station manager. "It's a double-edged sword. It's great to get all this revenue, but we have to maintain our relationships with advertisers who are going to be here the day after the election."

At a recent League of Women Voters gathering here, members decried the quantity and tone of political ads. "Everyone at this table is looking for an educated electorate," said Ron Miller, 63, a retired vocational rehabilitation teacher. "Political advertising is not the way to do it."

"We've become so used to it, I hardly even pay attention," said Danielle Smith, 25, a social worker and board member of the league's Columbus chapter. "It's almost become the norm."

Cassino said that this year's huge spending will test whether there can be too many ads.

"Do you just stop paying attention to it? That's really going to be the question that gets answered when people are picking over the bones of this one," Cassino said. "Did it work? Did spending all that money really do the job?"


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CORRECTION: In a story on political advertising Tuesday, a second reference to Dan Bradley, general manager of WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, misstated his name.


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The Washington Post


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Suburban Edition


Crude oil prices on a decline as summer driving season nears


BYLINE: Steven Mufson


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A12


LENGTH: 730 words


Crude oil prices slid Monday to the lowest level since February as weak economic data and high prices dampened expectations for consumption just three weeks ahead of the summer driving season.

Oil analysts also said that the outcome of European elections- with candidates critical of government austerity measures winning in France and Greece - had also revived concerns about the stability of the euro zone. A stronger dollar also pushed oil prices down slightly.

The price of the benchmark West Texas Intermediate grade of crude oil fell 55 cents to $97.94 a barrel for June delivery, a drop of 11 percent since the 2012 peak of $109.77 reached Feb. 24.

U.S. gasoline priceshave also eased slightly, edging down to $3.78 a gallon, down about 4 cents from a week ago and down 15.5 cents in the past month, according to AAA, though nine states still have prices of $4 a gallon or more.

While still steep, lower gasoline prices could defuse a potentially thorny campaign issue for President Obama. GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has saidthat there is "no question" that Obama is to blame for high gasoline prices. Obama has blamed global supply and demand.

Fadel Gheit, oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said the reasons for lower oil prices recently were "weak demand caused by slow economy; less fear of potential supply disruption; Obama's threat to go after financial speculators; Saudi Arabia's increased production to reduce prices and help economic recovery; [and] increased U.S. [oil] production."

Oil analysts warned that crude prices could still firm up if the economic recovery picks up or if there are renewed fears of a supply disruption in the Persian Gulf.

"We've seen some disappointing economic numbers, and there are concerns over the European elections and the overall euro sovereign-debt issue," said David Greely, head of energy research at Goldman Sachs. "But U.S. oil demand is holding up well given the high oil prices and the moderate pace of U.S. economic growth. We expect that U.S. economic growth of around 2 percent will continue to support U.S. oil demand."

Recent financial deals to keep open some aging East Coast refineries have also eased concerns about gasoline prices in that region, and U.S. inventories are plentiful.

But Edward Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup, said gasoline prices could increase as the peak driving season approaches.

"This summer looks like it may be slightly weaker than we thought it was going to be," Morse said. "But it's still a tight market, and summer gasoline is hard for refiners to make. We don't think the worst is over for consumers, and I'd be surprised if there is not another price pickup before the July Fourth weekend."

The reversal of the Seaway oil pipeline, which runs from Oklahoma to refineries along the Gulf Coast, would ease the bottleneck at Cushing, Okla., and raise prices there. The Cushing oil terminal is where the New York Mercantile Exchange prices its benchmark crude.

The global oil supply picture has been less dire than many oil traders expected.

Higher Saudi oil production has offset declines in Iran's oil exports. These have been impeded by Europe's decision to impose an embargo on imports from Iran and by the tightening of U.S. financial sanctions worldwide against companies buying oil from Iran.

In addition, Morse noted, Iraqi oil production and exports hit recent highs in April.

Supplies have been disrupted by local fighting in the Sudans, Syria, Yemen and Nigeria. And Iran remains a major wild card. For now, however, geopolitical anxieties have eased.

Greely said there is little premium in the oil price due to fears of a conflict over Iran.

"It seems like the concerns over Iran have receded into the background a little bit," he said. "The market has been much more focused on the economy. In both Washington and Iran, the rhetoric has died down a little bit."

Global demand remains uncertain, given the debate over austerity in Europe and signs that China's breakneck growth may be slowing somewhat.

In addition, now that Japan has closed all of its 54 nuclear power plants in the wake of last year's tsunami, the Asian economic giant is importing 300,000 to 400,000 barrels of fuel oil a day. Several other countries have been building up inventories, which were drawn down in Europe during the conflict in Libya last year.

mufsons@washpost.com


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The Washington Post


May 8, 2012 Tuesday
Met 2 Edition


BYLINE: - Amy Gardner


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A04


LENGTH: 631 words


Santorum endorses Romney 

Rick Santorum, who bowed out of the Republican presidential nominating contest after capturing 11 states and some 3 million votes, endorsed his erstwhile rival Mitt Romney on Monday night.

In a letter to his supporters, the former Pennsylvania senator said that he was impressed with Romney's "commitment to economic policies that preserve and strengthen families."

"He clearly understands that having pro-family initiatives are not only the morally and economically right thing to do, but that the family is the basic building block of our society and must be preserved," Santorum wrote in the letter e-mailed to supporters.

The endorsement comes as Romney looks to shore up his support among conservatives, who powered Santorum to victory in several states, particularly in the South.

Last week, Romney and Santorum met for an hour in Pittsburgh, where the former Pennsylvania senator urged Romney to hire conservatives to work on his campaign.

During the primary, Santorum was one of Romney's harshest critics, suggesting that he was unelectable because of his more centrist views and the health-care reform he enacted while governor of Massachusetts.

Yet Santorum, who resurrected his career with his surprisingly strong challenge of Romney, said that he was satisfied that the presumptive Republican candidate would overturn the Obama administration's health-care reform law.

"My conversation with Governor Romney was very productive, but I intend to keep lines of communication open with him and his campaign," Santorum wrote.

"I hope to ensure that the values that made America that shining city on the hill are illuminated brightly by our party and our candidates, thus ensuring not just a victory, but a mandate for conservative governance."

Santorum dropped out of the race in the weeks before the Pennsylvania primary with millions of dollars in campaign debt.

With Santorum's endorsement, Romney has landed the backing of all but two of his challengers - Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Paul remains in the race.

- Nia-Malika Henderson

Obama makes big ad buy

The Obama campaign began the week by announcing a whopping $25 million ad buy in nine battleground states - and its top strategists told reporters that the buy is only the beginning.

"We're not letting our foot off the pedal," campaign manager Jim Messina said during a conference call with reporters Monday. "We have a very simple choice between going forward and going back."

Messina, along with senior strategist David Axelrod, told reporters that the ad, called "Go," is part of a larger campaign effort to convey all that President Obama has done since taking office in the midst of an economic crisis and two wars in January 2009.

Axelrod said the president's decision to talk positively about his record on the auto industry bailout, winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, going after al-Qaeda and other achievements contrasts starkly with the strategy of his presumed Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, to blame the nation's continuing economic difficulties on the current administration without offering credible solutions.

"We're in a different place," Axelrod said. "We're fighting our way through. There are still significant headwinds."

Axelrod didn't rule out the need to respond to Romney's attacks - and those of independent Republican super PACs, to which he said the Obama campaign will respond "vigorously" and treat "as an ad from Governor Romney."

Axelrod went so far as to describe David and Charles Koch, the conservative brothers who have bankrolled several anti-Obama efforts, including the free-market group Americans for Prosperity, as "contract killers over there in super PAC land who are going to continue to pound away on behalf of Governor Romney."

- Amy Gardner


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The Washington Times


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Inside the Beltway


BYLINE: By Jennifer Harper THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, NATION; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 963 words


5,320 PAGES

Taming the Dodd-Frank Act: It's a daunting job, but someone equipped with a whip and a chair may manage to do it. Federal regulations emerging from the new law are occupying many pages - already twice as many as health care reform legislation - and officials are not even half finished with their task. The rising cost of complying with the law threatens the nation's small banks and financial institutions, prompting a House Financial Services subcommittee to call a hearing for Wednesday on the "regulatory onslaught."

More than 400 new rules ultimately will be imposed. Consider that regulators have written 185 of them - totaling 5,320 pages. The subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit predicts it will take the private sector some 24 million hours every year to comply with this first batch alone. It took a mere 20 million man hours to build the entire Panama Canal. See their research here: www.financialservices.house.gov/burdentracker.

While some of the regulations are necessary, many only serve to "stifle economic growth and employment," says Rep. Spencer Bachus, Alabama Republican and committee chairman. "We must make certain they do not harm the economy by drowning small business lenders in a sea of red tape."

Needless to say, a recent Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP survey found that 90 percent of banking industry leaders cite overregulation as "the biggest threat" to their businesses.

LET THEM EAT CAKE

And speaking of regulations: Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Texas have new statewide rules meant to limit the offerings at bake sales in public schools to nutritious food alone, and therefore curb childhood obesity. Massachusetts joined the pack Monday with nutrition standards that target goodies sold or served during the school day in hallways, cafeterias, stores, vending machines and holiday parties. Officials are also eyeing the signature treats at weekend and community events such as banquets and football games.

Massachusetts residents appear vexed, according to an online survey of 8,800 Boston Herald readers. Ninety-five percent say the state should not ban such goodies in public schools.

"What's next? Will they install food detectors at the doors? Will they be searching backpacks for candy?" demands Holly Robichaud, a political blogger at the paper. "This is what happens when government gets too big. To the liberals ... I have one message. Bite me."

OUI OUI

"Fox News Reports: France Joins America in Electing Socialist President"

(Parody headline from comedian Andy Borowitz.)

HANOI REVISITED

To be introduced Tuesday evening at a swank spot on Capitol Hill by Sen. John McCain: that would be former POW and retired Air Force Col. Lee Ellis and his forthcoming book "Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton."

The officer flew an F4C Phantom on 53 combat missions over Vietnam before he was shot down in 1967 at the age of 23 and spent five years in the infamous Hoa Lo prison. The pilot lived to tell about it, and learn from it. His message to leaders everywhere: "Embrace courage and honor in day-to-day work."

Mr. McCain, who spent years in the Hanoi Hilton himself, lauds and endorses the book, which will be published May 14 by Freedom Star Media.

NOW HEAR THIS

One hotel in the nation's capital is about to get very crowded. And noisy. Fifty talk-radio hosts from around the nation will broadcast their programs live from the Phoenix Park Hotel on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, under the auspices of the feisty Federation for American Immigration Reform. The two-day event is called "Hold Their Feet to the Fire."

Organizers say the hosts will assemble to "focus on efforts by the Obama administration to carry out an unlegislated backdoor amnesty for millions of illegal aliens under the guise of "prosecutorial discretion," and Congress' failure to respond to the usurpation of its authority to make immigration policy. New state measures such as Arizona's SB 1070 will be much under the microscope.

Among many, the cast of hosts include The Washington Times' own Andy Parks, WTNT's Armstrong Williams and Radio America's Roger Hedgecock. Twenty-five Republican lawmakers also will lend their opinions, including Reps. Marsha Blackburn of Tennesseee, Allen B. West of Florida, Steve King of Iowa, Ted Poe of Texas and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin.

NOT SO SECRET

An unfortunate reality for the Secret Service following the clandestine agency's recent scandal during a presidential visit to Colombia: "Has the Secret Service stayed out of the eye of the media?" asks HighBeam Research, a marketing group that tracks content in some 6,500 major publications. The answer of course, is "no."

The increase in attention from print media alone "has been quite substantial," the Chicago-based group says, noting that the Secret Service drew more than 3,000 mentions from October 2011 through Monday - an extra 1,000 mentions, compared with the previous six-month period.

POLL DU JOUR

* 96 percent of U.S. voters say they likely will vote in the 2012 elections.

* 81 percent say Mitt Romney's Mormon faith makes "no difference" to them.

* 65 percent say Republicans will stay the majority party in the House; 41 percent say Democrats will stay the majority party in the Senate.

* 62 percent say Mr. Romney's choice of a running mate has no impact on their decision to vote for him.

* 47 percent would vote for Mr. Romney if the election were held today, 46 percent for President Obama.

* 45 percent lean toward the Republican congressional candidate, 43 percent to the Democratic candidate.

Source: A George Washington University/Politico poll of 1,000 likely U.S. voters conducted April 29 to March 3.

* Whines, grumbles and guffaws to jharper@washingtontimes.com


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The Washington Times


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Romney hits at Obama on jobs;
Says president doesn't deserve credit for dip in unemployment


BYLINE: By Seth McLaughlin THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: A, POLITICS; Pg. 4


LENGTH: 529 words


Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Monday that the Obama administration is misleading the public into thinking that the dip in the national unemployment rate proves the Democrat's economic policies are working.

The former Massachusetts governor told a crowd gathered for a town hall-style meeting in Euclid, Ohio, the unemployment rate has fallen almost 2 percentage points since October 2009 because people have stopped looking for work - not because of Mr. Obama's policies.

"There is something about that 8.1 percent figure you ought to know," he said. "You might assume that that number came down from 10 percent to 8.1 percent because of all the jobs that were created, and that assumption would be wrong. The reason that percent came down was because of all the people that dropped out of the workforce."

Only people working or looking for work are counted in the unemployment rate. Economists contend the decline in the unemployment rate in the past several quarters is due in large part to those who have given up looking for work.

Mr. Romney said the Obama administration failed to deliver on its promise that the $787 billion stimulus package passed in 2010 would drive unemployment to less than 8 percent.

"It is not that more people ... have been able to find jobs," he said. "Instead, it is that a number of people have dropped out of the workforce and that's why the percentage has come down."

The former Massachusetts governor's comments came as a new USA Today/Gallup poll of swing states shows Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama in a virtual tie in the dozen battleground states, including Ohio, that are expected to determine who calls the White House home for the next four years.

The poll also included warning signs for both men: Mr. Romney has yet to generate a lot of enthusiasm for his candidacy, while Mr. Obama has yet to convince voters he is to be trusted on the economic front.

The Obama campaign, meanwhile, released a new ad, titled "Go," on Monday that touts the revival of the auto industry, the death of Osama bin Laden and the end of the Iraq War.

"Instead of losing jobs, we're creating them - over 4.2 million so far. We are not there yet. It is still too hard for too many. But we are coming back because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class because you don't quit and neither does he," the narrator says, alluding to Mr. Obama.

The Romney campaign immediately countered that the Obama administration will try to hide how it has "wreaked havoc on the middle class."

"After a doubling of gas prices, declining incomes, millions of foreclosures and record levels of unemployment, Americans know they're not better off than they were four years ago," said Amanda Henneberg, a Romney campaign spokeswoman.

Last month, Mr. Romney basically wrapped up the Republican nomination after former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania dropped out.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ended his bid last week, leaving Rep. Ron Paul of Texas as Mr. Romney's last remaining rival.

Since then, Mr. Romney has been traveling the country raising money for his campaign. He planned to attend another fundraiser later Monday in Indianapolis.


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The Washington Times


May 8, 2012 Tuesday


Hoping Obama, Romney, don't sling mud


BYLINE: THE WASHINGTON TIMES


SECTION: B, LETTERS; Pg. 2


LENGTH: 195 words


And they're off! No, I'm not referring to Saturday's Kentucky Derby but the 2012 presidential campaign. Over the next six months, voters will be asked to "look forward" with Barack Obama or "believe in America" with Mitt Romney. Thankfully, both slogans are positive affirmations.

During the course of the campaign, I hope the challenger and the incumbent will remain as positive as their slogans are today. Early indications are that this year's presidential election, like some great horse races, will be won by a nose. If either Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney pulls out the whip and goes negative, it will be a very long, tough slog for the candidates and the nation.

Decades after the infamous 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson "Daisy" commercial and the 1988 George H.W. Bush "Willie Horton" ad, our political landscape remains scorched. After those campaigns ended, the producers of both spots said they wished they hadn't sunk to such lows.

Let's hope both Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney remind themselves to appeal to voters' better instincts between now and November. That would be good for them as candidates and a blessing for the country as a whole.

DENNY FREIDENRICH

Laguna Beach, Calif.


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The Associated Press


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 01:58 PM GMT


Ad links Obama to criticism of Ann Romney


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 120 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK


An independent group backing Mitt Romney has launched a TV ad tying President Barack Obama to negative comments about Romney's wife by two Obama supporters.

Restore Our Future, a super PAC run by former Romney advisers, is running the ad in the battleground states of Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire and Ohio.

The ad highlights comments by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and talk-show host Bill Maher suggesting Ann Romney had never worked.

Mrs. Romney raised five sons but did not work outside the home.

The ad concludes by saying "Happy Mother's Day from Barack Obama's team."

Rosen is not connected to Obama's campaign. Maher contributed $1 million to a super PAC supporting Obama's re-election.


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The Associated Press


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 01:00 AM GMT


AP News in Brief at 8:58 p.m. EDT;
Tuesday, May 8, 2012


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 2053 words


Indiana's Lugar loses primary challenge, Romney seeks delegates, NC weighs in on gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) Six-term veteran Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar lost a bitter challenge from the right flank of his own Republican Party Tuesday night, his nearly four-decade career in the Senate ended by a tea party-backed GOP foe.

"I have no regrets about running for re-election. Even if doing so can be a very daunting task," the 80-year-old Lugar said as he conceded to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

Conservatives reached for another victory Tuesday as North Carolina voters weighed a gay-marriage ban, and Democrats were picking a nominee to challenge Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a June recall election, contests that overshadowed Mitt Romney's unstoppable progress toward the GOP presidential nomination.

Romney won the GOP presidential primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia, drawing close to the 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination.

Even Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was essentially ignoring primaries that were likely to hand him 100 or so delegates of the 288 he still needed heading into Tuesday's contests. He spent the day campaigning in Michigan, where he castigated President Barack Obama as an "old-school liberal" whose policies would take the country backward.

US, Yemeni officials: Would-be al-Qaida bomber was CIA informant, delivered bomb to officials

WASHINGTON (AP) The CIA had al-Qaida fooled from the beginning.

Last month, U.S. intelligence learned that al-Qaida's Yemen branch hoped to launch a spectacular attack using a new, nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for America, officials say.

But the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence, U.S. and Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The dramatic sting operation thwarted the attack before it had a chance to succeed.

It was the latest misfire for al-Qaida, which has repeatedly come close to detonating a bomb aboard an airliner. For the United State, it was a victory that delivered the bomb intact to U.S. intelligence.

Europe's political testiness might not spread to the US, but its consequences could

WASHINGTON (AP) The elections that drove Nicolas Sarkozy out of power in France and left Greece scrambling to build a coalition government pose a financial threat to the United States that could undermine President Barack Obama's efforts to cast himself as the agent of a U.S. economic revival.

For Obama, the danger is that any economic turmoil unleashed by the French and Greek elections will spill over to the United States, slow the recovery even more and, ultimately, further jeopardize his re-election, adding him to the recent roster of politicians whose careers have been short-circuited by economic anger.

At the same time it has shifted Europe's political balance to the left and in favor of the type of economic growth policies that Obama has advocated both for Europe and for the United States.

For Mitt Romney, the all-but-certain Republican presidential challenger, the results in Europe underscore how deeply economic unease affects politics. They feed his camp's underlying storyline: that Obama's economic policies would not safeguard the United States from a widening European recession.

But as a rejection of austerity measures, the European elections also present a cautionary tale for the type of belt-tightening that Romney and congressional Republicans have embraced.

GOP blocks Senate debate on Democratic student loan bill in dispute over paying for it

WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill Tuesday to preserve low interest rates for millions of college students' loans, as the two parties engaged in election-year choreography aimed at showing each is the better protector of families in today's rugged economy.

The 52-45 vote to begin debating the legislation fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed and stalled work on an effort both parties expect will ultimately produce a compromise, probably soon. For now, each side is happy to use the stalemate to snipe at the other with campaign-ready talking points while they are gridlocked over how to cover the $6 billion cost.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the vote showed that despite GOP claims that they support preventing an increase in student loan rates, "Republicans showed today that it's only talk."

He also noted that the likely GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, supports a temporary extension of today's low rates and needled, "I suggest he pick up the phone and call Senator McConnell."

That was a reference to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said the battle is a phony one manufactured by Democrats to woo votes from students. Both parties say they want to extend low interest rates.

NC in the national spotlight as voters weigh in on gay marriage ban in state's constitution

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The national debate over gay marriage focused Tuesday on North Carolina, as voters decided whether to make it the 30th state to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

In the final days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment. Opponents also held marches, put up television ads and gave speeches, including one by Jay Bakker, son of televangelists Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Bakker.

Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham, who at age 93 remains influential even though his last crusade was in 2005, was featured in full-page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.

Both sides spent a combined $3 million on their campaigns.

Experts expect the measure to pass, despite the state's long history of moderate politics.

Group of California lawmakers approve first-in-nation ban on 'conversion' therapy in key vote

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) A first-of-its-kind ban on a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay people straight is speeding through the California statehouse.

Supporters say the legislation, which passed its final Senate committee Tuesday, is necessary because such treatments are ineffective and harmful.

"This therapy can be dangerous," said the bill's author Sen. Ted Lieu. The Torrance Democrat added the treatments can "cause extreme depression and guilt" that sometimes leads to suicide.

Conservative religious groups emphatically reject that view of sexual orientation therapy and say the ban would interfere with parents' rights to seek appropriate psychological care for their children.

The bill would prohibit so-called reparative therapy for minors and obligate adults seeking the treatment to sign a release form that states that the counseling is ineffectual and possibly dangerous.

New Border Patrol strategy targets repeat crossers to find out why they keep coming

SAN DIEGO (AP) With border crossings at a 40-year low, the U.S. Border Patrol announced a new strategy Tuesday that targets repeat crossers and tries to find out why they keeping coming.

For nearly two decades, the Border Patrol has relied on a strategy that blanketed heavily trafficked corridors for illegal immigrants with agents, pushing migrants to more remote areas where they would presumably be easier to capture and discouraged from trying again.

"The jury, for me at least, is out on whether that's a solid strategy," Chief Mike Fisher told The Associated Press.

The new approach is more nuanced. Outlined in a 32-page document that took more than two years to develop, agents will now draw on intelligence to identify repeat crossers and others perceived as security threats, said Fisher.

"This whole risk-based approach is trying to figure out who are these people? What risk do they pose from a national security standpoint? The more we know, the better informed we are about identifying the threat and potential risk," he said in a recent interview.

RI police say gun parts found in stuffed animals at airport result of domestic dispute

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) Federal transportation officials said Tuesday they found gun components and ammunition hidden inside stuffed animals including a Mickey Mouse carried by a passenger at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport on Monday, and that the incident was related to a domestic disagreement.

Authorities later allowed the man and his 4-year-old son to continue their travel to Detroit, according to airport police. The man told police that he didn't know the parts were inside the stuffed toys.

"It appears to be the result of a domestic dispute," Airport Police Chief Leo Messier said in a statement. "It was jointly investigated by the RI Airport Police, FBI and the RI State Police and it was determined that there was no threat at any time to air safety."

Officials with airport police and the Transportation Security Administration declined to comment further, saying the incident remained under investigation.

The man and his son were headed to Detroit when a TSA officer noticed the disassembled gun components "artfully concealed" inside three stuffed animals. The stuffed animals, including a teddy bear and a rabbit, were inside the child's carry-on bag, which had been put through an X-ray machine as part of normal security screening.

Authors recall Maurice Sendak's 'dark and clear-eyed view' as a North Star of children's books

NEW YORK (AP) Maurice Sendak's closest friends gathered in his hospital room playwright Tony Kushner, authors Brian Selznick and Gregory Maguire. Kushner brought jellybeans, while Maguire placed a picture of Lewis Carroll on the table beside Sendak's bed.

"The one thing he wasn't uncertain about was his significance," Maguire said Tuesday, hours after Sendak died at age 83. A scowling monument of 20th century children's literature, Sendak had suffered a stroke late last week and spent his remaining days hospitalized in Danbury, Conn.

"He always identified with his heroes from the past and felt like they spoke to him and encouraged him to do brilliant work. So I thought I would give Maurice a glimpse of the people waiting for him on the other side."

Sendak, among the most honored and adored children's authors, ranks with Dr. Seuss as a revolutionary force of the past half-century. He told stories about children that were actually about children, and not what adults wished them to be. He inspired every author, from Judy Blume to Daniel Handler, who ever wanted to go a little too far.

"It's almost impossible to overstate his importance," says Handler, known for the Lemony Snicket "Series Of Unfortunate Events" books. "He's a North Star in the firmament of anyone who makes children's books, in particular for his dark and clear-eyed view of the world that was kindred to me when I was in kindergarten and kindred to me now. He gives neither the comfort nor the horror of sentimentality."

APNewsBreak: Autopsy points to heart disease as cause of death for ultra-runner Micah True

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Ultra-marathon runner Micah True died from heart disease while on a routine 12-mile run in late March in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday.

The report showed that True, 58, had cardiomyopathy, a disease that results in the heart becoming enlarged. While medical examiners couldn't point to the cause of the heart disease, they said True's left ventricle, which pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, had become thick and was dilated.

Chemical tests showed that True was mildly dehydrated and had caffeine in his system. He also had some abrasions on his elbows, forearms, knees and shins.

True's body was discovered March 31 along a stream in a remote part of the Gila Wilderness. The search for him began days earlier after he failed to return from a run. Friends had theorized that he stopped at the stream to wash up after a fall while running on the rugged terrain.

True's girlfriend, Maria Walton of Gilbert, Ariz., has said he was hypoglycemic. She said last month that without proper nutrition, "he would get dizzy or feel lightheaded. Not anything life endangering."


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The Associated Press


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 05:48 AM GMT


Dem plan: Throw it all at Romney, see what sticks


BYLINE: By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 957 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama's campaign is trying an early "all of the above" strategy against Republican Mitt Romney, criticizing his character, wealth and policy positions in broadsides that may become more focused as the fall election nears.

Romney's record offers both opportunities and dilemmas for Democratic strategists. His widely known shifts in key positions over the years invite the "flip-flopper" charge, which badly hurt Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

But painting Romney as a conviction-free waffler runs counter to another line of attack, which former President Bill Clinton and others argue is more potent: Romney is a dedicated hard-line conservative, bent on radical changes unpalatable to mainstream America.

On top of those two somewhat conflicting messages, Obama's campaign is attacking Romney's background and wealth. A recent TV ad in a $3.6 million multistate effort depicts Romney, a former private equity executive, as a corporate raider who once had a Swiss bank account.

Romney says the election will turn on Obama's economic record. But it's clear his allies are also concerned about the type of character and image issues raised by the flip-flopper and Swiss bank criticisms.

The main super political action committee backing Romney is spending $4.3 million for a TV ad that highlights his role in finding a colleague's lost teenage daughter in 1996. The ad, called "Saved," is airing in at least nine swing states.

It's not unusual for campaigns to run positive, image-building ads when introducing a candidate to a new audience. But the "Saved" spot is running in five states where Romney campaigned heavily, on the ground and airwaves, during the GOP primary: Florida, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan.

Democrats say the super PAC is using precious resources to try to repair Romney's damaged image. Polls showed that Romney's popularity suffered during the hard-hitting primary, in which the super PAC Restore Our Future flooded airwaves with attack ads his opponents called unfair and distorted.

Romney's advisers say the Democrats' multipronged approach is a sign of flailing by a president whose record is weak.

"They've started trying all these themes," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. Among them, she said, are efforts to paint Romney as out of touch with regular people and linking him to George W. Bush and the unpopular Congress.

"They say Gov. Romney has no core," Saul said. "Now they're trying to say his core is too far to the right. They're just grasping at straws."

Some Democrats say Saul has identified a key contradiction in their approach. Clinton, among others, has encouraged Obama's team to focus almost exclusively on the strongly conservative stands that Romney took in defeating Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and others for the Republican nomination, which he expects to lock down soon.

Clinton says the Romney-as-extremist message will resonate with crucial swing voters, who tend to be comparatively nonpartisan and more interested in solutions than ideology. The strategy might not prove easy.

A survey by the pro-Democratic group Third Way found that "swing independent" voters see Romney as less conservative than Republicans in general. These voters also see themselves as being closer ideologically to Romney than to Obama on a liberal-to-conservative scale.

Democrats note Romney's opposition to the proposed "Dream Act," which would give illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they served in the U.S. military. The stance angers some Hispanic voters, an increasingly important constituency in several tossup states.

Democrats also cite Romney's call for tax cuts for the wealthy (along with other income groups) and his statements that he was a "severely conservative" governor of Massachusetts and "the ideal candidate" for the tea party movement.

Romney "has embraced every extreme position that he can in order to curry favor in the Republican primary," said Rodell Mollineau, president of American Bridge 21st Century, a pro-Democratic research group. He said his organization and others will make sure voters know that record.

If Romney changes position on issues, Mollineau said, his group will publicly note it. But "the fact that he has moved so far to the right is what voters are truly going to be concerned about," Mollineau said. "That's where the election can be won."

Obama recently has emphasized the Romney-is-extreme message.

He told Rolling Stone, "You have a Republican Party and a presumptive Republican nominee that believes in drastically rolling back environmental regulations, that believes in drastically rolling back collective-bargaining rights, that believes in an approach to deficit reduction in which taxes are cut further for the wealthiest Americans and spending cuts are entirely borne by things like education or basic research or care for the vulnerable."

"I don't think their nominee is going to be able to suddenly say, `Everything I've said for the last six months, I didn't mean,'" Obama told the magazine.

The president said in a Twitter message recently, "If you think Mitt Romney isn't extreme on women's issues, think again." It linked to a video criticizing Romney on several issues, including access to birth control.

Charlie Black, an informal Romney adviser, said that all during the GOP primary, Americans heard Gingrich, Santorum and others say Romney isn't conservative enough. Now, when Obama's allies say Romney is far too conservative, it will ring false and confusing, he said.

"It's all they've got," Black said. "They can't run on his record."

Democratic strategists say they expect Obama's campaign to refine and focus its criticisms of Romney over time, as polls and focus groups reveal each candidate's softest spots.


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Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont)


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


World in Brief


SECTION: NEWS


LENGTH: 1905 words


Wednesday May 9, 2012

U.S. sends airport security guidance on hidden explosives to other countries

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the wake of a terrorist bomb plot disrupted by the CIA, the U.S. advised some international airports and air carriers Tuesday about security measures for passengers traveling to the U.S.

The guidance from the Transportation Security Administration was a reminder of methods the U.S. provided to these international airports and carriers in the past six to eight months to help protect against threats from liquid explosives and explosives hidden inside a person's body or clothes or in printer cartridges. All are methods officials said al-Qaida's spinoff group in Yemen has considered for plots against the U.S, according to an American official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the guidance.

The CIA recently foiled a bomb plot in Yemen in which officials say a suicide bomber was to have detonated an explosive on a U.S.-bound flight.

"The seizure of this device is a reminder that our adversaries continue to be interested in targeting the aviation sector," Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said Tuesday afternoon. Chandler said the government issued the guidance reminder "to underscore the importance of these ongoing measures to air carriers and foreign government partners." He said there is currently no credible or specific information about a terror threat to the U.S.

Despite the discovery of a sophisticated new al-Qaida airline bomb plot, congressional and security officials suggested there was no immediate need to change airport security procedures, which already subject many shoeless passengers to pat-downs and body scans.

Europe's political testiness might not spread to the U.S., but its consequences could

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The elections that drove Nicolas Sarkozy out of power in France and left Greece scrambling to build a coalition government pose a financial threat to the United States that could undermine President Barack Obama's efforts to cast himself as the agent of a U.S. economic revival.

For Obama, the danger is that any economic turmoil unleashed by the French and Greek elections will spill over to the United States, slow the recovery even more and, ultimately, further jeopardize his re-election, adding him to the recent roster of politicians whose careers have been short-circuited by economic anger.

At the same time it has shifted Europe's political balance to the left and in favor of the type of economic growth policies that Obama has advocated both for Europe and for the United States.

For Mitt Romney, the all-but-certain Republican presidential challenger, the results in Europe underscore how deeply economic unease affects politics. They feed his camp's underlying storyline: that Obama's economic policies would not safeguard the United States from a widening European recession.

But as a rejection of austerity measures, the European elections also present a cautionary tale for the type of belt-tightening that Romney and congressional Republicans have embraced.

GOP blocks Senate debate on student
loan bill in dispute over paying for it

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill Tuesday to preserve low interest rates for millions of college students' loans, as the two parties engaged in election-year choreography aimed at showing each is the better protector of families in today's rugged economy.

The 52-45 vote to begin debating the legislation fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed and stalled work on an effort both parties expect will ultimately produce a compromise, probably soon. For now, each side is happy to use the stalemate to snipe at the other with campaign-ready talking points while they are gridlocked over how to cover the $6 billion cost.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the vote showed that despite GOP claims that they support preventing an increase in student loan rates, "Republicans showed today that it's only talk."

He also noted that the likely GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, supports a temporary extension of today's low rates and needled, "I suggest he pick up the phone and call Senator McConnell."

That was a reference to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said the battle is a phony one manufactured by Democrats to woo votes from students. Both parties say they want to extend low interest rates.

N.C. in the national spotlight as voters weigh in on gay marriage ban

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The national debate over gay marriage focused Tuesday on North Carolina, as voters decided whether to make it the 30th state to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

In the final days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment. Opponents also held marches, put up television ads and gave speeches, including one by Jay Bakker, son of televangelists Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Bakker.

Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham, who at age 93 remains influential even though his last crusade was in 2005, was featured in full-page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.

Both sides spent a combined $3 million on their campaigns.

Experts expect the measure to pass, despite the state's long history of moderate politics.

California lawmakers weighing first-in-nation ban on 'conversion' therapy for gay teens

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- A first-of-its-kind ban on a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay people straight could face a key vote Tuesday by a group of California lawmakers.

Supporters say the legislation, which is before its final committee, is necessary because such treatments are ineffective and harmful.

"This therapy can be dangerous," said the bill's author Sen. Ted Lieu. He added the treatments can "cause extreme depression and guilt" that sometimes leads to suicide.

Conservative religious groups emphatically reject that view of sexual orientation therapy and say the California bill would interfere with parents' rights to seek appropriate psychological care for their children.

"While this is a direct assault on everyone's freedom it is also a not so subtle attack on religious liberty," the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality said in a statement.

Chest compression during confrontation with police led to death of homeless man

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A trauma surgeon said Tuesday that continuous compression of a California homeless man's chest during a confrontation with police officers caused breathing problems that led to his death.

The testimony by Dr. Michael Lekawa came during a hearing in response to intense questioning by attorneys for two Fullerton police officers charged with killing 37-year-old Kelly Thomas during an investigation of a reported car burglary at a transit hub last July.

Lekawa noted that surveillance video and audio recordings of the incident showed that Thomas' voice changed from initial shouts of "I can't breathe" to long, drawn-out moans before he stopped talking altogether.

Lekawa, chief of trauma surgery at University of California, Irvine Medical Center -- where Thomas was taken after the confrontation -- said he believes the incident caused Thomas' respiratory problems, which deprived his brain of oxygen.

"The ongoing compression of his chest ultimately led him to have a respiratory arrest," Lekawa said during the hearing to determine whether sufficient evidence exists for the officers to stand trial.

Kidnap-slaying case widens with arrest of wife and mother of suspect in abductions

GUNTOWN, Miss. (AP) -- The net widened Tuesday in the case of a Mississippi man suspected of killing a Tennessee woman and her teenage daughter and fleeing with her two younger girls as authorities charged his wife and mother in connection with the abduction.

As an intense manhunt for Adam Mayes and the two young girls continued, his wife, Teresa Mayes, and mother, Mary Mayes, were arraigned in a Hardeman County, Tenn., courtroom. Teresa Mayes, 30, was charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and Mary Mayes, 65, was charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Teresa Mayes told investigators she drove Jo Ann Bain and her daughters from Hardeman County, where they lived, to Union County, Miss., where Adam and Teresa Mayes lived with his parents, according to an affidavit filed in court.

An attorney for Teresa Mayes declined to comment Tuesday afternoon. Calls to the attorney assigned to Mary Mayes were not immediately returned.

Bond was set at $500,000 for Teresa Mayes and $300,000 for Mary Mayes.

Authors recall Sendak's 'dark and clear-eyed view' as a North Star of children's books

NEW YORK (AP) -- Maurice Sendak's closest friends gathered in his hospital room -- playwright Tony Kushner, authors Brian Selznick and Gregory Maguire. Kushner brought jellybeans, while Maguire placed a picture of Lewis Carroll on the table beside Sendak's bed.

"The one thing he wasn't uncertain about was his significance," Maguire said Tuesday, hours after Sendak died at age 83. A scowling monument of 20th century children's literature, Sendak had suffered a stroke late last week and spent his remaining days hospitalized in Danbury, Conn.

Sendak, among the most honored and adored children's authors, ranks with Dr. Seuss as a revolutionary force of the past half-century. He told stories about children that were actually about children, and not what adults wished them to be. He inspired every author, from Judy Blume to Daniel Handler, who ever wanted to go a little too far.

"It's almost impossible to overstate his importance," says Handler, known for the Lemony Snicket "Series Of Unfortunate Events" books. "He's a North Star in the firmament of anyone who makes children's books, in particular for his dark and clear-eyed view of the world that was kindred to me when I was in kindergarten and kindred to me now. He gives neither the comfort nor the horror of sentimentality."

Autopsy points to heart disease as cause of death for ultra-runner Micah True

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Ultra-marathon runner Micah True died from heart disease while on a routine 12-mile run in late March in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday.

The report showed that True, 58, had cardiomyopathy, a disease that results in the heart becoming enlarged. While medical examiners couldn't point to the cause of the heart disease, they said True's left ventricle, which pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, had become thick and was dilated.

Chemical tests showed that True was mildly dehydrated and had caffeine in his system. He also had some abrasions on his elbows, forearms, knees and shins.

True's body was discovered March 31 along a stream in a remote part of the Gila Wilderness. The search for him began days earlier after he failed to return from a run. Friends had theorized that he stopped at the stream to wash up after a fall while running on the rugged terrain.

True's girlfriend, Maria Walton of Gilbert, Ariz., has said he was hypoglycemic. She said last month that without proper nutrition, "he would get dizzy or feel lightheaded. Not anything life endangering."


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CNN Wire


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 10:52 PM EST


ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 5378 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Supervising News Editor Maggie Leung -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Marriage (will update)

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he supports same-sex marriage, raising the political stakes on an issue in which Americans are evenly split. The announcement, long sought by supporters of same-sex marriage, puts Obama squarely at odds with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Reactions (will update)

Politicians and celebrities were quick to weigh in on Twitter over news of U.S. President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage.

POL-Same-Sex-DNC

In the wake of the Amendment One being passed in North Carolina Tuesday night, opposition groups have decided to take action by starting a petition to have the Democratic national convention removed.

MONEY-obama-gay-marriage

A reaction story on what President Obama's new stance on gay marriage means for the push for financial equality for gay couples.

POL-Gay-Marriage-Politics

In an election year billed to be laser-focused on jobs and the economy, social issues like same-sex marriage have stolen the spotlight a surprising number of times. But experts say don't expect those hot-button topics to be the ultimate markers of the 2012 cycle.

ENT-Travolta-Sex-Suit

John Travolta's lawyer argued a time-stamped photograph and a restaurant receipt show the actor was in not in Los Angeles when a massage therapist claims he sexually assaulted him at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "We found out the dates of the claim, we knew the story was false," Travolta lawyer Martin Singer told CNN Wednesday. The federal lawsuit, which includes claims by two men that Travolta groped them while on their massage tables, seeks $2 million in damage for each plaintiff.

Ukraine-Europe-Russia-Relations

Seven and a half years ago, scenes of jubilant crowds celebrating the outcome of Ukraine's Orange Revolution -- a new presidential vote after a rigged election was annulled -- filled TV screens around the world. Now the country is back in the headlines, thanks to the controversial detention of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a heroine of the revolution, and threats to boycott next month's Euro 2012 soccer matches in response. Viktor Yanukovych, the man defeated in 2004 by rival Viktor Yushchenko, is now president and stands accused by critics of persecuting his political opponents, Tymoshenko among them. And the promise of the 2004 Orange Revolution, where millions joined in peaceful protest against alleged corruption and in defense of democracy, is judged to have turned sour.

Pennsylvania-Duck-Boat-Settlement

A $17 million settlement has been reached in the civil trial for the fatal sightseeing "duck boat² accident last summer. The families of the Hungarian student-tourists who drowned in the Delaware River will split $15 million. The nearly 20 other victims involved in the accident will split $2 million.

Fenway-Announcer-Death

Carl Beane, known to baseball fans as the "The Voice of Fenway Park," died Wednesday in a single vehicle crash in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, the Worcester County District Attorney's office said in statement.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial (will update)

Jurors began deliberating Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of killing the mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew of entertainer Jennifer Hudson.

Tennessee-Missing-Children (will update)

Federal authorities added the suspect in the kidnapping of four members of a Tennessee family to the FBI's 10 most wanted list Wednesday and added $100,000 to the rewards offered for a break in the case.

California-Police-Beating (will update)

A California judge ordered Wednesday that two Fullerton police officers stand trial in the beating death last year of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with a mental illness.

New-York-Warhol-Double-Elvis (will update)

An Andy Warhol classic named the "Double Elvis (Ferus Type)" is set to hit the auction block Wednesday evening at Sotheby's in Manhattan and could fetch up to $50 million, the auction house said. Auctioning of the silver painting, which shows Elvis Presley in gunslinger pose, is expected to start at 7 p.m. ET.

ENT-Vidal-Sassoon-Obit (will update)

Vidal Sassoon, the legendary hairstylist, died of "apparent natural causes" at his Los Angeles home Wednesday morning, a Los Angeles police spokesman said. He was 84.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STORIES

TOP STORIES

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Marriage

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he supports same-sex marriage, raising the political stakes on an issue in which Americans are evenly split. The announcement, long sought by supporters of same-sex marriage, puts Obama squarely at odds with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

POL-North-Carolina-Marriage

A day after North Carolina became the latest state to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman, opponents of the referendum will gear up for battle Wednesday to overturn it.

Al-Qaeda-Plot

The agent who penetrated al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and returned from Yemen with the group's new "airline bomb" was always under Saudi control and was not a double-agent, two sources briefed by Saudi counterterrorism officials have told CNN.

CNN SHOWCASE

Analysis-Al-Qaeda-Plot

The infiltration of a Middle Eastern terror network by a mole who helped foil a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound plane was a "phenomenal," "brilliant" and "powerful" success, experts said Wednesday. It's unclear how much of the credit should go to the United States or to Saudi Arabia, for whom sources say the mole was working, but both countries have delivered a practical and psychological setback to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, analysts on the region said. Western officials describe that affiliate as al Qaeda's most dangerous.

INTERNATIONAL

Indonesia-Plane

A Russian passenger airliner went missing Wednesday after it disappeared from radar screens over a mountainous region of Indonesia.

Afghanistan-Taliban-Strength

A top coalition official on Wednesday disputed lawmakers' assertions that the Taliban are increasing their strength in Afghanistan. "I'm afraid for the Taliban the evidence is rather different," said British army Lt. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, in a briefing with reporters from Kabul.

Syria-Unrest

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned a bomb blast Wednesday near a convoy of U.N. observers that was entering the southern Syrian city of Daraa.

Israel-Politics

The Israeli parliament approved Wednesday by a vote of 71-23 a coalition agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition Kadima party of Shaul Mofaz. After the vote, Mofaz took the oath of office. He will serve as minister without portfolio and deputy prime minister.

Pakistan-Gilani

With his fate at home hanging in the balance, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani repudiated U.S. claims that Pakistan was falling short on fighting the war on terrorism and said instead that his nation was operating on a trust deficit with Washington.

UK-Abu-Qatada

The European Court of Human Rights will not intervene again to stop Britain from deporting Abu Qatada, whom the British accuse of being a terrorist fundraiser and an inspiration to one of the hijackers on September 11, 2001, the court said Wednesday.

Greece-Elections

Greek politicians failed to forge a coalition government Wednesday as a leftist leader huddled separately with two of his counterparts who've supported the austerity initiatives he opposes.

Ukraine-Hunger-Strike

A former Ukrainian prime minister was transferred to a hospital for treatment Wednesday, a day after she agreed to end her nearly three-week hunger strike, her spokeswoman said.

Portugal-Holidays

Portugal is eliminating four holidays to try to boost its economy, the government announced -- but only after getting the agreement of the Vatican.

UK-Queen's-Speech

Queen Elizabeth II laid out the British government's plans for the coming year in a speech Wednesday marked by pomp and tradition.

Bangladesh-Clinton-Comments

A senior Bangladeshi minister has said that comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the globally acclaimed microlender Grameen Bank and its founder were "unwarranted."

Venezuela-Chavez-Health

A year ago Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez informed the country of his health woes. A year later, the battle hasn't stopped.

Venezuela-Chavez-Health-Timeline

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is battling cancer. Health problems began to pop up for him a year ago. Here are some key dates, according to government statements, local media accounts and CNN reporting.

Ibori-MPA

The arrest of a Nigerian politician who deposited millions of dollars of stolen money in UK accounts has raised questions about the role of British banks in corruption.

Latin-America-Twitter-Politics

Twitter has been adopted by politicians and supporters alike, but recent controversies in Argentina and Mexico question whether some groups have crossed a line.

MONEY-Spanish-Bonds

Borrowing costs rose in Spain Wednesday, with the 10-year yield crossing the 6% mark for the first time in two weeks amid rising concerns about the banking sector.

SPORT-football-europa-cup-final-bilbao-madrid

Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the all-Spanish final of the Europa League in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

SPORT-tennis-madrid-open-nadal-blue

Rafael Nadal easily progressed to the third round of the Madrid Open after beating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

SPORT-olympics-tickets-london-2012

British sports fans who struck out twice trying to land Olympic tickets will get a third chance starting Friday.

SPORT-sarah-outen-pacific

Rowing across the Pacific Ocean may hardly seem comparable to achieving success in the humdrum daily grind of an office desk job.

SPORT-mount-everest-olympics-cool

In 1922 a team of British explorers set off on a historic first attempt to climb the world's highest mountain. They never reached the top of Mount Everest, but their incredible feat of scaling within 2,000 feet of the summit was considered so groundbreaking they were each awarded an Olympic gold medal. Bowed but unbroken, climber Lt. Col. Edward Strutt made a pledge that at the very next opportunity one of the gold medals would be taken to the top of the world -- the summit his team never saw.

SPORT-motorsport-f1-stewart-pirelli-tires

When Jackie Stewart speaks about driver safety in Formula One, it's worth listening. The racing legend was a pioneer in raising standards in an era when mortality rates were high, and his legacy has left F1 stars with greater support than ever before.

U.S.A.

Tennessee-Missing-Children

Federal authorities added the suspect in the kidnapping of four members of a Tennessee family to the FBI's 10 most wanted list Wednesday and added $100,000 to the rewards offered for a break in the case.

Illinois-Hudson-Murder-Trial

Jurors began deliberating Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of killing the mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew of entertainer Jennifer Hudson.

California-Police-Beating

A California judge ordered Wednesday that two Fullerton police officers stand trial in the beating death last year of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with a mental illness.

Pennsylvania-Sandusky-Trial

An attorney for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged last year with more than 50 counts involving sexual acts with minors, asked Wednesday for his client's June 5 trial to be delayed.

Michigan-Kilpatrick-SEC

Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former treasurer got more than $125,000 in free travel and entertainment from an investment firm that made $3 million handling city pension funds, federal regulators said Wednesday.

New-York-Accidental-Calls

A "pocket dial" mistake can result in an unwanted phone call, annoying for the recipient and potentially embarrassing to the caller. But a new study found a staggering number of those apparently accidental calls in New York City are made to emergency responders, jamming up 911 lines in a city that has prided itself on its ability to respond in a crisis.

New-York-Warhol-Double-Elvis

An Andy Warhol classic named the "Double Elvis (Ferus Type)" is set to hit the auction block Wednesday evening at Sotheby's in Manhattan and could fetch up to $50 million, the auction house said. Auctioning of the silver painting, which shows Elvis Presley in gunslinger pose, is expected to start at 7 p.m. ET.

Florida-Supremacists-Arrests

Ten members of a white supremacist group are arrested in Florida. Police documents say they were plotting disruptions in an effort to attract new members. They were also preparing for a race war, police documents say

California-Planes-Threats

Two Southwest Airlines flights from Orange County, California, to Phoenix were the subject of security scares Tuesday night -- and authorities are investigating whether the incidents are linked.

Florida-Teen-Shooting

Interim Sanford Police Chief Richard Myers says neighborhood watch programs deserve a "good, hard look at who is selected and who volunteers."

US-F-22-Testimony

The Air Force won't take disciplinary action against pilots who've raised concerns about or refused to fly F-22 Raptors because of reports of cockpit oxygen deprivation, an Air Force official told a Senate panel Tuesday, saying they're covered by a federal whistleblower act.

US-F-22-Mystery

Even as the Air Force searches for the reason pilots are getting sick flying the F-22, a new mystery about the troubled stealth fighter jet has come to light: Why are mechanics on the ground getting sick in the plane as well? The Air Force has been looking into a number of reports that pilots experienced "hypoxia-like symptoms" aboard F-22s since April 2008. Hypoxia is oxygen deficiency. The Air Force reports 25 cases of such systems, including 11 since September, when the service cleared the F-22 fleet to return to flight after a four-month grounding.

TRAVEL-Summer-Flight-Forecast

Passengers on U.S. airlines this summer will stand a good chance of finding the seat next to them occupied. The industry group Airlines for America, or A4A, released its summer travel forecast Wednesday. "We are projecting slightly fuller flights driven in part by a record number of international travelers," A4A Vice President and Chief Economist John Heimlich predicted in a conference call with reporters. "Over the course of the summer, we expect 206.2 million passengers to travel globally on U.S. airlines."

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE COVERAGE

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Marriage

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he supports same-sex marriage, raising the political stakes on an issue in which Americans are evenly split. The announcement, long sought by supporters of same-sex marriage, puts Obama squarely at odds with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. "At a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," Obama said in an interview with ABC News.

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Reactions

Politicians and celebrities were quick to weigh in on Twitter over news of U.S. President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage. Here are some reactions: Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) "Thank you President @BarackObama for your beautiful and brave words. I'm overwhelmed." "Glee" actress Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) "Pretty darn happy today. Thanks Mr President, for supporting the dignity of my family and so many others!"

POL-Romney-Same-Sex-Marriage

Mitt Romney reaffirmed his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, hours after the Wednesday announcement by President Barack Obama in support of same-sex marriage.

POL-Obama-Religious-Reaction

U.S. President Barack Obama's endorsement of gay marriage on Wednesday outraged conservative Christian leaders, who vowed to use it as an organizing tool in the 2012 elections, but the move is also activating the liberal base, raising big questions about who gains and loses politically.

COMMENTARY-stanley-same-sex-marriage

President Barack Obama has endorsed same-sex marriage. Will it make any difference to the battle for marriage equality? The news coming out of North Carolina suggests not. The Tar Heelers on Tuesday voted 61% to 39% to amend their constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. Actually, they've gone much further. The new amendment prohibits any kind of same-sex unions, including the relatively innocuous option of civil partnership.

COMMENTARY-Kaiser-Obama-Same-Sex-Marriage

President Barack Obama's blockbuster announcement that he is in favor of full marriage equality is the most courageous thing he has done since he entered the White House three and a half years ago.

POLITICS

POL-Indiana-senate-general

With longtime Republican Sen. Dick Lugar going down in defeat, Democrats were quick to paint the conservative candidate who beat him in Indiana's primary as "too extreme." The result in Indiana was what Democrats had hoped for, but as the old proverb goes: "Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true." Lugar is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate and is known as a moderate who has been willing to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats during his 36 years in the chamber. He was defeated by more than 20 points in Tuesday's primary by Richard Mourdock, the two-term Indiana state treasurer, a much more conservative candidate who enjoyed strong backing from local and national tea party groups, as well as some other leading fiscal conservative organizations.

POL-Mourdock-Senate-Compromise

Fresh off his Republican primary victory Tuesday, Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said he doesn't anticipate successful compromise in the Senate and hopes bipartisanship will be defined as Democrats backing the Republican agenda following the 2012 elections.

POL-Lugar-Senate-Center

Richard Lugar's landslide loss in Tuesday's Indiana Republican primary isn't just a 36-year veteran getting tossed out of office before he wanted to go. It's also the latest blow to the political center in an increasingly polarized Senate.

POL-Hatch-Utah-Senate

While Richard Mourdock knocked out the Senate's most senior Republican in Tuesday's Indiana primary, a GOP candidate in Utah is hoping to do the same to the second longest-serving Senate Republican: Orrin Hatch.

POL-Montana-Senate-Ad

A new ad from the Rep. Denny Rehberg, the Republican Senate candidate in Montana, attempts to negatively tie his Democratic rival, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, to President Barack Obama.

POL-Romney-Obama-Energy

Standing atop oil-rich land and before an active well, Mitt Romney criticized President Barack Obama's policies on oil and gas energy in a Wednesday speech.

POL-Paul-Explains-Goals

With the last of Mitt Romney's former presidential rivals now backing the likely presidential nominee, there is one candidate who hasn't quit the race -- and doesn't foresee lending his support to Romney any time soon.

MONEY

MONEY-Bofa-Protests

Hundreds of protesters decamped outside Bank of America's corporate headquarters in downtown Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday for the bank's annual shareholder meeting.

MONEY-China-Banks-Us-Expansion

The Federal Reserve gave three state-owned Chinese banks its stamp of approval Thursday to expand their presence in the United States. The central bank accepted an application from Industrial and Commerce Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), along with China Investment Corporation and Central Huijin Investment, to become bank holding companies by purchasing up to an 80% stake in New York-based Bank of East Asia U.S.A. The approval marks the first time the Fed has allowed any large Chinese bank to purchase a U.S. bank, and it could boost merger and acquisition activity "as Chinese banks may look to acquire regional banks in order to establish a U.S. footprint," said Guggenheim senior policy analyst Jaret Seiberg, in a research note.

MONEY-Volcker-Banks

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker told lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday that the big banks are too big, but he stopped short of endorsing measures that force the banks to be broken up.

MONEY-Stocks

U.S. stocks bounced back somewhat from a sharp sell-off Wednesday, but all three major indexes closed in the red as investors continue to fret about Greece and Spain.

MONEY-Aol-Earnings

AOL will give 100% of the proceeds from its $1 billion patent sale "directly back to shareholders," CEO Tim Armstrong said Wednesday, but the details are still being worked out.

MONEY-Fannie-Mae-Earnings

Mortgage backer Fannie Mae reported the best quarterly results since before the housing meltdown, saying it did not need additional billions in tax funds for the quarter and that it believes losses on past mortgages peaked at the end of last year.

MONEY-Toyota-Earnings

Toyota Motor took a step in putting recent problems behind it Wednesday, reporting a big jump in quarterly earnings and predicting a bigger profit for the fiscal year recently underway.

MONEY-Disney-Earnings

To infinity -- or at least, $45 -- and beyond! Shares of Walt Disney Co. passed their all-time high after the company reported strong earnings growth Tuesday, driven by rising revenues at ESPN, and promised to capitalize on the runaway success of "The Avengers."

MONEY-Cisco-Earnings

Shares of Cisco tumbled after the networking giant released a disappointing sales outlook for the current quarter.

MONEY-Oil-Prices

Oil prices extended their slide Wednesday, shedding an additional 0.7% amid renewed concerns about Europe and the global economy.

MONEY-Postal-Service

The U.S. Postal Service is backing off a previous plan to close thousands of post offices, and will instead cut hours at 13,000 rural facilities in an effort to save $500 million a year.

MONEY-Home-Prices

Ten hard-hit housing markets will record double-digit price increases through 2013, according to a report Wednesday.

MONEY-Att-Verizon-Apple

Over the past several years, Apple has arguably gotten the better end of its iPhone partnership with the carriers -- but right now, it's the telecoms that have investors more excited.

MONEY-Chase-Prepaid-Card

JPMorgan Chase wants a piece of the booming prepaid card business.

MONEY-Yahoo-Ceo-Resume-Reactions

Shock over the news that Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson padded his resume with an embellished college degree quickly gave way to two questions: How the hell did this happen? And what should Yahoo, which went through three CEOs in three years, do about it?

MONEY-Private-School-Financial-Aid

Private schools are getting flooded with financial aid applications, and a growing number of the parents seeking help are earning $150,000 or more a year.

MONEY-Natural-Gas-Diesel

Near-record low natural gas prices have hurt the industry, but a technology that can turn cheap gas into more profitable diesel could keep demand high and mitigate the impact of falling costs.

MONEY-Facebook-Tax-Bill

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg won't be the only one collecting billions from Facebook's initial public offering: Uncle Sam and the state of California are also poised to cash in big.

FEATURES

ENT-Vidal-Sassoon-Obit

Vidal Sassoon, the legendary hairstylist, died of "apparent natural causes" at his Los Angeles home Wednesday morning, a Los Angeles police spokesman said. He was 84.

ENT-Kelley-Gupta-TNT

A medical drama pilot from CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has won over the execs at TNT: The network has picked up the show, which Gupta worked on with producer David E. Kelley, for a first season.

ENT-Tom-Gabel-Transgender-RollingStone

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel opens up on being transgender and shares her plans to transition from a man to a woman. The punk rocker has been privately struggling with gender dysphoria, and will soon start taking hormones and receiving electrolysis treatments, Rolling Stone reports.

ENT-Avengers-Tom-Hiddleston

After two movies playing Thor's villainous brother Loki - most recently in the record-breaking blockbuster "The Avengers" - Tom Hiddleston says the chances are "very high indeed" that the character will return in "Thor 2." (As for the just-announced "Avengers" sequel, that's still anyone's guess.) The actor's fan base - the "Hiddlestoners" - has grown exponentially since "Thor" and "War Horse," and audiences raving about the film have seen that Hiddleston was up to the task of taking on multiple superheroes. But out of all of them, he particularly enjoyed going toe-to-toe with Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow.

ENT-Kelly-Osbourne-Baby-Fever

Kelly Osbourne might soon be tempted to follow in her brother Jack's footsteps and right into parenthood. The "Fashion Police" co-host has said that she's been wanting a little one of her own ever since she met her newborn niece, Pearl, two weeks ago. "I've got baby fever after I saw [her]," the new aunt said Wednesday on Anderson Cooper's daytime show, "Anderson." Little Pearl Clementine was born on April 24.

ENT-Johnny-Depp-Willy-Wonka

Johnny Depp has made a career out of playing quirky characters - there's Edward Scissorhands, the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow and now the vampire Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows." But it turns out the inspiration behind one of his most memorable roles - Willy Wonka in 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - came from someone who once occupied the Oval Office. The actor spilled the beans on "Ellen" Tuesday, saying his zany character in the remake of the 1971 classic "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" was actually modeled, in part, after former President Bush.

TRAVEL-airport-security-bomb-plot

A foiled plot to sneak a bomb through airport checkpoints and onto a plane bound for the United States calls attention to gaps in screening measures that are supposed to detect threats airport metal detectors miss. Outside the United States, the controversial body-scanning technology is not widely used, security experts say. But they say it is the best way to detect plastic explosives hidden on people boarding airplanes.

TRAVEL-kittiwake-cayman-dive-site

The water is so clear you can see it from the surface. It's the Cayman Islands' newest tourist attraction, the USS Kittiwake.

US-NASA-Super-Earth

For the first time, light coming directly from a "super-Earth" planet outside our solar system has been detected.

US-What-happened-to-modest-prom-dresses?

The sparkly, sequined prom gowns that many of us remember from the 90s -- like the Glamour Shots that sometimes accompanied them -- might not have been the prettiest. But most were pretty modest compared to what some young promgoers have been squeezing themselves into this year. At David's Bridal, there's a prom dress line categorized as "Sexy," and it's accounting for about 35 percent of the retail chain's sales, according to the Wall Street Journal. Low-cut backs, high-cut hemlines, and skin-showing cutouts define the style. Clothing retailer AMIClubwear, self-described as "the positive place for girls," has options that would positively trouble more conservative fathers. The company throws revealing and tight styles into its mix of party dresses. Factor in the racier options at other retailers like promgirl.com and Jovani, and you have a veritable runway of the risqué. There's no doubt that the dresses offered have broad appeal to some of today's high school students; after all, demand drives the market. But their schools are implementing dress codes to ensure certain garments aren't worn.

US-Exploring-the-universe-in-high-school

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week this week, we're asking our colleagues at CNN to share their stories of teachers who have inspired them. Elizabeth Landau, a writer/producer for CNN.com, writes about wxploring the universe in high school.

MED-state-world-mothers-report

There is a little good news for mothers in the United States. The U.S. has only moved up six places -- from 31st to 25th -- in the annual Save The Children State of the World's Mothers report. That puts the U.S. right between Belarus and the Czech Republic. Norway is No. 1, just ahead of Iceland and Sweden.

MED-Human-Factor-Paralyzed-Teen

In the Human Factor, we profile survivors who have overcome the odds. Confronting a life obstacle -- injury, illness or other hardship -- they tapped their inner strength and found resilience they didn't know they possessed. This week Krystal Greco, 16, shares her story about pursuing her passion despite a life-changing injury -- from horseback-riding to a wheelchair and back.

TECH-abraham-lincoln-facebook

To quote "The Social Network," if Abraham Lincoln had invented Facebook, he would have invented Facebook. But in a tall tale that would have made the Great Emancipator proud, a blog post saying that he did just that was making the rounds Wednesday. And some online media outlets were quick to take the bait.

TECH-social-media-parents-netiquette

Maternity-leave laws aside, now is a pretty awesome time to be a new parent. Anyone with the Internet can get advice, connect with other parents and share photos and updates with interested parties in real time. (Think about it: Twenty years ago, it'd be much easier to feel isolated when you were at home all day with a little blinking infant who couldn't do much other than sleep, poop and cry.)

TECH-zuckerberg-hoodie-wall-street

Facebook has raked in billions and will make a splash when its stock hits the open market next week. So, what are folks on Wall Street concerned about? Mark Zuckerberg's hoodie, apparently.

TECH-Bioshock-Infinite

What was arguably the most anticipated video game of 2012 just became one of the most anticipated games for 2013. Irrational Games and Take Two announced Wednesday that "BioShock Infinite" will be delayed four months to allow developers more time to make tweaks to the game. The third installment in a popular horror series, set in a dystopian undersea universe, will now be released on February 23, 2013, instead of this coming October as previously scheduled.

Rothko-Christies-Art-Record

One week after Edvard Munch's "The Scream" shattered art auction records, Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" has broken the price ceiling for a work of contemporary art: $87 million.

Queen-Elizabeth-Biography

A biography of Elizabeth II, a young queen who grew into a modern monarch.

FEA-DiCamillo-on-Sendak

Maurice Sendak, who died yesterday at age 83, illustrated almost 100 books. Children's author Kate DiCamillo learned to read using Sendak's illustrations as a guide.

FEA-Water-Cooler-Etiquette

It's time for some water cooler talk -- etiquette

FEA-Blonde-Brownie-Day

Hey, Blondie! You know what May 9 is? It's National Blonde Brownie Day!

COMMENTARY-navarrette-police-brutality

As evidenced by media stories and public awareness campaigns, Americans have resolved to get tough on bullying. In that spirit, it's time to send a message to bullies with badges.We need to tell police who prey on the vulnerable: "No more! When you pile on a suspect and beat him to death, we will treat you just like any other alleged criminal. We will arrest you and prosecute you. And if convicted, you will go to prison for a very long time. We will make an example out of you so that other police officers will think twice before abusing their power." The messenger could be the jury that will hear the case against two police officers in Fullerton, California, a city about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles. A judge ruled Wednesday that the officers will stand trial in the beating death last July of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man afflicted with schizophrenia.

COMMENTARY-stanley-same-sex-marriage

Historian Timothy Stanley asks whether same-sex marriage too radical for America?

COMMENTARY-hoover-GOP-support-gay-marriage

In GOP, support for same-sex marriage is growing, says CNN political contributor Margaret Hoover.

COMMENTARY-Career-Permanent-Beta-Hoffman-Casnocha

Keeping your career in "permanent beta" means continuous growth, say Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha.

COMMENTARY-sachs-global-children's-health

Global health is within our grasp, if we don't give up, says Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University

COMMENTARY-Bennett-Obama-campaign

Obama's 'Life of Julia' is the wrong vision for America, says CNN contributor William J. Bennett.


LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The outlook is for guidance only, not for publication.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



Copyright 2012 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved



575 of 2061 DOCUMENTS



CNN Wire


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 2:38 PM EST


Super PAC's multi-million dollar Mother's day ad


BYLINE: By Gregory Wallace, CNN


LENGTH: 336 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- This Mother's Day, the primary super PAC supporting Mitt Romney doesn't want swing voters to forget what some Democrats have said about the candidate's wife, Ann.

A new ad by Restore Our Future plays back comments critical of Romney by Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Hilary Rosen, as well as comedian Bill Maher.

"Ann Romney raised five boys. She successfully battled breast cancer and multiple sclerosis," the ad juxtapositions against Rosen's comment that Romney "has actually never worked a day in her life," and Maher's crude assertion that she has never been "out of the house."

Rosen apologized for the comments, which had drawn rebuke from candidate Romney and President Barack Obama, as well as prominent Democrats and Republicans alike. Prior to Rosen's comments in early April, Maher penned a mid-March opinion article proposing a day of "amnesty... on every made-up, fake, totally insincere, playacted hurt, insult, slight and affront."

Restore Our Future draws a line from the comments to their opponents, wishing "Happy Mother's Day from Barack Obama's team."

In a Tuesday interview, Romney said that Democrats are seeking to portray Republicans as not caring "about any dimension of our society," which is "simply misguided and wrong and dishonest."

"This effort to describe Republicans as being anything other than extraordinarily pro-women, pro-opportunity for women of America, pro working moms, pro working women, that kind of effort is missing mark," he said on Fox News.

The ad will air in nine battleground states as part of a $4.3 million buy which includes another ad showcasing Romney's help in finding the missing daughter of a colleague over a decade ago.

A recent survey conducted by the Wesleyan Media Project found that 70% of ads aired in this presidential campaign have been negative, a number fueled in part by "the involvement of interest groups." Restore Our Future, like other groups, spent millions in the Republican primary bolstering Romney and bashing his opponents.


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May 9, 2012 Wednesday 12:13 PM EST


Obama's 'Life of Julia' is the wrong vision for America


BYLINE: By William J. Bennett, CNN Contributor


LENGTH: 829 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


Editor's note: William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, is the author of "The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood." He was U.S. secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush.

(CNN) -- Last week, President Obama's campaign launched a fictional storybook ad called, "The Life of Julia." The slide show narrative follows Julia, a cartoon character, from age 3 to age67 and explains how Obama's policies, from Head Start to Obamacare to mandated contraception coverage to Medicare reform, would provide Julia with a better life than Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan could.

Julia is not your typical all-American girl, but an obviously independent, yuppie liberal woman. She goes to public school, graduates college, and becomes a Web designer. She is able to pursue her career because, at age 27, "her health insurance is required to cover birth control and preventive care, letting Julia focus on her work rather than worry about her health."

At age 31 she "decides to have a child," with no mention of a father or husband. Her son Zachary heads off to a Race to the Top funded public school, while Julia goes on to start her own Web business. She retires at age 67 with Social Security and Medicare supporting her financially and spends her later years volunteering in a community garden.

Julia's happily-ever-after tale is remarkably void of reality. Nowhere in her fictional life is it mentioned that Head Start has done little, if anything, to improve elementary education, that she will likely graduate with $25,000 in student loan debt, that she has a 50% chance of being unemployed or underemployed after college, that Medicare and Social Security are headed toward insolvency, and that her share of the national debt is $50,000 and growing.

For Republicans, Julia's story might seem like a joke too good to be true, but they should take it very seriously. Because buried within "The Life of Julia" is the ideological vision of modern liberalism -- to create a state that takes care of its people from cradle to grave. The story of Julia is a microcosm of Obama's vision for America and emblematic of his view of the government's role in an individual's life.

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"The Life of Julia" has done what many conservatives have failed to do so far -- outline in exacting detail what modern Democratic policy wants for individuals. Here we have Obama's 21st century synthesis of the Great Society, New Deal and New Frontier.

Julia's entire life is defined by her interactions with the state. Government is everywhere and each step of her life is tied to a government program. Notably absent in her story is any relationship with a husband, family, church or community, except a "community" garden where she works post-retirement. Instead, the state has taken their place and is her primary relationship.

As banal and hackneyed as Julia's life of government dependence may seem, many Americans support it. After all, similar promises lured a number of European countries into overreaching and under-supported social safety nets. With the American family less intact than ever and with single motherhood at historic highs, women like Julia are increasingly left on their own. The idea of government assistance can become more and more attractive to them and even necessary.

Democratic policymakers realize that in the absence of self-sustaining family units, government can step in and fill the void. And a government large enough to fill that void can eventually take the place of the family altogether. Cultural commentator Heather Mac Donald recently wrote, "The single mother has become the cornerstone of Democratic politics." Julia is the perfect example.

In response, conservatives must defend their own cornerstones -- individual liberty, virtue and earned success. Conservatives must make the case that earned success is preferable to government dependency, and that Julia is more likely to achieve success and fulfillment in a good, stable family. As families grow stronger, schools, churches and communities improve, and Julia's chances for success improve, both for herself and her son. But as government grows larger and more intrusive, Julia's personal liberty and opportunities may shrink.

Whatever pleasure Republicans may get from jokes or parodies of Julia, the fact is that many women will choose her life, some out of necessity or believing it's necessary. "The Life of Julia" should make it obvious that this election is about more than offering Julia a better job and more benefits. Conservatives must be able to provide Julia an alternative vision for a better future. Without it, Julia might have nowhere else to turn but to the government, and that is nothing to laugh about.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett.


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May 9, 2012 Wednesday 12:45 AM EST


Analysis: Lugar's grassroots withered


BYLINE: By Alan Silverleib, CNN


LENGTH: 1099 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON (CNN)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Richard Lugar had it all -- a sterling global reputation, bipartisan respect, a fat campaign bank account and 36 years of Senate experience.

But somewhere along the line he forgot Tip O'Neill's old axiom: all politics is local.

On Tuesday, that mistake cost Lugar his career. The 80-year-old pillar of Washington's foreign policy establishment lost his Indiana GOP primary battle to a younger, hungrier and more politically attuned conservative challenger, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

The venerable senator's finished. Chalk up another win for the tea party.

Lugar "served too long," said Republican pollster Christine Matthews, who did public opinion research for the race. "We're in a new era. He never adapted."

The list of conservative complaints against Lugar has grown over the last several years, a period coinciding with an aggressive campaign to rid the GOP of officeholders who fail to march in lockstep with the party's ideological activists. Lugar voted for Obama Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, advocated a hike in the gas tax, backed immigration reform, opposed an earmark spending ban and supported the financial and auto industry bailouts.

He was the Senate GOP's most prominent supporter of a new arms control treaty with Russia, America's "number one geopolitical foe," according to Mitt Romney. 

Lugar was once called Obama's favorite Republican senator, a fact Mourdock's campaign repeated endlessly. With friends like that, conservatives asked, who needs enemies?

"It all adds up," said GOP pollster John McLaughlin, who helped Lugar in the past but is working for Mourdock this time. It "goes against (Indiana primary voters') conservative values."

Lugar's "campaign was not very nimble or adept at responding to some of the charges against him," one Indiana Republican operative said. "You have to react and you have to pivot" when challenged. There was "a failure to remind people what Dick Lugar has done for this state, this country, and this world."

To the end, Lugar kept the support of establishment Republican leaders like Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Arizona Sen. John McCain. But insurgent icons like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum flocked to Mourdock's banner.

Perhaps more importantly, outside conservative groups like FreedomWorks and Club for Growth poured pro-Mourdock ad money into the state, obliterating what once would have been considered an insurmountable financial advantage for Lugar.

None of that may have happened, however, if Lugar had paid more attention to Indiana Republicans in recent years. Most analysts contacted by CNN reached the same conclusion: Lugar's defeat is as much a reflection of the political weakness of a globetrotting elder statesman who failed to maintain ties with the folks back home as it is a sign of tea party strength.

Mourdock is "the uber-accessible guy," the operative noted. "Any (state party) event you go to, there should be a Mourdock name tag printed out because chances are he's showing up. ... He's at every chili cook-off imaginable."

The operative noted that Lugar rarely if ever showed up to local Republican Party events in recent years. Not coincidentally, the overwhelming majority of local GOP officials backed Mourdock.

There was a feeling among the GOP's county chairmen that Lugar is "too big for us, and he's too good for us," Matthews said.

In contrast, the operative said, Indiana's other GOP senator, Dan Coats, assiduously courted grassroots activists and local party leaders when he decided to return to elected office in Indiana after more than a decade working as a diplomat and a Washington lobbyist. While Coats wasn't a tea party favorite when he won the GOP nod in 2010, his hard work on the local level helped him beat back a primary challenge from a couple of candidates more strongly favored by conservatives.

A number of analysts said Lugar should have followed the lead of Senate colleague Orrin Hatch, who committed significant time and resources to his own renomination fight this year. Two years ago, Hatch saw fellow Utah Sen. Robert Bennett lose his GOP nomination battle to political newcomer Mike Lee. Bennett, a fairly conservative three-term Senate veteran, failed to see the tea party storm coming in 2010 and paid the price at that year's Utah GOP convention.

After Bennett's loss, Hatch furiously cultivated the support of local activists. In April, he won the support of an overwhelming majority of delegates at the state convention. He is now expected to easily win his primary and roll to victory in the general election.

For many Indiana Republicans, a controversy earlier this year over Lugar's residence crystallized the perception that he had abandoned them. Lugar, who actually has lived in northern Virginia since the sale of his Indianapolis home in 1977, was forced to beat back a ballot eligibility challenge based on the location of his current home.

Lugar successfully argued that Indiana's constitution only required him to maintain a physical residence in the state during his first campaign. Politically, however, the damage was done. At one point, Lugar admitted he wasn't even sure what address was on his Indiana driver's license.

Indiana politics, the operative noted, has a long history of residency-based ballot access controversies. Coats faced a similar challenge when he returned to the state to run for Senate in 2010.

"In and of itself, I don't think it would have worked," the operative said. But Lugar is "casting these (controversial) votes because he's never here and doesn't hear us." The residency issue was more potent this time around "because it fits the overall narrative."

The challenge to Lugar's residency, McLaughlin told CNN, "was saying he's really gone to Washington and doesn't even live here anymore." Why, he wondered, didn't Lugar "just buy a condo?"

Two-thirds of primary voters in Mourdock's campaign polls said Lugar has been in Washington too long and is out of touch with Hoosier values, McLaughlin added. Mourdock, in contrast, has pledged to serve only two terms in Washington.

Mourdock also maintained a "respectful" tone while challenging the veteran senator, McLaughlin added.

Mourdock "stood up in (his) one debate (with Lugar) and was credible," Matthews said. He may have been the favorite of the most conservative voters, but "nobody could say he's a whack job."

Now Mourdock is probably going to Washington. And Lugar, a hero of the Washington establishment, is headed home, wherever that is.


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May 9, 2012 Wednesday 12:14 AM EST


Longest-serving GOP senator loses primary fight


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 842 words


DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS (CNN)


INDIANAPOLIS (CNN) -- The Senate's longest-serving Republican became the latest casualty of the struggle between the GOP's conservatives and moderates as a tea party-backed challenger beat Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar in Tuesday's primary.

Lugar conceded the race about an hour after the polls closed Tuesday evening, telling supporters that he congratulated State Treasurer Richard Mourdock on "a hard-fought race."

Mourdock will face Democrat Joe Donnelly in November in a contest the nonpartisan Cook Political Report calls safely Republican.

"I want to see a Republican in the White House. I want to see my friend Mitch McConnell have a Republican majority in the Senate," Lugar said. "I hope that Richard Mourdock prevails in November so he can contribute to that Republican majority."

Lugar was first elected in 1976 and had sought a seventh term. But with more than 85,000 votes counted statewide, Mourdock was leading Lugar 64%-36%, state election returns show.

Meanwhile, CNN also projects former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the party's presumptive nominee, will win the Indiana's Republican presidential primary. All but one of Romney's rivals, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, have dropped out of the race.

The 80-year-old Lugar is the former chairman and current ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is widely regarded as a leading voice on international affairs, particularly on nuclear proliferation. But he drew the ire of the tea party and other conservatives who criticized him as a lukewarm conservative, for voting for the 2008 bank bailout and for supporting President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominees.

That record drew him into one of the nastiest and most expensive congressional races in the nation -- one Democrats gleefully called a "tea party war." Tea party activists and other conservatives threw their support behind Mourdock, who led Lugar by 10 percentage points in pre-election polling.

Lugar's campaign accused Mourdock of running a highly negative campaign funded primarily by special interest groups outside the state and of "bullying" Indiana voters. Mourdock's campaign painted Lugar as as an unreliable conservative and highlighted the fact that Lugar has not lived in Indiana since 1977.

As voters trooped to the polls, Lugar told CNN that he was one of the bright spots in a body many see dimly.

"The public as a whole may be unhappy with one party or the other, but they're very unhappy with the Congress as a whole for their inability to make decisions," Lugar said. "I'm a person who makes sure we do get on with it, that there is progress, and with personal vigor I argue with people.

"I try to persuade people, I try to get votes on issues, and I hope to continue to do that," he said.

On Friday, Lugar called his opponent "unqualified to handle the complex situations in our world today." He warned the state's GOP voters, "Do not elect an unqualified person to serve in the Senate if you anticipate that you're serious about jobs and the security of our country and, as a matter of fact, cutting spending and the budget."

But in a final ad released Friday, Mourdock said Lugar "has spent thousands of dollars telling you things about me that he knows are not true."

"He thinks this campaign's about me, but it's not. It's not about him either. It's about America's future," Mourdock added.

Lugar told CNN on Tuesday he knew "that we had a campaign from the beginning," but believed his conservative credentials were strong.

"Whenever the president has called for me to come to the White House for consultation, either by myself or with others, I have come," Lugar said. "He has not frequently taken my advice, but I give it as an American. I think it's very important that the president hear the point of view of foreign policy that I've studied, and believe it's very important."

But he noted that he had 100% ratings from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The fight pitted moderate Republicans against the more conservative wing of the party. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party's last presidential nominee, endorsed Lugar, while McCain running mate Sarah Palin came out for Mourdock.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee billed the contest a "tea party war" and decried what it called "the cannibalization of Dick Lugar" in a statement issued Monday. Super PACS spent $4.6 million to exacerbate the fight, with outside groups spending nearly $3 million to support Mourdock.

The conservative Club for Growth has spent nearly $1.5 million attacking Lugar in support of Mourdock; tea party sponsor FreedomWorks' super PAC has spent $646,000, and the National Rifle Association's NRA of America Political Victory Fund has spent $525,000, according to estimates from the Federal Election Commission and figures from the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

Super PACs supporting Lugar or opposing Mourdock have spent $1.8 million on the race.

CNN's Dana Bash and Shannon Travis contributed to this report.


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Creators Syndicate


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Moderates Only Look Dead


BYLINE: Steve Chapman


SECTION: MODERATES ONLY LOOK DEAD


LENGTH: 796 words


Moderates, we all hear, are an endangered species. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is the latest to be eliminated. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, announced her retirement in February. Bob Kerrey, a war hero and centrist Democrat who once represented Nebraska in the Senate, is running behind in a comeback bid.

The tea party, by contrast, is flexing its muscles in Indiana, where it helped conservative Richard Mourdock beat the once-invincible Lugar. Rick Santorum, who gave Mitt Romney a strong challenge, is well-positioned for a 2016 bid if Romney loses in November. Voters in North Carolina, which went for Barack Obama in 2008, approved a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions.

With 40 percent of the electorate, Gallup finds, conservatives now represent the biggest ideological group. Only 35 percent of Americans admit to being moderates.

But the center, contrary to what you might conclude, is not vanishing. In fact, it's not too much to say that this year promises the triumph of moderates.

Start with the presidential campaign. Every four years, Republican voters have the chance to send an uncompromising conservative to the White House - and every four years, they pass him up for a more pragmatic option.

In 1996, it was Bob Dole, followed in 2000 by George W. Bush, who insisted he was a "compassionate" (read: moderate) conservative. In 2008, John McCain, who spent much of his career offending the right wing, came out on top. This year, Republicans will nominate someone who previously has endorsed gay rights, abortion rights, gun control and a health insurance mandate.

Romney has done his best to reinvent himself as "severely conservative," but he still comes across as an unconvincing impersonator. He's moderate enough that at one point Santorum said that if Romney is the only alternative to Obama, "we might as well stay with what we have."

He had a point: Obama is not that far from Romney. Newt Gingrich is not alone in excoriating him as "the most radical, leftist president in American history," but that's history as hallucination. _

The most surprising fact about Obama's presidency is its continuity with that of his predecessor - on the auto bailout, the Iraq war, Afghanistan, presidential power and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to name a few.

His 2009 stimulus package was far smaller than liberals wanted and included a large array of tax cuts. His health care reform incorporated concepts once pushed by Republicans, such as an individual mandate. Bruce Bartlett, an economist who served in the Reagan administration, rates the president "moderately conservative."

The evidence of a sharply ideological, polarized citizenry comes mostly from primary elections that are anything but representative. Santorum won the Minnesota caucuses by persuading less than 1 percent of registered voters. When Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, he got less than 10 percent of those registered to vote.

Most Americans don't take part in primary elections. The ones who do tend to have an unusual if not unhealthy degree of interest in politics and abnormally strong opinions.

The defeat of Lugar and same-sex unions this week gives a misleading impression. Indiana tea partiers, who helped Mourdock to victory in the primary, may cost the GOP a Senate seat: Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly, who was trailing Lugar by 21 points in the polls, has been running even against Mourdock.

North Carolinians are not all that unsympathetic to gay couples. A survey by Public Policy Polling found that 53 percent favor granting them access to either marriage or civil unions. But most voters, it found, didn't realize the "marriage amendment" forbids both.

A lot of people who call themselves conservative should call themselves confused. Political scientists Christopher Ellis of Bucknell University and James Stimson of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have determined that only one out of every five professed conservatives actually favors conservative policies on both moral and social welfare issues.

As for the tea party, a New York Times/CBS poll last year found it to be the most disliked of 23 groups respondents were asked about - less popular than Muslims or atheists. The one-time tea party darling, Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, now has an ad publicizing his work with Obama.

The middle of the political road remains important, even if it doesn't get much attention. It brings to mind what Yogi Berra said about one restaurant: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Steve Chapman blogs daily at newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/steve_chapman. To find out more about Steve Chapman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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Creators Syndicate


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Hollywood's Gay Marriage Thank You Card


BYLINE: L. Brent Bozell


SECTION: HOLLYWOOD'S GAY MARRIAGE THANK YOU CARD


LENGTH: 813 words


So Barack Obama declared he's all for "gay marriage." Really, was anyone surprised? Did anyone doubt it? Still, it's official, and Obama is now the rental property of Hollywood. Obama's doing all sorts of fundraisers with Hollywood and Manhattan millionaires and billionaires to get re-elected, the latest at George Clooney's mansion. One of every 6 of his "bundlers" is openly homosexual.

At the start of this drama, Vice President Joe Biden openly declared (accidentally or not) he was entirely comfortable with men marrying men and women marrying women and credited Hollywood. "When things really began to change is when the social culture changes," Biden syntax-garbled on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He added, with a nod toward NBC, "I think 'Will and Grace' probably did more to educate the American public than almost anybody's ever done so far. People fear that which is different. Now they're beginning to understand."

So let's get this straight. Network executives and TV critics and their public-policy defenders have insisted for decades that raunchy TV shows have zero effect on the audience (including young children) and that complainers are paranoid to accuse the networks of promoting a social or sexual agenda. Then, when the president "evolves" to support "gay marriage," the politicians send thank you cards to Tinseltown for "opening the minds" of the masses.

What does he think NBC is? "Masterpiece Theatre"? They began airing "Will and Grace" in 1998 at 9:30 p.m., then moved it into the family hour. These excerpts are examples of the kind of sexual raunch they promoted as comedy and which our vice president presumably considered "educational" for families.

- The most outrageously gay character Jack announced he needed "a new pair of shoes, preferably with a six-foot, gorgeous hunk of man in them." Later, he took Will and Grace's dog for a walk in the park, where he said the dog "checked out butts and I checked out butts."

- Jack joked: "I get a little funny in the tummy around the Washington Monument."

- Jack said he and a boyfriend had agreed to attend the Greenwich Village Halloween parade. "We had a whole Biblical thing planned," Jack explained to Will. "We were gonna go as Adam and Steve." Later, as Jack left for the parade, Will lectured, "Don't put anything in your mouth that isn't wrapped."

On the day Obama proclaimed his change of heart, The New York Times published a promotional front-page article headlined "Gay on TV: It's All In the Family." Readers were treated to "Modern Family" co-creator Christopher Lloyd asserting "What this is about, really, is how far America has come, not how far television has come."

Inside the paper were large pictures of two marrying women on "Grey's Anatomy" and two gay men with their adopted toddler on "Modern Family." In large text, the Times proclaimed, "An implicit recasting of the American family is welcomed by viewers." They claimed complaints "barely ever bubble to the surface."

How desperately did the Times want to hide the traditionalist view? Reporter Brian Stelter claimed "Mitt Romney is known to be a fan of 'Modern Family,' and a Catholic group gave it a media award this month."

But when the Times linked to evidence that Romney loves "Modern Family," their own story only claimed that young Romney aide Garrett Jackson recommended the show to him, and Romney got Jackson hooked on "Friday Night Lights," the canceled high school football drama.

As for the "Catholic" group awarding a pro-gay show, this same "Catholic In Media Associates" (for entertainment industry insiders) had previously honored both "Glee" and "Ugly Betty," two other educational shows promoting homosexuality. If that's a Catholic Church group, then Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are Catholics in good standing, and Kathleen Sebelius hasn't been excommunicated.

The Times writer did not explain one of the reasons gay characters could be portrayed as "welcomed by viewers" is that any audience of any size can be generalized into a groundswell of mainstream support if the press wants it so. Just how much of a blockbuster, how popular, is Fox's "Glee," the current rage of Hollywood? Well, it's drawing six million viewers. What we are to believe is an avalanche. But in a nation of 311 million, that means 98 percent of Americans aren't watching.

Obviously, Hollywood has played a part in eroding America's moral character on "gay marriage." It's about time somebody admitted that Hollywood isn't just persuading people into buying Wrigley's Gum or McDonald's burgers. In between the commercials, they're selling a radical devolution in moral standards.

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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Daily News (New York)


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
SPORTS FINAL EDITION


PICTURE THIS Andy can't wait for his sweet '16


BYLINE: BY KENNETH LOVETT


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6


LENGTH: 457 words


ALBANY - For a day, he was Cuomo-in-Chief. Gov. Cuomo stood alone Tuesday gripping the podium bearing the seal of the President of the United States - giving a glimpse of his possible future as he boasted about New York's progress.

Videographers, photographers and reporters all documented New York's ambitious governor in a red power tie orating behind the most powerful seal on the planet as if he owned it.

He was there to warmly introduce President Obama during a visit to Albany - but don't be shocked if that image is the cornerstone of an ad for a 2016 Cuomo White House run.

After a hug, handshake and backslap - all three pats - Obama shared the love.

He praised Cuomo for doing "outstanding work" in New York - and even shared a ride from the airport in the armored presidential limo, dubbed "The Beast."

Of course he would - Cuomo, whose dad Mario is a former governor who once toyed with a presidential run, is far more popular in the Empire State than the President is.

The son is rising - no matter how hard he's tried to tamp down the talk of a future presidential run buzzing around him.

Cuomo has hustled to stay out of the national limelight - avoiding all network TV interviews - for fear too much focus on his future could hurt his ability to govern in the present.

For point of emphasis, he's made it clear he wants a minor role at Obama's beauty pageant in Charlotte this summer - also known as the Democratic National Convention.

But for a day, he enjoyed every moment in the spotlight.

He thought big picture: reveling in the moment without attacking Republicans - which could have hurt his cooperative relationship with the New York GOP.

Obama - with his message of hope and change dead and buried in his grudge match with Mitt Romney - went petty: bashing congressional GOPers.

Cuomo used his praise of Obama - his most effusive to date - to highlight New York's economic recovery while he's been governor.

He reminded about the 2008 economic meltdown to declare:

"Mr. President, there is no doubt that today is a much different day and that your leadership has brought this nation through the storm."

He quickly turned to what he dubbed New York's upswing.

"Mr. President, we are on the other side, we are building a new New York and ... this New York is open for business."

No shots, no digs, no excuses.

He hailed the success of the SUNY Albany Nanotechnology complex, which Obama came to visit.

"We are building semiconductors made in the U.S.A. and exported all around the world. Doesn't that sound great?"

"Mr. President, I can promise you this: because of your great leadership, this state is not going backward ... this state is going forward."

Expect to hear a lot more of that stump speech in four years.

klovett@nydailynews.com


LOAD-DATE: May 16, 2012


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GRAPHIC: Andrew Cuomo welcomed President Obama to Albany on Tuesday (inset), but the governor looked right at home while speaking at podium with the famous presidential seal. Photos by AP


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The Frontrunner


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


RNC Official Says Romney "Still Deciding" Stance On Immigration


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 804 words


Politico (5/8, Gibson, 25K) reports that in a briefing with reporters yesterday, RNC Hispanic Outreach Director Bettina Incl?n "fumbled when asked to defend likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's views on immigration." Incl?n said, "I think as a candidate, to my understanding, he's still deciding what his position on immigration is. So I can't talk about what his proposal is going to be because I don't know." Shortly "after Incl?n's statement, RNC spokeswoman Kristen Kukowski interrupted the briefing to explain that Romney does indeed have a position on immigration, but the RNC just wasn't prepared to talk about it." Incl?n later "tweeted that she 'misspoke,' and pointed to a link to Romney's Web site where the campaign outlines his position on immigration."

The Washington Times (5/9, McLaughlin, 77K) says Inclan's comment that Romney is "still deciding" his position on immigration underscored the "difficulties" the presumptive GOP nominee "faces in wooing Hispanic voters this year." While GOP officials "moved quickly to walk back the remarks," for Romney, who is "fighting an image of flip-flopping on big issues, the damage was done."

McClatchy (5/9, Bolstad) notes that Democrats "were happy to step in with their own definition of Romney's immigration policy," including his pledge to veto the DREAM Act, his claim during a January debate that "undocumented immigrants should 'self-deport,'" and his claim that parts of Arizona's controversial immigration law could be "a model for the nation."

Bloomberg News (5/8, Davis, 1M) called Incl?n's initial comments "another Etch-a-Sketch moment for...Romney," and added that "Democrats seized on Inclan's remarks to criticize Romney's stance on the issue. 'Over the past year Mitt Romney has proven time and time again that he is the most extreme presidential candidate in modern history on immigration,' Gabriela Domenzain, the Obama re-election effort's director of Hispanic Press, said in a statement. 'His position may be inconvenient, but it has been clear.'" The Hill (5/8, Lederman) also has the story

Obama Camp Launches A Second Series Of Spanish Language Ads.

The AP (5/9) reports that President Barack Obama's "campaign launched a series of Spanish-language television ads in three battleground states on Tuesday." Noting Incl?n's Tuesday remark that Romney "is 'still deciding' his position on immigration," The AP says, "Taken together, the ads and the comment underscored the Democrat's advantages and his Republican opponent's challenge in wooing the nation's fastest-growing ethnic group, Democratic-leaning Hispanics. The Obama campaign ads, promoting the president's federal health care overhaul, are running in Florida, Nevada and Colorado, states with large Hispanic populations."

CNN (589, Steinhauser) reported on its website, "The first round of Spanish language ads, out last month, also ran in the same three states, which Obama carried three years ago. According to the campaign, the spots feature 'first person accounts from Obama for America organizers and supporters sharing their personal stories of how the President's policies have empowered Latino families and communities.' The second round of ads highlights health care reform."

The Hill (5/8, Lederman) reported on its website, "The ads feature Obama activists speaking in Spanish about the benefits of healthcare reform and their work to support the president. At the end of each ad, Obama says in Spanish that he approves the ad. His campaign said that under the Affordable Care Act, up to 9 million previously uninsured Hispanics will have access to healthcare by 2014."

Dean Says Republicans "Don't Like Latinos."

Politico (5/9, Mak, 25K) reports that ex-DNC chief Howard Dean "on Tuesday said Republicans 'don't like Latinos' and 'don't care about the average working American,' predicting 'these guys are going to pay for this' electorally." Appearing on MSNBC, Dean said of Republicans, "They want to tell women what to do in their personal lives. They don't like Latinos, they want to take money out of college students' pockets ... their priorities are not the right priorities for America."

Polls Show Obama With Large Lead Over Romney Among Hispanic Voters.

Meanwhile, Politico (5/9, Tau, 25K) reports that two recent polls show President Obama "is drawing heavy support from the Hispanic community." Both polls show the President "with more than a 50 point over likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney. The latest Investor's Business Daily/Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll has Obama leading Romney among Hispanic voters by a 68 point margin, beating the former Massachusetts governor 80 percent to 12 percent. A second PPP poll, commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos and the SEIU union, shows Obama beating Romney 72 percent to 22 percent - a 50 point margin."


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The Hill


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Iran might be Romney's opening on foreign policy


BYLINE: By Christian Heinze


SECTION: Pg. 21


LENGTH: 943 words


It's no secret that Mitt Romney wants to make this election about the economy, but international affairs have a way of upsetting a campaign's agenda and can remake a race in unpredictable and volatile ways. The question is whether Romney is prepared for a national conversation that veers off course and overseas, or whether he'll be caught flat-footed. The former Massachusetts governor encountered that scenario on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. Romney went to New York City to meet with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and have lunch with firefighters.

But President Obama flew to Afghanistan to meet with troops and address the nation. His campaign, meanwhile, cut a Web ad remembering the moment bin Laden was killed and questioning whether Romney would have made the same decision. The Romney campaign immediately pounced, attacking the president for politicizing the issue, while Romney remarked that it would have been an easy decision even for Jimmy Carter, who has a dovish reputation, to make. By the time the dust had settled, it was clear that Obama had come out the winner. He'd coaxed Romney into an argument about one of the few great, unifying political moments of the past four years. The dust-up over foreign policy proved what polls have suggested for months -- Romney should be wary of tangling with Obama on the issue. In a CBS/New York Times poll last month, 30 percent of voters said they were "very confident" in Obama's ability to be an effective commander in chief, while only 13 percent said the same about Romney. An April Washington Post/ABC poll also showed the president's formidable advantage. On international affairs, voters preferred Obama to Romney by 17 points, and the president sported a 7-point advantage on terrorism. Notably, those were the only areas voters approved of his performance. Thus, foreign ground is very favorable ground for Obama and, consequently, treacherous territory for Romney attacks. But if foreign policy becomes a more salient issue this general election, there's an opening for Romney and an opportunity to put Obama on the defensive. In the same Washington Post/ABC poll, only 36 percent approved of the president's handling of Iran and its possible development of a nuclear bomb, while 52 percent disapproved. In fact, that was the only foreign-policy issue on which the president's numbers were negative, and unfortunately for him, it's likely to become increasingly important as Iran continues its steady march toward nuclear development. It's not immediately clear why Obama's numbers on Iran are so dismal, but clues suggest that voters could see him as weak. Why? There's strong consensus that the United States should take the hardest line possible against Iran, and do it sooner rather than later. In March alone, Reuters/Ipsos, CBS/New York Times and NBC/Wall Street Journal released surveys showing big margins (+17 points, +15 points and +12 points) supporting military action if the United States deems Iran close to developing a nuclear weapon. Obama, of course, has called the prospect of Iran getting a nuclear bomb "unacceptable" and has refused to take the military option off the table. On Tuesday, Vice President Biden offered some of the administration's harshest language to date on Iran, warning that country that the time for diplomacy is running out. "The window [for diplomacy] is closing in the near term," Biden said in a speech in Atlanta. "This cannot go on forever. When we took office ... there was virtually no international pressure on Iran. We were the problem. We were diplomatically isolated in the world, in the region and in Europe. The international pressure on Iran was stuck on neutral ... Tehran had allies that were intimidating its neighbors, and America's leadership was in doubt. "Today it is starkly, starkly different." Americans seem to be ready for action in Iran. A March Pew Research Center poll showed that 54 percent worried that the United States would wait too long in taking action against Iran, while only 34 percent were afraid the country would act too quickly. In other words, respondents thought the United States should err on the side of action, not caution. That suggests that voters might like a more aggressive approach than Obama has taken. And Romney has accused the president of being too slow in embracing economic sanctions. In a March op-ed for The Washington Post, Romney criticized Obama's handling of Iran and outlined the hawkish approach he'd take: "I will buttress my diplomacy with a military option that will persuade the ayatollahs to abandon their nuclear ambitions." If polls are to be believed, Romney's aggression could be rewarded, meaning Iran presents an opening that would be difficult to find on other foreign-policy concerns, like terrorism. But Romney has a tricky path here. Focusing on Iran could risk provoking a conversation on foreign policy, overall, where Obama is perceived to be strong. If Romney accuses the president of being weak in dealing with America's enemies, Obama can point to bin Laden's capture and killing. Thus, any gain from talking about Iran could be negated by the other conversations that topic would provoke. It's a risky path for Romney but might be his best shot if the conversation should turn away from the economy and to foreign policy. For his part, Obama needs to be careful with using bin Laden as a trump card too often. So far he's wielded it effectively, and it's likely to be helpful in the future, but waving the bin Laden flag repeatedly might start to strike voters as unseemly and political. In that case, Romney might start to land some punches on Iran.


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The New York Times


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final


Senate Republicans Block Bill to Avert Rise in Student Loan Rate


BYLINE: By JONATHAN WEISMAN


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 16


LENGTH: 884 words


WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked consideration of a Democratic bill to prevent the doubling of some student loan interest rates, leaving the legislation in limbo less than two months before rates on subsidized federal loans are set to shoot upward.

Along party lines, the Senate voted 52 to 45 on a key procedural motion, failing to reach the 60 votes needed to begin debating the measure. Senator Olympia J. Snowe, the moderate Republican from Maine who is retiring, voted present.

Senators said quiet negotiations had begun to resolve the impasse, but Democrats sought to raise the political pressure, vowing to take to the Senate floor to show the cost of inaction for students in their states.

''Mitt Romney says he supports what we're trying to do. I'd suggest he pick up the phone and call Senator McConnell,'' said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, referring to the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Republicans blamed Democrats for the impasse and suggested that they were manufacturing a political controversy instead of working out differences in private.

''We all agree we're not going to let the rate go up,'' Mr. McConnell said.

The vote was the Senate Republicans' 21st successful filibuster of a Democratic bill this Congress, which started in January 2011. Republicans have blocked consideration of President Obama's full jobs proposal, as well as legislation repealing tax breaks for oil companies, helping local governments pay teachers and first responders, and setting a minimum tax rate for households earning more than $1 million a year. Republicans say the measures were flawed and potentially harmful to the economic recovery.

But the student loan filibuster may be the highest-profile stalemate yet, because unlike those earlier bills, this one is not likely to be abandoned. Mr. Obama has elevated the issue by hammering Republicans on it for weeks. American students took out twice the value of student loans in 2011, about $112 billion, as they did a decade before, after adjusting for inflation. Over all, Americans now owe about $1 trillion in student loans. In 2010, such debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time.

The bill in limbo addresses only part of that burden. Graduate students with Stafford loans pay a higher rate, as do students with unsubsidized Stafford loans. Most undergraduates take out both unsubsidized and subsidized loans.

Republicans say they want to extend Democratic legislation passed in 2007 that temporarily reduced interest rates for low- and middle-income undergraduates who receive subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent. But the Republicans would not accept the Senate Democrats' proposal to pay for a one-year extension by changing a law that allows some wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes by classifying their pay as dividends, not cash income.

''They want to raise taxes on people who are creating jobs when we are still recovering from the greatest recession since the Great Depression,'' said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who instead wanted to pay for the rate decrease by eliminating a fund for preventive health care in Mr. Obama's health care law.

Before the vote, Senate Democrats arrayed college students to plead for a yes vote, including Clarise McCants, 21, a junior at Howard University in Washington who said she pulled herself out of a troubled neighborhood in North Philadelphia and relies on $13,500 in Stafford loans for her tuition.

''I know I'm not the only one with dreams,'' she said. ''I'm here to ask Congress, 'Don't double my rate.' ''

Republicans have not always been so averse to closing the loophole that the Senate bill addresses. In 2004, when it emerged that John Edwards, then a vice-presidential hopeful, had classified himself as a ''subchapter S corporation'' to pay himself dividends rather than income, conservatives criticized him for avoiding payroll taxes.

But the Democratic line of attack has been complicated by the House's actions. Shrugging off a veto threat, the House passed an extension of the subsidized rate last month, paid for with the preventive health care fund. Thirteen Democrats voted for the bill, making up for the 30 Republicans who voted no because they opposed federal subsidies for an interest rate that they believed should be set by market forces. Those Democratic defections put the House bill over the top and fortified Republican arguments that the Senate Democrats were now to blame for the stalemate.

Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House minority whip, said Tuesday that those Democratic votes were driven by politics, not substance. ''They didn't want that 30-second ad'' attacking them for opposing a rate-subsidy extension, he said. ''That was not a demonstration at all for the funding source.''

Republicans made clear they would go on offense, blaming Democrats if interest rates doubled July 1.

''Instead of compounding the problem with more bad policies that raise taxes on small businesses and raid Social Security and Medicare, we must work together to prevent a rate increase on students and make it easier for job creators to hire them when they graduate,'' Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, said after the vote.


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LOAD-DATE: May 9, 2012


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GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat, called for passage of the student loan bill with Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa, left, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
Democrats arrayed college students to plead for a yes vote. The bill was blocked on party lines. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUKE SHARRETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)


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The New York Times


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final


Aggressive Advertisements for Obama, at the Ready


BYLINE: By JEREMY W. PETERS


SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 12


LENGTH: 1200 words


WASHINGTON -- Forget hope and change.

After months of planning, President Obama's media team has prepared an aggressive strategy to portray Mitt Romney as insensitive to the plight of working people and beholden to powerful interests. They have researched possible lines of attack and drafted language that can be dropped into an advertisement at a moment's notice.

Campaign advisers said they were willing to commit a considerable chunk of their advertising budget -- expected to be the largest any presidential campaign has ever seen -- to broadcasting these attacks.

The work of the Obama message machine, a half-dozen outside advertising firms and in-house campaign strategists, is already on vivid display. In their ads, Web videos and online features, the president wants to thwart the influence of ''big oil''; Mr. Romney cashes their campaign checks. The president saved hundreds of thousands of jobs by rescuing the auto industry; Mr. Romney shipped jobs overseas. ''It's just what you expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account,'' one ad says.

At the center of this effort is Jim Margolis, and his job is to make you think of call centers in India every time you hear Mr. Romney's name.

With a reporter in his studio on a recent afternoon, an unassuming Mr. Margolis seemed harmless enough as he leaned back in a swivel chair and suggested a few revisions to a video he was editing with his staff. Their work that day would become part of the $25 million advertising blitz the Obama campaign kicked off this week.

Strip a few data points out of the script, he said; too many numbers might confuse people. Swap out a clip of a smiling family and replace it with a father and son playing baseball; it will look less staged.

But Mr. Margolis did not become a top chef in what Mr. Romney calls the president's ''hell's kitchen'' of negative ads based solely on his eye for a pretty picture and his flair for boiling down a good resume in 30 seconds.

His past work shows why he is such an indispensable part of Mr. Obama's media team. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Margolis produced a commercial that repeated John McCain's ill-advised assertion ''the fundamentals of our economy are strong'' over and over, helping to sear the phrase into voters' minds as the economy imploded that fall.

Two years later, he helped Senator Barbara Boxer of California win re-election against Carly Fiorina, the Republican nominee and former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, with ads that showed Ms. Fiorina being ushered into a chauffeured car as an aide held the door. One of them reminded voters, ''While Californians lost their jobs, Fiorina tripled her salary, bought a million-dollar yacht and five corporate jets.''

Mr. Margolis, 57, maintains a low profile in a presidential inner circle filled with advisers who write books and appear regularly on ''Meet the Press'' -- the antithesis of a flamboyant adman. His lack of visibility belies his influence in Democratic circles, where he first surfaced as a 23-year-old Congressional chief of staff in the 1980s. A contemplative man with silver hair, large blue eyes and a low, gravely voice, he has served as a close adviser to a host of top Democrats, including Senators Harry Reid, Max Baucus and Mark Warner.

As a debate coach, he once made Mrs. Boxer so angry during a prep session (he stood in very convincingly as Ms. Fiorina) that she had to take a walk outside to calm down. He still travels to Capitol Hill almost every Tuesday to offer strategic advice to Mr. Reid, who says of him, ''He's very good at making you feel you're better than you are.''

If you live in a state where a presidential contest has been close at some point in the last 20 years, you have probably seen one of Mr. Margolis's ads. During the 2004 Democratic primaries, Mr. Margolis's commercials featuring Senator John Kerry's crewmates from Vietnam recalling his heroism were credited with helping him win the nomination.

Mr. Margolis and his firm, GMMB, first produced ads for Mr. Obama in 2007, and their work quickly stood out for its subtle edge.

Using video from one of Mr. Obama's speeches in Iowa, he created a gauzy 60-second commercial that made Hillary Rodham Clinton sound irrelevant with a line that never even mentioned her: ''The same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do it.''

''It was a beautiful spot,'' said Mandy Grunwald, who was a senior strategist for Mrs. Clinton at the time. ''Everybody knew who he was talking about.''

The ad's potency speaks to a fact about Mr. Obama's 2008 campaign that often goes overlooked. That year he ran more negative ads than any other candidate in history, according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, a nonpartisan political research group.

Mr. McCain was depicted in some commercials as out of touch and feeble. One recalled him saying that he could not remember how many houses he owned. ''Well, it's seven,'' the announcer said dismissively.

The Obama campaign acknowledges that fiercely attacking Mr. Romney has risks.

''Tonally we have to be very careful about the fact that the president does have standards and does have a brand that he feels strongly about,'' said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior strategist. ''I think it's possible to be tough and also fair, tough and also factual. And that's what we're going to do. But rest assured, we will be responding when we are being attacked.''

Putting the efforts to define Mr. Romney aside, the Obama campaign faces problems with its own message. One big challenge that Mr. Margolis acknowledged is conveying optimism about the country's progress without seeming tone deaf to the struggles that many Americans still face.

''If your house is under water or you can't make your car payment, I'm not going to convince you that everything is O.K.,'' Mr. Margolis said.

But after he pointed out some of the president's signature accomplishments, like the auto industry bailout, he added, ''While none of us should diminish the hardships, we also shouldn't be shy about telling the story of what this president is accomplishing.''

Not that Mr. Margolis has ever held back.

In the 2010 Boxer race, he sent a film crew to California to interview workers who were laid off by Ms. Fiorina.

''Fiorina never cared about our jobs. Not then. Not now,'' said one of the workers, his voice ringing with indignation.

Mr. Margolis also created a series of commercials that year for Mr. Reid using ordinary citizens to criticize Sharron Angle, his Tea Party-backed opponent, as reckless and erratic.

In one ad, a Republican who is a member of the National Rifle Association said of Ms. Angle's position on guns, ''It's crazy.'' What was most damning went left unsaid: the suggestion that he was speaking about Ms. Angle herself.

Mr. Margolis declined to discuss any ads in the works for the Obama campaign. But his advice to Mrs. Boxer in 2010 may offer a hint of what is to come.

''He would always say, 'Barbara, this is a race between two choices,' '' Mrs. Boxer said in an interview. '' 'And you need to remind people that you're running against someone who shipped tens of thousands of jobs overseas and made her success by stepping over other people. You can never forget that.' ''


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LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Jim Margolis, who develops advertisements for President Obama's re-election campaign, reviewing a commercial with colleagues. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN ERNST FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)


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The Record (Bergen County, NJ)


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
AE Edition


YOUR VIEWS


SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A10


LENGTH: 1336 words


U.S. should pay attention to Europe

Regarding "Austerity backlash in Europe" (Page A-5, May 7):

The recent elections in Greece and France have brought victory to resurgent leftist parties firmly opposed to austerity. It is clear that Europeans will not accept austerity despite the bankruptcies that confront them.

But why would they? Bankruptcy is an abstraction to most Europeans, who have become accustomed to the faux lifestyle made possible by three generations of deficit spending. A thin majority are willing to elect politicians who promise to continue the spending and provide the goodies.

Who will pay? The Germans, a nation of savers, absolutely refuse to debase the currency and are reluctant to finance endless bailouts. Eventually the Germans will shift their pivot toward the boundless resources and potential of Russia and abandon debt-ridden Europe.

The International Monetary Fund and European central banks have already sold most of their gold to fund bankruptcy bailouts. What's next? Will they sell the art?

The European Union and the euro appear doomed. Already nervous Europeans are fleeing toward the traditional security of the United States. They are transferring their euros and capital into dollar-denominated investment instruments. This is good, albeit temporary, news for the dollar and the U.S. economy.

However, Americans should not become complacent. The European experience verifies Milton Friedman's warning that deficit spending squanders capital and leads to poverty. Creative financial gimmickry does not produce wealth. This lesson should not be lost on Americans who continue to support politicians who engage in record borrowing, deficit spending and unsustainable debt. Things are likely to get ugly in Europe. Americans would do well to pay close attention.

Mauro Mecca

Lodi, May 8


Obesity isn't easily solved

Regarding "Obesity, a form of internal terrorism" (Your Views, May 7):

It seems today that anytime anyone wants to get a message across they relate the "evil" they see to "The Terrorists" or "Nazi Germany." Most of the time the real evil is hyperbole to get people riled up against other folks because they're different or don't believe what they believe. Who would be sounding like the Nazi then?

Obesity is a real problem, and, yes, most of it is derived from eating too much of the wrong thing. But is that the root cause? Equivalently, should bulimics just eat more?

Most scientific evidence shows a strong link to genetics as a big factor in propensity for obesity. Genetics is certainly not the only factor, but it certainly makes staying slim much harder for some folks than others.

Unfortunately, it's just easier for some to call overweight folks "weak." The doctor I go to definitely has helped me with my condition. But he brought up a good analogy: He wondered why the other students in his medical school couldn't understand some of the course work. He first asked, "Why don't they just study more?" Then he realized maybe some people are just born smarter than others and the amount of work the others would have to do to get them to his level would be unreasonable. Otherwise, we'd all be doctors. Right?

There are plenty of folks who think they're superior for a variety of reasons. However, as Warren Buffet has said, "Maybe they just won the genetic lottery."

Rich Myers

River Edge, May 7


Spineless Romney

As a senior citizen I have witnessed a great many political campaigns and have been sorely disappointed by many of them, both Republican and Democratic. However, the actions of the presumptive Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, Mitt Romney, wins first prize for the most despicable of the lot. He is an unprincipled coward.

He accepted the rant of an Ohio supporter that President Obama had violated our Constitution and should be tried for treason. Treason is a most serious charge, and the very word should not be lightly tossed about as if it were a minor traffic violation. Rather than show some spine and personal integrity, as Sen. John McCain did some four years ago in a similar situation, he folded, ignoring the accusation of treason against Obama.

One must wonder how and where he would fold again when his decisions, if elected president, would have a significant effect on the future of this nation.

Timothy J. Driscoll

Bergenfield, May 7

The writer, a Democrat, is Bergenfield mayor.


GOP split gave Wilson presidency

Regarding "Re-creating Teddy Roosevelt's Bergen trip" (Better Living, Page BL-1, May 8):

The article dismisses Roosevelt's storming out of the 1912 Republican National Convention after the renomination of William Howard Taft as the party's presidential candidate and running at the head of the Bull Moose Party: "Not that it mattered. In the main event, it was Democrat Woodrow Wilson who won in November."

In fact, Wilson, who won with 41.8 percent of the vote (6,296,284 votes), was elected only because T.R. split the GOP vote by running as a third-party candidate. (Roosevelt got 27.4 percent, or 4,122,721 votes; Taft got 23.2 percent, or 3,486,242 votes.) Even conceding that Wilson suffered from the candidacy of Socialist Eugene Debs, who collected 906,551 votes, or 6 percent of the total, a unified Republican ticket would have won by approximately three percentage points.

Taft, the only man to serve as both president and chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is sadly remembered today primarily as the first chief executive to throw out the first pitch on baseball's opening day. He is the subject of a poignant semi-satirical alternate historical novel published earlier this year: "Taft 2012" by Jason Heller.

James Devine

Dumont, May 8


Unreal demands in the real world

Regarding "PA retirees win another round in perk battle" (Page A-4, May 5):

I read about retired and current employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey winning the battle over their toll and airport parking perks because they were "promised to them." My question is: Why did retirees of corporations have promised health coverage taken away from them over the years?

When is a promise to be kept, and when is it OK to renege on it? Should it not be right for the rules to apply to everyone, not just a select few?

Lots of people in our country were promised a lot of things in contracts, and then found them unavailable in their retirement years. Free parking and tolls while on business is one thing. But for life? Come on, the PA retirees need a dose of reality.

Helen Berkenbush

Clifton, May 5


Avoiding flooding after torrential rain

It seems like every four years, the northeastern United States experiences flooding that destroys homes and businesses, turning lives upside down. However, there is one possible solution to protect against this kind of catastrophe: flood panels or flood logs.

As a builder, I installed 5-foot panels around a building that had taken 5 feet of water after Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999. The structure is in the Saddle River flood plain. The river crested again during Hurricane Irene. But this time, the panels kept the water outside the building.

These flood panels may not accommodate every application. Factors to consider are things like the construction of the building, the structural integrity of the walls where these panels are to be mounted and the presence of other preventive applications.

But one thing is for sure: Any constructive idea or application is better than the months and months of putting lives back together after these devastating floods. And if you can protect your home or commercial building from flooding, you will have a better chance of selling or renting.

William J. Coleman

Rochelle Park, May 3


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Roll Call


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Democrats' Super PAC Troubles


BYLINE: Eliza Newlin Carney


LENGTH: 995 words


For Democratic super PACs struggling to catch up with their cash-flush GOP counterparts, the news that financier George Soros will soon give $2 million to a couple of progressive groups comes as small consolation.

To be sure, Soros' money could trigger a wave of copycat gifts from big Democratic donors, as the New York Times predicted this week. But the reluctance of large donors so far to open their checkbooks remains a source of frustration and alarm for pro-Democrat super PACs such as Priorities USA Action.

President Barack Obama tacitly approved super PAC contributions in February, despite his continued opposition to unrestricted campaign money. But Republican-oriented super PACs have built a formidable lead this cycle, raising $156.5 million compared with $43.4 million collected by super PACs backing Democrats, according to Political MoneyLine.

That's forced the Democratic super PACs to pursue increasingly creative strategies to leverage their resources. They're targeting supporters in donor-friendly regions such as California, teaming up with progressive activists and labor groups on ad buys and using "microtargeting" to reach out to specific blocs of voters such as Latinos.

They're also working more aggressively to tap former Democratic officeholders, including President Bill Clinton, to persuade reluctant donors to back the party's super PACs. Clinton has helped raise money for Obama's campaign, and organizers at Priorities USA Action have reportedly turned to him for help. Obama signaled in February that he wouldn't appear at super PAC events, but Democratic strategists said his surrogates may begin to step forward.

"In some ways, the Democrats are in the dating stage with various super PACs," said major Democratic donor Heather Podesta, founder of the government relations firm Heather Podesta + Partners. "And I think over the next six to 10 weeks you are going to see Democrats putting down major money in the super PACs. They are going to commit themselves to marriage."

The needle has already started to move at the top pro-Democrat super PACs, including Priorities USA Action, which is focused on the presidential race; Majority PAC, which backs Senate Democrats; House Majority PAC, which backs House Democrats; and American Bridge 21st Century, which does opposition research and grass-roots organizing.

Priorities USA Action collected $2.5 million in March, more than 35 times the paltry $58,815 the group raised in January. Still, the $9 million that the super PAC has collected this cycle lags far behind the $51.9 million raised by Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Political MoneyLine data show. The disparity is even more when receipts at the GOP super PAC American Crossroads, which has netted $28 million, are factored in.

Democrats blame a long list of factors, including a false sense of security among big donors, disenchantment on Wall Street because of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms and Obama's distaste for super PACs and for big-money fundraisers. Many say leading Democratic donors became disillusioned with unrestricted money after the 2004 elections, when they poured tens of millions of dollars into 527 groups such as the Media Fund, only to lose the White House race and field bad press over Federal Election Commission fines.

Since then, progressive donors such as Soros have abandoned high-dollar campaign ads in favor of building a progressive infrastructure focused on grass-roots organizing, Democrats say. That shift is reflected in the recent Soros contributions of $1 million apiece to America Votes, an umbrella group for progressive activists, and to American Bridge 21st Century, which does no advertising.

Some Democratic organizers argue that their super PAC fundraising deficit will be offset by their edge in organizing grass-roots and get-out-the vote activities with the help of labor unions and other progressive allies. But Romney and GOP candidates will also get grass-roots help from deep-pocketed groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Rifle Association.

And that does little to help super PACs such as Priorities USA Action, which has always focused on the air war. As they wait on big donors, Democratic super PACs have set out to spend the money they have as strategically as possible.

Priorities USA Action has teamed up with the Service Employees International Union on anti-Romney ads in Florida and Nevada. The super PAC also partnered with the League of Conservation Voters recently on a $1 million ad buy targeting Romney. The group also joined with the United Auto Workers on an ad in Michigan.

"We decided early that the best way to leverage our influence in this election was to work with partners that shared our goals," said Bill Burton, a senior strategist for Priorities USA Action and former Obama administration aide.

At House Majority PAC, organizers have launched a Project California campaign aimed at persuading donors in the Golden State to back a slate of at least nine House Democrats who they argue enjoy unusually good prospects and could help flip the House their way.

"This year is a tremendous opportunity for Democrats to pick up seats and for Democratic donors to engage in competitive races in their own backyard," said Andy Stone, communications director for House Majority PAC. He said the super PAC is "definitely considering" launching similar campaigns in other states.

Pro-Democrat super PACs and other progressive outside groups will also specifically target Latinos with outreach and ads, said Steve Phillips, chairman of PAC +, which has set out to spend as much as $10 million on targeting Hispanic voters in states such as Arizona, Georgia and Texas.

"There will be geographically and demographically targeted independent efforts," Phillips said, "which I would argue are going to be in the aggregate as effective as all the indiscriminate spending that some of these super PACs do."


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States News Service


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


MITT ROMNEY: STILL IN THE TANK FOR BIG OIL


BYLINE: States News Service


LENGTH: 865 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON, DC


The following information was released by the League of Conservation Voters (LCV):

In response to Mitt Romneys campaign stop today in Colorado to discuss energy, League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Senior Vice President for Campaigns Navin Nayak released the following statement:

Dont be fooled Mitt Romney is still in the tank for Big Oil. He may pretend to offer solutions to Americas energy challenges, but Romney supports protecting the billions in special tax breaks enjoyed by the same oil industry that is bankrolling his campaign.

Background

Mitt Romney would protect Big Oils taxpayer-funded handouts:

Romney: I dont want to raise taxes on oil companies. In response to the ads that the Obama Campaign and Priorities USA Action were running, which criticized Romney's support for tax breaks for oil companies, Romney said at a townhall meeting, "[Obama] blames me for the high price of gasoline because I dont want to raise taxes on oil companies. I dont like raising taxes on anybody." He then said that the President's proposal to eliminate oil subsides is part of a dangerous strategy to divide America. [Romney Townhall in Delaware, 4/10/12]

Romney supports Paul Ryans budget plan, which would keep tax breaks for Big Oil. According to Politico, Romney said: I'm very supportive of the Ryan budget plan. It's a bold and exciting effort on his part and on the part of the Republicans and it's very much consistent with what I put out earlier. I applaud it. It's an excellent piece of work and very much needed. As the Center for American Progress has noted, the Ryan budget retains $40 billion in Big Oil tax loopholes while completely eliminating investments in the clean energy technologies of the future that are essential for long-term economic growth. CAP recently confirmed that the oil subsidies would still be protected in the latest version of the Ryan budget. [Politico, 3/20/12; Center for American Progress, 4/6/11; Center for American Progress, 3/21/12]

Romney also pledged support for oil company subsidies during the 2008 campaign. The New York Times reported: "In a written response to questions about his energy positions, Romney said Friday, Now is not the right time to raise taxes on our oil companies. He expressed doubt about requirements to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions." [New York Times, 11/28/07]

Big Oil has put big money behind Mitt Romney:

Koch brothers have pledged more than $200 Million with focus on defeating Obama. According to Politico, The billionaire industrialist brothers David and Charles Koch plan to steer more than $200 million potentially much more to conservative groups ahead of Election Day, POLITICO has learned at the latest installment of the twice-a-year gatherings of major donors sponsored by the Koch brothers privately owned oil, chemical and consumer products company, Koch operatives signaled they are going to focus a great deal on the presidential race, according to someone who attended the meeting. [Politico, 10/10/11]

Oil-backed outside groups have spent over $16 million on energy attack ads since January, many targeting Obama. According to Think Progress, In the first three-and-a-half months of 2012, groups including Americans for Prosperity, American Petroleum Institute, Crossroads GPS, and American Energy Alliance have spent $16,750,000 on energy attack ads. As Think Progress documented, many of these ads have directly attacked President Obama. The American Petroleum Institute is the national trade association for the oil and gas industry; Americans for Prosperity and the American Energy Alliance are partially funded by the Koch brothers. Crossroads GPS does not disclose most of its donors, but its sister organization American Crossroads donors include oil and gas executives, as Think Progress noted. [Think Progress, 4/12/12]

Romney campaign has directly received more than $1 million from the oil and gas industry. While much of the oil industrys support for Romney is via outside groups, oil and gas companies have also contributed over $1 million directly to his presidential campaigns. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of April 21, the Romney campaign has received $899,630 from the oil and gas industry during the 2012 election cycle. Romney received $520,094 from the oil and gas industry during his 2008 campaign for President. [Opensecrets.org; Opensecrets.org]

Romney's top energy adviser is a billionaire oil executive. Bloomberg reported: Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican Partys presidential nomination, appointed Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm as energy adviser to his campaign. Hamm, the 66-year-old founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Resources Inc. (CLR), will be chairman of Romneys Energy Policy Advisory Group, the candidates campaign office said in a statement today. As Think Progress has noted, another prominent member of the Romney campaign is Candian oil lobbyist David Wilkins. [Bloomberg, 3/1/12; Think Progress, 2/21/12]

LCV Victory Fund is currently partnering with Priorities USA Action on a $1 million television ad campaign in Colorado and Nevada. Watch the ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VawP95r8DBk.


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TELEGRAM & GAZETTE (Massachusetts)


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Two Julias;
Dueling visions of future


SECTION: EDITORIAL; IN OUR OPINION; Pg. A15


LENGTH: 356 words


The Obama campaign's cartoon creation, Julia, which debuted Friday, was intended to illustrate how government programs and benefits help a fictional woman as she journeys through her life, from enjoying the benefits of Head Start at age 3 to a secure retirement at age 67 thanks to Social Security.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Hall of Fame for political cartoons: Julia was co-opted by Republicans.

Some in the GOP have dismissed the ad campaign as promoting cradle-to-grave socialism of the kind that would put the nation on the road to becoming another Greece. That may be an exaggeration, but the Obama campaign's narrative surely does overplay the benefits of government, while offering a very jaundiced view of what Republican challenger Mitt Romney would do instead.

Conservatives - who are not necessarily to be confused with Mr. Romney - have offered their own Julia. She's still a cartoon composite, but the emphasis is on the still greater benefits Julia could enjoy if she embraced free-market principles.

The fact is, there's no person exactly like Julia. Rather, there are millions of American families and individuals striving to obtain meaningful work, put food on their tables, and achieve happiness.

Government programs of the kind touted by the Obama administration and those running his re-election campaign do have a role to play. But too much of anything is not good, and the nation's rising debts speak to a simple truth: Government has grown larger than it needs to be and larger than taxpayers can sustain. We live in an age when merely slowing the rate of increase in government spending is portrayed by the media as "cutbacks," and the elimination of even the most ineffective government programs and agencies hardly warrants debate.

Such trends must be curbed if Americans are to retain their freedoms, rekindle their entrepreneurial spirits, and pass the virtues of hard work and self-reliance along to the coming generations. If we fail in that task, Julia's age and political persuasion won't matter. The state will simply be taking every penny she makes to keep the wheels of bureaucracy turning.


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UPI


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 10:10 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 1038 words


Obama says he supports same-sex marriage

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama says he has reversed his opposition to same-sex marriage and while he supports the concept, thinks states should make their own decisions.

In an interview Wednesday with ABC News, Obama said his thoughts about gay marriage evolved during conversations with his friends and family.

"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that don't-ask-don't-tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," Obama said.

The interview is scheduled to air Thursday on "Good Morning America," ABC News said.

The president had previously voiced support for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples but had opposed defining it as "marriage."

Republican Mitt Romney, Obama's likely opponent in the November general election, declined to comment on the president's endorsement of gay marriage, The Hill reported.

Romney, however, reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage during an interview with KDVR-TV, Denver, as a bill that would have allowed civil unions for same-sex couples died in the Colorado Legislature Tuesday night.

"Well, when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name," Romney told KDVR.

"My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not."

Obama said during his 2008 campaign for president he backed civil unions but not marriage for gay couples and has since said his position on the issue was "evolving."

Putin to miss G8 summit

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday told U.S. President Barack Obama he will not attend a Group of Eight summit at Camp David, Md., the White House said.

In a telephone call with Obama, Putin expressed regret he will be unable to attend the summit May 18-19 because of "his responsibilities to finalize Cabinet appointments in the new Russian government," the White House said in a statement.

"President Obama expressed his understanding of President Putin's decision and welcomed the participation of Russian Prime Minister [Dmitry] Medvedev at the G8 Summit," the statement said.

During the telephone call, Obama and Putin "commemorated the occasion of Russia's celebration of Victory in Europe day, noting the historic war-time alliance between our two countries and underscoring their mutual commitment to strengthening the U.S.-Russian partnership," the White House said.

The two leaders "noted with satisfaction the concrete achievements of the last three years and expressed their commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation on the basis of mutual strategic interests."

Obama and Putin agreed to hold a bilateral meeting in June, when they will be in Los Cabos, Mexico, for the G20 Summit.

"The two presidents reiterated their interest in the sustained high-level dialogue that has characterized the re-set of relations, and the substantial progress of the last three years on issues like nuclear security and non-proliferation, Afghanistan, the [World Trade Organization], and increased trade and commercial ties," the White House said.

Afghan and coalition forces on track

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Afghan armed forces are gaining in size and, along with coalition forces, have reversed terrorist momentum in Afghanistan, a coalition commander said Wednesday.

British Royal Army Lt. Gen. Adrian J. Bradshaw, deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said the Afghan campaign is "in a good place right now."

"Across the theater, [we've seen] Afghan national security forces increasing in strength, capability and confidence," Bradshaw said. "ISAF troops [are] more and more ... providing advice and assistance, but letting the Afghans get to grips with the major combat operations. They have surprised us, and I think they've surprised themselves, with how well they've performed in a whole range of different sorts of operations across the theater."

Bradshaw said an agreement signed between U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week has boosted Afghan confidence the coalition will provide support of security efforts beyond 2014, a release from the Defense Department reported.

"It sets a very good baseline for the Chicago conference, where we hope and expect that nations will come forward and commit funding to the Afghan forces for beyond 2014," Bradshaw said. "And so it's a major achievement."

Rural post offices to stay open

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it hopes to keep thousands of rural post offices open while saving money by cutting hours.

The agency had planned to begin shutdowns next week. Officials said as many as 3,700 post offices could be on the chopping block.

The announcement spurred an outcry in thinly populated areas from postal customers and officials, The Wall Street Journal reported. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that in many rural areas residents say the post office is a valuable meeting place where community items are posted on the bulletin board.

"We've listened to our customers in rural America, and we've heard them loud and clear -- they want to keep their post office open," Donahoe said.

Donahoe said the service plans to consult residents in about 13,000 communities to determine the best option. These could include keeping the post office open as few as 2 hours a day, contracting with local businesses like gas stations to provide postal services and merging post offices.


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USA TODAY


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION


Shaq proves education is key to success in life


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6A


LENGTH: 439 words


I am left feeling impressed and invigorated upon reading that former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal hauled in a doctorate from Barry University in Miami ("Shaq: Why I'm getting a doctoral degree," The Forum, Friday).

But I was put off when some NFL draft commentators described the return of Andrew Luck, Indianapolis' new quarterback, to Stanford to complete his degree as a hindrance to his development.

Education is the key to a stable, happy life. As a sports fan, I am not blind to brevity of time that today's athletes have to ensure their financial futures. But that only reinforces the value of a worldview and marketable skills that a degree imparts, a value that trumps athletic prowess, for the student and our society. My congratulations to O'Neal, Luck and all of May's graduates.

Justin Kellner

Sheboygan, Wis.

Dems go for truth in ads

I agree with your Thursday editorial "The campaign goes negative" that we can expect a lot of negative ads in the months ahead, especially from the "Super PACs."

But I have to disagree with you on the examples you cited from the two campaigns. President Obama's ad accused Mitt Romney of encouraging companies to ship jobs overseas, commenting, "It's just what you would expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account." Not exactly untrue, since Romney, as head of Bain Capital, did ship jobs overseas and he did have a Swiss bank account. Obama also questioned whether Romney would have gone after Osama bin Laden, a fair comment given Romney's earlier remarks on spending time and money to go after bin Laden.

On the other hand, Romney's ad quoting Obama as saying, "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose," was taken out of context and is a lie.

No matter what the Democrats come up with, there is often a basis for what they say. Not so with many Republicans, who have learned the political truth that if you repeat a lie often enough, the public will believe it. It is up to responsible publications like USA TODAY to recognize the difference.

Marvin S. Helfand

Northbrook, Ill.

Praise for donor network

I am one of those people who believe that the movie about Mark Zuckerberg should have been called The Unsocial Network because "social" means face-to-face. However, plaudits should be offered when they have been earned. It is with that in mind that I applaud Facebook for creating an "organ donor" network ("Facebook feature pushes organ donation," News, May 2).

The more successful this effort is, the more lives will be saved, thus allowing organ recipients to talk to a "friend" (the real kind) sitting across from them at a table.

Philip Barnett

Scottsdale, Ariz.


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The Washington Post


May 9, 2012 Wednesday
Suburban Edition


Obama pushes Congress to back five-point 'to-do list'


BYLINE: David Nakamura


SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A03


LENGTH: 878 words


DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y.


ALBANY, N.Y. - President Obama called on Congress on Tuesday to support a five-point "to-do list," featuring job creation and mortgage relief measures, in his latest effort to paint the legislative body as an obstructionist force during an election year.

Obama has proposed all of the measures before. But as Washington has grown more polarized during the presidential campaign season, he has been trying to use Congress as a foil to highlight his administration's efforts to pass legislation to stimulate the economy.

"In this make-or-break moment for the middle class, there is no excuse for inaction, no excuse for dragging our feet. None," Obama told the crowd at a nanotechnology facility at the State University of New York at Albany.

During Obama's remarks, two flat-screen television monitors showed a graphic in the form of a green Post-it Note titled "Congress To-Do List" and laying out the five items with un-checked squares next to them.

The president told the crowd that everyone could see the list on the White House Web site.

"It's about the size of a Post-it Note, so every member of Congress should have time to read it," he quipped, drawing laughs.

Since the start of the year, Obama has pushed Congress to support his economic agenda, casting Republicans as opposing him for political gain. The president hopes to link presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney to congressional Republicans at a time when Congress's approval rating is 17 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Republicans pushed back against the White House, noting that they have supported several of Obama's initiatives, including the payroll tax cut, long-term unemployment insurance and several free-trade agreements.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday that he welcomes Obama's focus on job creation but that the GOP remains opposed to a White House plan to give income tax cuts of 10 percent to firms that create new jobs or dole out raises this year.

"We believe that we ought to let the investors decide on how best to allocate their capital so that we can see small business grow again," Cantor said. "But these are differences that we can overcome and differences we can resolve if the president will just join us in saying we've got to solve these problems."

In his remarks, Obama pressed Republicans to support his proposals for a 20 percent tax cut for businesses that bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas and a 10 percent tax credit for companies that hire workers and increase wages. He used the backdrop of the high-tech facility to underline his push for investment in new technologies that will help the nation remain competitive in a quickly changing global market.

Another initiative on his to-do list would allow homeowners to refinance at lower interest rates, a proposal he will highlight during a stop this week in Reno, Nev., where foreclosure rates are the highest in the country. The president also is calling for a veterans jobs corps to help service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan get jobs as police officers and firefighters.obs as police officers and firefighters.

Obama challenged Republicans who contend that his government is "bloated," saying that his administration has created private-sector jobs even as public hiring remains sluggish. He contrasted that to his Republican predecessors, who he said increased government hiring as part of their economic recoveries.

"I made this point so you don't buy into this whole bloated-government argument," he said.

Wrapping up his speech, Obama ad-libbed two more items, demanding that Congress not allow federally subsidized student loan interest rates to double this summer and to approve a transportation bill that would provide funding for construction projects. The Senate defeated a measure Tuesday that would have kept the low rates for another year.

House Minority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the president should instead press Senate Democrats to pass a budget: "How can you continue to run a business or a country with no budget? Three years in a row, a trillion-dollar deficit year over year and no budget."

The trip marked a rare recent venture for the president into a state that is not an electoral battleground, but New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, one of the nation's most popular Democratic governors, joined him at the event. And Obama is eager to appeal to working-class voters in the Northeast and the Rust Belt.

In his introductory remarks, Cuomo lauded the president and New York's economic turnaround and even employed Obama's campaign slogan, "Forward."

"Mr. President, I can promise you this: Because of your leadership, this state is not going backward, this state is going forward," Cuomo said to applause.

The White House initially was going to send Obama to Asheville, N.C., but scuttled that plan two weeks ago and announced that he would instead speak in Albany. The Raleigh News & Observer noted Tuesday that North Carolina was holding a vote on a controversial amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. Obama has not supported such unions, saying his views are "evolving," a position that has drawn heat from liberal supporters.

nakamurad@washpost.com

Staff writer Ed O'Keefe in Washington contributed to this report.


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The White House Bulletin


May 9, 2012 Wednesday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 707 words


President. Politico reports Mitt Romney "failed to break 70 percent of the vote in Indiana and North Carolina in his first test as the presumptive GOP nominee, while President Barack Obama nabbed just 63 percent of the vote in West Virginia against a jailed opponent." ... The New York Times reports Obama's media team "has prepared an aggressive strategy" and is "willing to commit a considerable chunk of their advertising" budget to broadcasting attacks which portray Romney "as insensitive to the plight of working people and beholden to powerful interests." ... The Washington Post reports that during a speech in Lansing, Michigan yesterday Romney "accused President Obama of recycling tired policies of 'old-school liberals' and asserted that it is he, not Obama, who offers the nation a path forward."

Romney, on Fox News' Hannity last night, reiterated this line of attack, saying, "We are now in the longest, slowest recovery in recorded history for this country, and it's because this President's policies are so tuned-in to the old liberal approaches of the past. ... There is no question...that the liberal policies of the past, which he has put in place in this country, failed the American people." ... The Financial Times reports that the GOP super-PAC American Crossroads expects to raise as much as $300 million for the 2012 elections and has already raised $100 million.

Governors.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett cruised to victory in Tuesday's Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial recall primary with 55%, easily outdistancing his closest rival, ex-Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who drew 37%, and Barrett will now face Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the June 5 recall election, says the AP, which notes it will be a "rematch of the 2010 governor's race." ... The AP reports that Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton defeated former Rep. Bob Etheridge 45%-38% in the crowded Democratic primary yesterday and will face ex-Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) in November in the contest to replace retiring North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D). ... The AP reports that West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) and businessman Bill Maloney (R) are headed for a rematch after easily winning their respective primaries on Tuesday.

Senate.

State Treasurer Richard Mourdock on Tuesday romped to victory over veteran Sen. Dick Lugar in Indiana's GOP primary, and will now face Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) in November. Mourdock defeated Lugar 61%-39%.

House.

The Wilmington (NC) Star-News reports that in the GOP primary race for the right to take on NC7 Rep. Mike McIntyre (D) this November, state Sen. David Rouzer (R) on Tuesday defeated ex-Marine Ilario Pantano (R) 48%-44%. ... The AP reports that, seeking to challenge NC8 Rep. Larry Kissell (D) this fall, ex-Congressional aide Richard Hudson (R) and ex-Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle (R) "will head to a runoff" after "neither candidate captured 40 percent of the vote" in Tuesday's GOP primary. ... The AP reports that in the race to succeed retiring NC11 Rep. Heath Shuler (D), Hayden Rogers, a former aide to Shuler, easily won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday and "will face the winner of a GOP runoff between Mark Meadows and Vance Patterson," neither of whom cleared the 40% mark yesterday. ... The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press reports, "Bolstered by huge financial and organizational advantages and unencumbered by the crippling liabilities that brought down Sen. Richard Lugar Tuesday," IN8 Rep. Larry Bucshon (R) "beat back a challenge on his right flank," topping Kristi Risk 58%-42%. ... The New York Times reports super PAC the Campaign For Primary Accountability announced Tuesday that it will help state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in his effort to unseat NY15 Rep. Charles B. Rangel in the Democratic primary. ... Roll Call reports, "The Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC is placing a $340,000 television ad buy" in the AZ8 special election, which "targets Republican nominee Jesse Kelly, who faces former Giffords aide Ron Barber."

State And Local.

The AP reports North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment yesterday 61%-39% "defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, becoming the latest state to effectively slam the door shut on same-sex marriages."


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 1:01 AM GMT


WV Sen Manchin wins, sets up rematch with Raese


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 118 words


DATELINE: CHARLESTON W.Va.


U.S. Senate Joe Manchin has defeated his Democratic primary opponent, setting up a rematch of the 2010 race that put him in office.

Manchin beat former Monongalia County legislator Sheirl Fletcher, a former Republican who questioned Manchin's Democratic allegiance.

Manchin will face Republican John Raese, who was unopposed on Tuesday. The two first faced off in a 2010 special election two months after the death of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.

Raese's campaign already has launched a radio ad challenging Manchin's support for Obama's health care plan.

Manchin came under recent scrutiny for saying he's not sure whether he'll vote for President Barack Obama or presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November.


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


May 9, 2012 Wednesday 4:34 AM GMT


W.Va. voters to pick prez, congressional nominees


BYLINE: By LAWRENCE MESSINA, Associated Press


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 1007 words


DATELINE: CHARLESTON W.Va.


Republican voters in West Virginia backed presumed presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday, while Democrats sent President Obama a message that he's still wildly unpopular in the Mountain State.

The primary also featured congressional incumbents who were either unopposed or won easily against poorly funded opponents. Voters also selected 28 delegates to August's Republican national convention in Tampa.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had more than 69 percent of the vote. Rick Santorum, who dropped out of the race last month and endorsed the former Massachusetts governor this week, followed with 12 percent. Ron Paul, who remains in the running, had 11 percent.

The loudest message of the night went to Obama. The president's only primary opponent, Keith Russell Judd, picked up four out of every 10 votes cast despite being incarcerated at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999.

The results were further evidence of West Virginia's dislike of Obama, where his economic and environmental policies have made him extremely unpopular. Obama lost the 2008 primary here to Hillary Clinton, and then the general election to Republican John McCain. Polls show him with among his worst approval ratings in West Virginia.

For some West Virginia Democrats, running against Obama was enough to get Judd votes.

"I voted against Obama," said Ronnie Brown, a 43-year-old electrician from Cross Lanes who called himself a conservative Democrat. "I don't like him. He didn't carry the state before and I'm not going to let him carry it again."

Come November, though, Brown doesn't see himself supporting either Obama or presumptive Romney.

"I don't like neither one of them, to be honest," Brown said. "I'll probably leave that blank unless somebody comes in."

Judd was able to get on the state ballot by paying a $2,500 filing fee and filing a form known as a notarized certification of announcement, said Jake Glance, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office. If Judd receives 15 percent of the state vote he will qualify to receive delegates to the national Democratic convention. But state Democratic Party Executive Director Derek Scarbro said no one has filed to be a delegate for Judd, and the state party was unaware that Judd has actually filed the required paperwork.

Still, some said they'd like to see Obama carry the state this fall.

Adam Polinski of Morgantown, who is self-employed and currently renovating a house, said Obama would have more support if voters could get beyond the hot-button issues.

"A politician has choices to make every day," he said. "Hot-button issues are going to be coal-related and hunting-related for starters. But it's a big, broad job and there are a lot of choices to be made, so I hope everybody looks at the big picture."

Wanda Goodwin, 61, executive director of the state Board of Veterinary Medicine, calls herself a Republican who sometimes sides with Democrats. She voted for Romney.

"I think he is a good businessman," she said. "I think he shows he's able to handle things under pressure. What he lacks in personality personality's important but as long as you have good people around you and you're a good leader, I think that's the important thing."

U.S. Senate Joe Manchin defeated Democratic primary challenger Sheirl Fletcher, a former Republican and ex-legislator. The popular former governor received 80 percent of the vote. That sets up a rematch against Republican John Raese, who was unopposed Tuesday. Raese lost to Manchin in the 2010 special election that followed the death of Robert C. Byrd. The seat is now up for a full six-year term.

Manchin, who refused to say whether he voted for Obama on Tuesday, said he's grateful that most voters look at the totality of his voting record, not whether he follows the party line.

"The people of West Virginia have been very, very keen in coming to the conclusion of who they're going to vote for, and they'll do it again," the two-term former governor said. "I think everyone knows I'm just West Virginia Joe. I don't just say what they want me to say. ... I'm going to speak out when it doesn't make sense. And if something does make sense, I don't care whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, I'm going to vote for it."

Manchin said he's ready for the rematch with Raese, predicting "a good campaign and a tough race."

James Biser, 64, is a retired painter from Morgantown and a former Republican who says he's "a Democrat at the present time." He said he grew up with Raese, so he didn't vote for Manchin. He'll be watching how that race plays out in the coming months before backing either candidate.

"I hate to take and flip a coin," he said, "but it's happened before."

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito overcame two opponents, state Delegate Jonathan Miller and Michael Davis, in the GOP primary for the 2nd Congressional District. After receiving more than 82 percent of the vote with 93 percent of precincts reporting, she'll face Democrat Howard Swint. A Kanawha County commercial property leasing manager, Swint bested William McCann and Dugald Brown with nearly 48 percent of the vote.

Swint said he's "profoundly grateful" for voters' confidence and eager to hit the campaign trail, saying West Virginians will have a real choice in November.

Republicans in the 3rd District chose Delegate Rick Snuffer to take on Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall in November. Snuffer defeated Lee Bias and Bill Lester in the primary race with 53 percent of the vote. Snuffer has previously sought to challenge Rahall, without success.

Both Rahall and 1st District freshman Rep. David McKinley, a Republican, were unopposed Tuesday. Democrat Sue Thorn was similarly assured her party's nod as she seeks to take on McKinley.

The GOP national convention delegates include three from each congressional district and 19 at-large. More than 190 Republicans filed for these slots.

Associated Press writers John Raby in Charleston and Vicki Smith in Morgantown contributed to this report.


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The Associated Press


May 10, 2012 Thursday 03:44 PM GMT


Obama dings Romney's claim of credit for autos


SECTION: BUSINESS NEWS


LENGTH: 241 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama says Mitt Romney is having an "Etch A Sketch moment" when he claims credit for the U.S. auto industry's revival.

Obama says people remember that Romney's stance was that Detroit should have been allowed to go through bankruptcy without taxpayer help. Of Romney's insistence this week that he deserves credit for the auto industry's success, Obama said: "I don't think anybody takes that seriously."

In an interview with ABC News, Obama says Romney's plan for denying the automakers a federal bailout would have cost the economy about 1 million jobs in the Midwest. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a costly bailout set up by the Obama administration.

Romney wrote in a 2008 editorial that if the bailout were enacted, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."

Obama's re-election campaign, meanwhile, called attention Thursday to the auto bailout and job growth during his administration in three new TV ads.

One ad, titled "Success," shows Obama talking about his decision to extend federal help to the auto makers. Another ad, titled "Brian from Ohio," features an auto worker who was laid off, then rehired after the bailout. A third ad, "Reverse," charts job losses in the months before Obama took office in January 2009 and the modest job growth that has taken place since then.

The commercials are part of a $25 million ad buy in nine battleground states. None of the ads mention Romney.


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May 10, 2012 Thursday 4:27 PM EST


New Obama ads tout auto bailout, job numbers


BYLINE: By CNN Political Unit


LENGTH: 349 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's reelection campaign released three new television advertisements on Wednesday which tout his administration's efforts to aide the struggling auto industry and turn job losses into gains.

A campaign official described a "substantial buy" for the ads in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada. Obama's campaign on Monday announced plans to spend $25 million in battleground states, including $5 million in each Florida and Ohio.

In one of the auto-themed ads, Obama explains why the $80 billion bailout was important not just for the Detroit industry, but for workers around the country.

"It wasn't just the million jobs that were at stake," he said. But a turnaround like this "can happen all sorts of communities where when you combine American innovation with the best workers in the world."

A second shows Ohio autoworker Brian Slagle describing the challenges he and his family would face if he lost his job, but, "Obama stuck his neck out for us, the auto industry. He wasn't gonna let it just die, and I'm driving in this morning because of that, because of him."

A chart of job losses, then recent gains is the sole visual of the third ad, which asks, "Remember how things were just a few years ago? and "Do we really want to reverse course now?"

It highlights the economic stimulus measure which passed shortly after Obama's inauguration, the auto bailout, and two tax cut measures passed under his administration.

The Republican National Committee described the ads as "a load of you-know-what," pointing to a significant number of job seekers who stopped looking because of their prospects. They his administration of the auto bailout resulted in "tens of thousands of jobs lost" under the auto bailout, which they also criticized for "giving large stakes of GM and Chrysler to union allies."

These new ads join two other recent releases, including a positive spot touting the administration's accomplishments and another which is critical of GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

- CNN's Jim Acosta, Paul Steinhauser, and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report


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May 10, 2012 Thursday


REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT -- SEATTLE, WA


LENGTH: 3962 words


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THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Seattle! Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Seattle! Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, everybody. Please, please, have a seat. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, guys. (Applause.) Thank you very much. It's good to be back in Seattle. (Applause.)

A few people I want to acknowledge. First of all, please give a big round of applause to Sue for that unbelievable story, the great introduction, her incredible courage. (Applause.) She is just a wonderful person. And I was saying backstage as I was listening, she's the kind of story that you don't read about in the papers. That's a story I'd like to read about -- (applause) -- somebody overcoming so many challenges, doing the right thing. And I could not be prouder to have her introduce me.

A couple of other folks that are here today that I want to acknowledge -- your outstanding Governor, Chris Gregoire. (Applause.) Your outstanding Lieutenant Governor, Brad Owen is here. (Applause.) One of the best United States Senators in the country, Patty Murray is in the house. (Applause.) Former U.S. Representative and soon-to-be governor, Jay Inslee is here. (Applause.)

I want to thank King County executive Dow Constantine. (Applause.) My terrific friend, former King County executive and somebody who did great work for us at HUD in Washington, Ron Sims. (Applause.) State party chair, Dwight Pelz. (Applause.) And of course, somebody who I just love and I'm just such a huge fan of because he's a great person in addition to being a great musician, Dave Matthews. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!

THE PRESIDENT: (Laughter.) I love you, too. (Applause.) So, Seattle, I'm here not just because I need your help -- although I do; you'll hear more about that. I'm here because your country needs your help.

There was a reason why so many of you worked your hearts out in 2008. And it wasn't because you thought it would be easy. You did support a candidate named Barack Hussein Obama. The odds are rarely in your favor in that situation. (Laughter.) You didn't need a poll to tell you that might not be a sure thing.

You did not join the campaign because of me. You came together -- we came together -- because of a shared vision. We came together to reclaim that basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth.

We came together because we believed that in America, your success shouldn't be determined by the circumstances of your birth. If you're willing to work hard, you should be able to find a good job. If you're meeting your responsibilities, you should be able to own a home, maybe start a business. You should be able to give your kids the chance to do even better than you -- no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, no matter what your last name, no matter who you love. (Applause.)

And so we came together. This wasn't just about me; this was you guys making a commitment to each other to try to bring about change because our country had strayed from these basic values. We'd seen a record surplus that was squandered on tax cuts for people who didn't need them and weren't even asking for them. Two wars were being waged on a credit card. Wall Street speculators reaped huge profits by making bets with other people's money. Manufacturing was leaving our shores. A shrinking number of Americans did fantastically well, but a lot more people struggled with falling incomes and rising costs and the slowest job growth in a century.

So it was a house of cards, and it collapsed in the most destructive, worst crisis that we've seen since the Great Depression. And sometimes people forget the magnitude of it, you know? And you saw some of that I think in the video that was shown. Sometimes I forget. In the last six months of 2008, while we were campaigning, nearly 3 million of our neighbors lost their jobs; 800,000 lost their jobs in the month that I took office. And it was tough. But the American people proved they were tougher. So we didn't quit. We kept going. Together we fought back.

When my opponent said we should just let Detroit go bankrupt, we made a bet on American workers, on the ingenuity of American companies, and today our auto industry is back on top of the world. (Applause.)

We saw manufacturers start to invest in America again, consistently adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. Businesses got back to basics, created over 4 million jobs in the last 26 months -- more than 1 million of those in the last six months alone. (Applause.)

So we're making progress. Are we satisfied? Of course not. Too many of our friends, too many of our family are still out there looking for work. Too many homes are still underwater. Too many states are still laying off teachers and first responders. A crisis this deep didn't happen overnight, and we understand it won't be solved overnight. We've got more work to do. We know that.

But here's what else we know: That the last thing we can afford is a return to the policies that got us here in the first place. Not now. Not with so much at stake. (Applause.) We've come too far to abandon the changes that we fought for these past few years. We've got to move forward, to the future that we imagined in 2008 -- where everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody plays by the same rules. That's the choice in this election. And Seattle, that's why I'm running for a second term as President of the United States of America. (Applause.)

Now, my opponent in this election, Governor Romney, he's a patriotic American. He's raised a wonderful family. He should be proud of the great personal success he's had as the CEO of a large financial firm. But I think he's drawn the wrong lessons from those experiences. He actually believes that if CEOs and the wealthiest investors like him get rich, that the rest of us automatically do, too. (Laughter.)

When a woman in Iowa shared the story of her financial struggles, he gave an answer right out of an economics textbook. He said, "Our productivity equals our income," as if the only reason people can't pay their bills is because they're not productive enough.

Well, that's not what's going on. Most of us who have spent some time talking to people understand that the problem isn't that the American people aren't working hard enough, aren't productive enough -- you've been working harder than ever. The challenge we face right now -- the challenge we've faced for over a decade -- is that harder work isn't leading to higher incomes. Bigger profits haven't led to better jobs.

What Governor Romney does not seem to get is that a healthy economy doesn't just mean maximizing your own profits through massive layoffs or busting unions. You don't make America stronger by shipping jobs or profits overseas. (Applause.) When you propose cutting your own taxes while raising them on 18 million families, that's not a recipe for economic growth.

And by the way, there's nothing new about these ideas. I'm just starting to pay a little more attention to this campaign here, and -- (laughter) -- I keep on waiting for them to offer up something new. But it's just the same old stuff. (Laughter.) It's the same agenda that they have been pushing for years. It's the same agenda that they implemented when they were last in charge of the White House -- although, as Bill Clinton pointed out a few weeks ago, this time their agenda is on steroids. (Laughter.) This time they want even bigger tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. This time they want even deeper cuts to things like education and Medicare and research and technology.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: This time they want to give banks and insurance companies even more power to do as they please.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: Now, somehow they think that these same bad ideas will lead to different results than they did the last time -- or they're hoping you won't remember what happened the last time when we tried their bad ideas. (Laughter.)

Well, I'm here to say, Seattle, that we were there. We remember. We're not going back there. We're moving this country forward. (Applause.) We're moving forward. We're moving forward. (Applause.)

Look, we don't expect government to solve all our problems -- and it shouldn't try to solve all our problems. I learned from my mom that no education policy can take the place of a parent's love and attention, and occasionally, getting in your face. (Laughter.) As a young man, I worked with a group of Catholic churches who taught me that no poverty program can make as much of a difference as the kindness and commitment of a caring soul. (Applause.)

And Democrats, we have to remember some things. Not every regulation is smart. Not every tax dollar is spent wisely. Not every person can be helped who refuses to help themselves. We believe in individual responsibility. But that's not an excuse to tell the vast majority of responsible, hardworking Americans -- folks like Sue who've done all the right things -- "you're on your own." That if you're -- had the misfortune, like most people do, of having parents who may not be able to lend you all the money you need for college, that you may not be able to go to college. (Applause.) That even if you pay your premiums every month, you're out of luck if an insurance company decides to drop your coverage when you need it most. (Applause.)

That's not who we are. That's not what built this country. That's not reflective of what's best in us. We built this country together. We built railroads and highways, we built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge -- we built those things together. We sent my grandfather's generation to college on the GI Bill -- together. We did these things not because they benefited any particular individual, any particular group; we did these things because we were building a platform for everybody to be able to succeed. We were creating the conditions for everybody to be able to succeed. These things made us all richer. They gave us all opportunity. (Applause.) They moved us all together, all forward, as one nation, and as one people.

And that's the true lesson of our past. We love the free market. We believe in rewarding entrepreneurship and risk. But when I hear my opponent and some of these folks talk as if somehow nobody had anything to do with the success of these businesses and our entrepreneurs, I have to remind them that we -- we the people -- invested in creating the Internet that allowed Microsoft and Google and Facebook to thrive. There's not a business in this country that's not benefiting from roads and bridges and airports -- the investments we make together. Every time we've got a kid who's getting a great education in a public school and able to go to get an outstanding education at a public university, we're contributing to the possibilities of the free market succeeding. And that's the right vision for our future. That's the reason I'm running for President, because I believe in that vision. I believe in that vision. (Applause.)

I'm running to make sure that by the end of this decade, more of our citizens hold college degrees than any other nation on Earth. I want that to happen here in America. (Applause.) I want to help our schools hire and reward the best teachers, especially in math and science. (Applause.) I want to give 2 million more Americans the chance to go to community colleges and learn the skills that local businesses are looking for right now, because that's what we need in the 21st century. (Applause.) Higher education can't be a luxury. Education is -- higher education is an imperative that every American should be able to afford -- not just for young people but for mid-career folks who have to retrain, have to upgrade their skills. That's the choice in this election. That's why I'm running for President.

I'm running to make sure that the next generation of high-tech manufacturing takes root in places like Seattle and Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Charlotte. I want to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs and profits overseas. I want to reward companies that are creating jobs here in the United States of America. That's the choice in this election. (Applause.)

I am running so that we can keep moving forward to a future where we control our own energy. Our dependence on foreign oil is at the lowest point it's been in 16 years. (Applause.) Because of the actions we took, by the middle of the next decade our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon. (Applause.) Thousands of Americans have jobs because the production of renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled in just three years.

So now is not the time to -- (applause) -- now is not the time to cut these investments to pay for $4 billion a year in giveaways to the oil companies. Now is not -- now is the time to end subsidies for an industry that's just doing fine on its own. Let's double down on clean energy that's never been more promising for our economy and for our security and for the safety of our planet. That's why I'm running, Seattle, and that's the choice in this election. (Applause.)

For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. (Applause.) Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to this country. Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat. And by 2014, the war in Afghanistan will be over. (Applause.)

America is safer and it's more respected because of the courage and selflessness of our diplomats and our intelligence officers, but most of all, because of the United States armed Forces. (Applause.)

And as long as I'm Commander-in-Chief, this country will care for our veterans, and we will serve our veterans as well as they've served us because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads when they come home. (Applause.)

My opponent has a different view. He said it was "tragic" to end the war in Iraq. He says he won't set a timeline for ending the war in Afghanistan. I have set a timeline, and I intend to keep it. (Applause.) After a decade of war that's cost us thousands of lives, that's cost us over a trillion dollars, the nation we need to build is our own. (Applause.)

So we're going to use half of what we're no longer spending on war to pay down the deficit, and we're going to -- (applause) -- we're going to invest the rest in research and education, and repairing our roads and our bridges and our runways and our wireless networks. That's the choice in this election. (Applause.)

And I'm running to pay down our debt in a way that is balanced and a way that's responsible. After inheriting a trillion-dollar deficit, I signed $2 trillion of spending cuts into law. And now I want to finish the job responsibly and properly, streamlining government, cutting more waste -- there's still more there to be had -- but also reforming our tax code so that it's simpler and fairer and it asks the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more. (Applause.)

My opponent won't tell us how he'd pay for his new, $5 trillion tax cut -- a tax cut that gives an average of $250,000 to every millionaire in the country.

AUDIENCE Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: So we may not know the details, but we know the bill for that tax cut will either be passed on to our children, or it's going to be paid by a whole lot of ordinary Americans. And I refuse to let that happen again. (Applause.)

We're not going to pay for another millionaire's tax cut by eliminating medical research projects into things like ovarian cancer or Alzheimer's. I refuse to pay for another tax cut by kicking children out of Head Start programs, or asking students to pay more for college, or eliminating health insurance for millions of poor, and elderly, and disabled Americans on Medicaid. (Applause.)

And as long as I'm President of the United States, I'm not going to allow Medicare to be turned into a voucher that would end the program as we know it. (Applause.) We'll reform Medicare, not by shifting costs to seniors but by reducing the spending that isn't making people healthier. There are ways of doing it that preserve this program that is so vital to so many people.

So Seattle, that's what's at stake. There's a lot at stake. On issue after issue, we can't afford to spend the next four years going backwards.

America doesn't need to re-fight the battles we just had over Wall Street reform or health care reform. Listen to Sue. Here's what I know: Allowing 2.5 million young people to stay on their parents' health insurance plan -- that was the right thing to do. (Applause.) Cutting prescription drug costs for seniors -- right thing to do. (Applause.) We're not going back to the days when insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, or deny you coverage, or charge women differently from men. We're not going back. We're going forward. (Applause.)

We don't need another political fight about ending a woman's right to choose, or getting rid of Planned Parenthood -- (applause) -- or taking away access to affordable birth control. I want women to control their own health choices. (Applause.) Just like I want my daughters to have the same economic opportunities as your sons. We're not going to turn back the clock. (Applause.) We're not turning back the clock.

We're not returning to the days when you could be kicked out of the United States military just because of who you are and who you love. (Applause.) We're moving this country forward. We are moving forward to a country where every American is treated with dignity and with respect. And here in Washington you'll have the chance to make your voice heard on the issue of making sure that everybody, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated fairly. You will have a chance to weigh in on this. (Applause.) We are a nation that treats people fairly. We're not going backwards. We're not going backwards. We're going forwards. (Applause.) We're going forward. We're going forward, where everybody -- everybody is treated with dignity and respect.

We will not allow another election where multimillion-dollar donations speak louder than the voices of ordinary citizens. (Applause.)

And it's time to stop denying citizenship to responsible young people just because they're children of undocumented immigrants. (Applause.) This country is at its best when we harness the God-given talents of every individual; when we hear every voice; when we come together as one American family -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled -- everybody striving for the same dream. That's what we're fighting for. That's why I ran for President. That's why I'm running again for President. That's why I need your help. (Applause.)

You know, Seattle, this election is actually going to be even closer than the last. And the reason for that is too many of our friends and neighbors, they're still hurting because of this crisis. And they see what's going on in Washington, and they don't like it, and so there's just a frustration level there that will express itself in the election.

And I hear it from too many people who are wondering why they haven't been able to get one of the jobs that have been created. Because even if jobs have been created, until you got a job, that jobs report doesn't mean much. They're wondering why their home is still underwater, or why their family hasn't been touched by the recovery. So there's still a lot of -- a lot of work to be done. And folks are just -- they get so frustrated about Washington.

And as I said, the other side, they're not going to -- the other side will not be offering these Americans a real answer to their questions. They're not offering a better vision. They're not offering a new set of ideas. Everybody knows that. There's nothing you've heard from them where you say, man, I didn't think of that. (Laughter.) Now, that's fresh. That's new. Maybe that will work. (Laughter.) That's not what's going on here.

What they will be doing is spending more money than we've ever seen before on negative ads -- ads that exploit people's frustration for some short- term political gain. Over and over again, they'll tell you America is down and out. America is not working. They'll say, are you better off than you were -- without mentioning that their frame of reference is before the worst crisis in our lifetime.

We've seen this play before. And here's the thing, the real question, the question that we have to answer, the question that will actually make a difference in your life and the lives of your children and the lives of your grandchildren -- it's not just about how we're doing today. It's about how we're doing tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.

Will we be better off if more Americans get a better education? Will we be better off if we reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Will we be better off if we start doing some nation-building here at home? Will we be better off if we're investing in clean energy? Will we be better off if we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share? Will we be better off if we invest in new research and science and technology?

When we look back four years from now, or 10 years from now, or 20 years from now, won't we be better off if we have the courage to keep moving forward?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

THE PRESIDENT: That's the question in this election. (Applause.) That's the question in this election. And that outcome is entirely up to you. You'll have to contend with even more negative ads, with more cynicism, more nastiness -- sometimes just plain foolishness. (Laughter.)

But if there's one thing that we learned the last time around, one thing we learned in 2008, there is nothing more powerful than millions of voices calling for change. (Applause.) When you knock on doors; when you pick up the phone; when you talk to your friends; when you decide it's time for change to happen, guess what? Change happens. Change comes to America. (Applause.) And that's the spirit that we need again.

If people ask you what this campaign is about, you tell them it's still about hope. You tell them it's still about change. You tell them it's still about ordinary people who believe that in the face of great odds, we can make a difference in the life of this country. (Applause.)

Because I still believe, Seattle. I still believe. I still believe we're not as divided as our politics suggest. I still believe that we have more common ground than the pundits tell us. I believe we're not Democrats or Republicans first; I think we're Americans first. (Applause.) I still believe in you. (Applause.) I still believe in you, and that's why I'm asking you to still believe in me. (Applause.) I told you in 2008 that I wasn't a perfect man -- maybe Michelle told you. (Laughter.) And I won't be a perfect President. But I promised back when I was running that first time that I'd always tell you what I thought, and I'd always tell you where I stood, and I'd wake up every single day fighting as hard as I know how for you. (Applause.)

And Seattle, I kept that promise. I have kept that promise, and I will keep it as long as I have the honor of being your President. (Applause.) So if you're willing to stick with me, if you're willing to fight with me, if you're willing to work even harder this election than the last one, I guarantee you we will move this country forward. (Applause.) We will finish what we started.

I'm still fired up. I'm still ready to go. And we will show the world why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you, everybody. God bless you.

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Creators Syndicate


May 10, 2012 Thursday


Shortcuts for 2012 Campaign


BYLINE: Mark Shields


SECTION: SHORTCUTS FOR 2012 CAMPAIGN


LENGTH: 700 words


Please accept the following as a small token of appreciation from your semi-faithful correspondent, who knows how busy life can get, what with graduations, Memorial Day and everything. We read all the campaign press releases and candidate statements so that you won't have to.

I will happily put the bumper sticker on my car of any presidential candidate who says, with a modicum of humility: "This is probably the second or third most important election of this century." I just stop listening after any politician tells voters (because his name is on the ballot) that "this is the most important election of your lifetime."

President Obama's campaign staff is having trouble coming up with a slogan for 2012. They have tried, and apparently rejected, "Winning the Future" and "An America Built to Last," and are now trying simply "Forward."

A good slogan can in fact define a campaign. In 1884, Gen. Edward S. Bragg seconded Grover Cleveland's nomination and championed Cleveland's candidacy with the simple statement, "We love him most for the enemies he has made!"

Hugh Carey, though outspent, won the New York governorship in 1974 against a deep-pocketed but inexperienced opponent with the catchphrase, "This year, before they tell you what they're going to do, make them show you what they've done."

In 1952, with Americans fighting in a stalemated Asian land war, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's pledge, "I'll go to Korea," carried the day.

Richard Nixon's political comeback was secured in 1968 at least in part because of his campaign slogan, "This time, vote like your whole world depended upon it."

I will be surprised if this October President Obama's crowds of supporters or TV commercials will be chanting "Forward."

It would have been a really tough job to be either a campaign strategist or a speechwriter for President George Washington. Why, you ask? Because Gen. Washington is the only presidential candidate in history to run an entire campaign without blaming every problem - from the latest outbreak of ringworm to an epidemic of double-parking - on the administration of his predecessor.

I refuse to consider voting for any congressional candidate who either wears tasseled loafers or campaigns by endlessly telling everyone who will listen just how much he loathes Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill and a majority of the congressional colleagues with whom he would serve.

My reasoning is simple: I wouldn't hire someone to baby-sit - even if she or he had a graduate degree in juvenile psychology and was Phi Beta Kappa, clean-living, disciplined and well-mannered - if that baby-sitting applicant candidly confided how much she or he personally disliked children.

How good a member of Congress could anyone be who blindly hates Congress and everybody in it? Answer: not very.

Our two major parties are captives of historical caricatures or stereotypes. Because Democrats were the party of immigrants, the lower class and those at the social margins, that party took pride in nominating presidential candidates who had graduated from Ivy League schools, knew which salad fork to use and who could speak in complete sentences. Examples include Franklin Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Republicans were seen as the party of the well-to-do, the socially acceptable and the native-born. To overcome that perception, the GOP preferred nominees who were not to the manor born but who came from humble origins. Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Bob Dole rebutted the image of Republicans as the well-born and privileged.

Which brings us to the case of Mitt Romney, who was not born in a log cabin and whose mother did not work the late shift to keep him in shoes. With his tin ear ("I'm unemployed, too"; My wife "Ann droves a couple of Cadillacs"), he risks reinforcing the negative stereotype of Republicans as the party of the out-of-touch rich.

The challenge will be for Mitt to demonstrate an authentic connection with ordinary Americans.

To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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Environment and Energy Daily


May 10, 2012 Thursday


CAMPAIGN 2012: Appalachia fights back against president's coal policies


SECTION: POLITICS Vol. 10 No. 9


LENGTH: 1371 words


Manuel Quinones, E&E reporter

Many people in West Virginia and around the country are trying to figure out how a Texas prisoner proved a significant contender against President Obama in the Mountain State's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, winning more than 40 percent of the vote.

One answer: Coal.

Preliminary results released by the West Virginia Secretary of State showed significant support for felon Keith Judd, especially in southern counties where mines dot the landscape. So far, he has more than 60 percent of the vote in Mingo County near the Kentucky border.

"I think coal is part of it. I think race may be part of it," said West Virginia University political science professor Neil Berch. "I don't think people knew who they were voting for, obviously. They just saw another name on the ballot and just went for it."

The president's low popularity ratings in West Virginia and his administration's agenda to tighten pollution controls have prompted some Democratic politicians in the state to distance themselves from the man in the White House. Both Sen. Joe Manchin and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin have not said whether they will support Obama's re-election.

"President Obama has apparently made it his mission to drive the backbone of West Virginia's economy, coal and the energy industry, out of business," said Tomblin, as quoted by the Associated Press. "That will not only hurt thousands of West Virginia families, it will destroy the economic fabric of our state."

But West Virginia may be an isolated case. Although Obama is not necessarily any more popular in coal country in Ohio and Pennsylvania, he is still given a fairly good chance of winning those swing states in the fall.

Rep. Nick Rahall and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, two prominent West Virginia Democrats, say they are not surprised that some of their state's party brothers are keeping Obama at arm's length.

"I said I would vote for President Obama," Rahall said in an interview, although he is a frequent critic of the administration's coal policies. "I've differed with Democratic presidents, and I've differed with Republican presidents. The issues that are important to my constituents, they're the ones that decide my votes here in Congress."

Rockefeller said Obama "didn't do very well in West Virginia the last time, so [the reluctance of some West Virginia Democrats to support him] doesn't come as a big surprise. I'm not on the fence about it. I'm very much for him."

The truth is Obama has long been unpopular in West Virginia. In 2008, Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated him by more than 40 points in the state's Democratic primary. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) went on to win the state in the general election by double digits.

"Although West Virginia has almost two-to-one Democratic registration, this rural, less-educated state slipped into the conservative 'red' category in national politics, as Dixie did previously," said a May 4 editorial in the Charleston Gazette.

"Many West Virginians are hostile to America's first black president, polls find, indicating that the national Democratic ticket probably will lose West Virginia again for the fourth consecutive time," said the editorial.

A recent poll by the Charleston Daily Mail showed presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney beating Obama roughly 54 percent to 37 percent, with a 4.8 percent margin of error. Research firm R.L. Repass & Partners Inc. conducted the poll April 25 to 28.

The poll also showed Manchin and Tomblin leading their fall races for re-election by comfortable margins. Ironically, Berch said, Obama may help both candidates this November. The current race, he said, will likely prove less challenging than their previous runs.

"It's going to bring out voters who didn't vote in 2010, didn't vote in 2011, who tend to be somewhat more liberal voters," Berch said. "While they may not pleased with Tomblin or Manchin, they're not going to vote for [Senate GOP candidate John] Raese or [GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill] Maloney." Romney, coal's new darling

Romney is now among the top recipients of campaign contributions connected to coal mining, according to Center for Responsive Politics records. In recent speeches, he has gone to bat for coal, saying in March, "you know what, coal is good."

Affiliated super PAC Restore Our Future has received $1 million connected to Oxbow Corp. Its founder, William Koch, is brother to prolific conservative donors Charles and David Koch. Other donations include $500,000 connected to Alliance Resource Partners LP and at least $150,000 from CONSOL Energy Inc.

Last month, Romney stopped at a CONSOL research facility in Pittsburgh and criticized the president's energy policies. "He's for all the sources of energy that come from above the ground -- wind and solar -- he just doesn't like the things that come from below the ground," Romney said.

Environmentalists were aghast that Romney visited CONSOL one day after Earth Day.

Romney also campaigned and raised money this month with Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy Corp., in Wheeling, W.Va. Earlier in the Republican presidential campaign, it was Texas Gov. Rick Perry who received Murray's praises at a similar event.

Romney's previous comments may have given the industry pause. In 2003, standing near a coal-fired power plant while governor of Massachusetts, he said, "I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people. And that plant, that plant kills people."

But despite recent assurances by administration officials that they are not waging a "war on coal," Obama's 2008 statement that his policies would "bankrupt" coal power plants that do not meet strict emissions controls and his recent reluctance to even mention coal have not endeared him to the industry.

"Coal is still a valuable resource," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), a top House Energy and Commerce Committee member, during a hearing yesterday. "And yet this administration has been openly in the business of putting coal out of business." King Coal opens its wallet

The industry, including affiliated individuals and political action committees, funneled more than $8 million to candidates during the 2010 election cycle, more than ever before. This time around, the dollar total is more than $5 million and counting, the CRP found.

Last month, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity announced a national ad campaign and even a NASCAR sponsorship to get the word out about coal. While the ads are meant to be more educational than political, the group has been critical of the president's policies.

Coal country politics is playing a significant role in several notable races around the country.

Last month, Pennsylvania Republicans overruled the choice of many party leaders and chose former coal executive Tom Smith to oppose first-term Sen. Bob Casey (D) in November. Indiana Treasurer Richard Murdock, who defeated longtime Sen. Richard Lugar in the state's GOP primary this week, is also a former coal company leader.

But when it comes to the presidential election, there are limits to coal's ability to influence the outcome. "Coal is much more dominant, affects much more of West Virginia than other states," Berch said.

In Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear (D), a coal booster, has expressed support for Obama -- though the president is expected to lose the state again in November, as the state has only voted Democratic three times since 1964. And other coal states, like Pennsylvania and Ohio, have large population centers away from coal mining areas.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week had Obama leading Romney 47 percent to 39 percent in Pennsylvania, with a 2.9-point margin of error. The two candidates were statistically tied in Ohio.

A more recent poll in the Buckeye State by Public Policy Polling, released just yesterday, had the president leading Romney 50 percent to 43 percent, with a 3.3-point margin of error.

Romney is already looking to capitalize on the president's Appalachian troubles. The former Massachusetts governor told a Colorado radio station: "I saw in West Virginia, for instance, an inmate got almost 40 percent of the vote against President Obama for the convention. So I think they've got more problems on that side of the aisle than we do on ours."


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The Frontrunner


May 10, 2012 Thursday


Ann Romney Pens Mothers Day Op-Ed For USA Today


SECTION: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEWS


LENGTH: 262 words


In a USA Today (5/10, 1.78M) op-ed, Ann Romney writes, "Cherish your mothers. ... Women wear many hats in their lives. Daughter, sister, student, breadwinner. But no matter where we are or what we're doing, one hat that moms never take off is the crown of motherhood. There is no crown more glorious."

Super PAC's Ad Highlights Democrats' Negative Remarks On Romney's Wife.

CNN (5/9, Wallace) reported on its website, "This Mother's Day, the primary super PAC supporting Mitt Romney doesn't want swing voters to forget what some Democrats have said about the candidate's wife, Ann. A new ad by Restore Our Future plays back comments critical of Romney by Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Hilary Rosen, as well as comedian Bill Maher. 'Ann Romney raised five boys. She successfully battled breast cancer and multiple sclerosis,' the ad juxtapositions against Rosen's comment that Romney 'has actually never worked a day in her life,' and Maher's crude assertion that she has never been 'out of the house.'"

In an "Ad Watch" feature, USA Today (5/10, 1.78M) notes that Maher is shown saying in the ad, "Ann Romney has never gotten her ass out of the house." The announcer in the ad then says, "Happy Mother's Day from Barack Obama's team." USA Today adds that the spot "is aimed at women, among whom Obama holds a lead vs. Romney in opinion surveys. The president's support is skewed to unmarried women, who support him 68% to 24%, according to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. Married women - perhaps more likely to be stay-at-home moms - favored Romney 47% to 43%."


LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2012


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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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Marketwire


May 10, 2012 Thursday 5:20 AM GMT


Obama Administration's Regulations Accelerating Coal's Slide;
The Paragon Report Provides Stock Research on Peabody Energy and Patriot Coal


LENGTH: 515 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK, NY; May 10, 2012


President Barack Obama has continued to show strong support of energy development in the U.S., but recently failed to mention the coal industry in his State of the Union address or during a recent tour promoting his policies. According to the National Mining Association the Obama administration regulations are accelerating coal's slide. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Coal Industry and provides equity research on Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) and Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX).

Access to full reports can be found at: www.ParagonReport.com/BTU

www.ParagonReport.com/PCX

The American Coalition of Clean Coal Electricity is "exceptionally disappointed in the policies of this administration with respect to coal," Luke Popovich, a spokesperson for the group, said in a recent interview. After unsuccessfully attempting to push legislation to block recent EPA regulations the group's focus will shift to the presidential campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks lobbying and campaign spending, political donations from industry executives and employees have already exceeded 2008 totals. Republican presidential candidate Mitch Romney, a strong supporter of the coal industry, accused Obama of making it "harder to mine for coal," during his speech on May 3.

Paragon Report releases regular market updates on the Coal Industry so investors can stay ahead of the crowd and make the best investment decisions to maximize their returns. Take a few minutes to register with us free at www.ParagonReport.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.

As of December 31, 2011, Peabody Energy owned interests in 30 coal mining operations, including an interest in 29 coal operations located in the United States and Australia and a 50% interest in the Middlemount Mine in Australia. The company's first quarter revenues rose 17 percent to $2.04 billion, driven by a 27 percent increase in Australian revenues per ton and a 7 percent rise in U.S. revenues per ton. Sales volumes of 61.7 million tons were above prior year sales of 61.2 million tons.

Patriot Coal Corporation is a leading producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States, with 13 active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin. Revenues in the 2012 first quarter were $502.6 million, compared with $577.0 million in the prior-year quarter. Lower revenues in the 2012 quarter resulted from fewer tons sold, partially offset by higher revenue per ton.

Paragon Report provides Market Research focused on equities that offer growth opportunities, value, and strong potential return. We strive to provide the most up-to-date market activities. We constantly create research reports and newsletters for our members. The Paragon Report has not been compensated by any of the above-mentioned companies. We act as independent research portal and are aware that all investment entails inherent risks. Please view the full disclaimer at: www.ParagonReport.com/disclaimer

SOURCE: Paragon Financial Limited


LOAD-DATE: May 11, 2012


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Marketwire


May 10, 2012 Thursday 5:20 AM GMT


President Fails to Show Support for Coal Industry in His State of the Union Address;
The Paragon Report Provides Stock Research on Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources


LENGTH: 537 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK, NY; May 10, 2012


President Barack Obama has continued to show strong support of energy development in the U.S., but recently failed to mention the coal industry in his State of the Union address or during a recent tour promoting his policies. According to the National Mining Association the Obama administration regulations are accelerating coal's slide. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Coal Industry and provides equity research on Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) and Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR).

Access to full reports can be found at: www.ParagonReport.com/ACI

www.ParagonReport.com/ANR

The American Coalition of Clean Coal Electricity is "exceptionally disappointed in the policies of this administration with respect to coal," Luke Popovich, a spokesperson for the group, said in a recent interview. After unsuccessfully attempting to push legislation to block recent EPA regulations the group's focus will shift to the presidential campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks lobbying and campaign spending, political donations from industry executives and employees have already exceeded 2008 totals. Republican presidential candidate Mitch Romney, a strong supporter of the coal industry, accused Obama of making it "harder to mine for coal," during his speech on May 3.

Paragon Report releases regular market updates on the Coal Industry so investors can stay ahead of the crowd and make the best investment decisions to maximize their returns. Take a few minutes to register with us free at www.ParagonReport.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, Arch Coal sold approximately 156.9 million tons of coal, including approximately 5.5 million tons of coal it purchased from third parties, representing roughly 14% of the United States coal supply. It sells its coal to power plants, steel mills and industrial facilities. The company reported first quarter 2012 net income of $1.2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, compared with net income of $55.6 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. With $7.1 billion in total revenue in 2011, Alpha Natural Resources ranks as America's second-largest coal producer by revenue and third-largest by production. Alpha is the nation's largest supplier of metallurgical coal used in the steel-making process and is a major supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities and manufacturing industries. The company reported a first quarter net loss of $29.1 million or $0.13 per diluted share compared to net income of $49.8 million or $0.41 per diluted share last year.

Paragon Report provides Market Research focused on equities that offer growth opportunities, value, and strong potential return. We strive to provide the most up-to-date market activities. We constantly create research reports and newsletters for our members. The Paragon Report has not been compensated by any of the above-mentioned companies. We act as independent research portal and are aware that all investment entails inherent risks. Please view the full disclaimer at: www.ParagonReport.com/disclaimer

SOURCE: Paragon Financial Limited


LOAD-DATE: May 11, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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The Philadelphia Daily News


May 10, 2012 Thursday
WEB Edition


Darwin-win: Obama’s evolution on same-sex marriage firms up his voter base


BYLINE: Will Bunch


SECTION: NEWS; DN Need to Map; Pg. WEB


LENGTH: 575 words


IT FEELS LIKE it took fish less time to grow legs and walk on land than it took for President Obama’s position on gay marriage to finally “evolve” to supporting it.

Leave it to the ever-cautious “No Drama Obama” to take an epic moment in the slow forward march of civil rights for all Americans and to leave supporters to wonder if they should be shouting, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” or asking the president, “Jeez, what took you so long?”

I have to confess that my original reaction was the latter, to focus on the politics, when I heard that Obama had finally announced his personal support for gay marriage in the all-too-calculated format of an ABC News interview that the White House had hurriedly set up (usually it’s the other way around — a news outlet spends months begging for a presidential one-on-one).

There’s nothing wrong with the reality that it took Obama awhile to change his position from one that was supportive of civil unions and other gay rights to one that also saw the right of marriage as essential to true equality. That’s typical for many liberal-minded folks in the generation that both the president and I grew up in — the tail-end baby boomers known as Generation Jones, born before the Stonewall riots and long before what apparently is Joe Biden’s favorite sitcom, “Will and Grace.”

But the political calculation seemed so raw. The moment that Obama first announced two years ago that his gay-marriage position was “evolving,” everyone pretty much knew this day would come — and that it would come on the day that it would give the biggest bounce to his 2012 re-election campaign.

And, so, then came the rollout that had all the precision of a new ad campaign for Lexus — the trial-run pronouncements of Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and even a cowardly wait until after the last vote had been cast in North Carolina, a presidential election “battleground” state where voters overwhelmingly approved an anti-gay marriage referendum on Tuesday.

Remember when the Rev. Martin Luther King focus-grouped his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”? Me neither.

But about the politics: While it may not be the safest move for Obama, history will likely prove it to be the smart one. His words should energize his now-apathetic base of younger supporters, and taking an unambiguous stand gives him a chance to contrast with the flip-floppiness of GOP rival Mitt Romney. 

And, so, this is the President Obama we’ve come to know ... and feel lukewarm about.

But, then, you remember that in this particular civil-rights moment, Obama isn’t supposed to be the Martin Luther King — he’s the Lyndon Johnson.

The president’s awkward political stagecraft should not obscure the fact that his words are just the punctuation mark to a 43-year script that was written by brave activists from those first Stonewall nights through Larry Kramer and Harvey Milk and right up to this day, May 9, 2012.

It is truly a historic day when those who believe that life, liberty and the pursuit of happily ever after is a right for every American don’t have to feel like a fish out of water. n

Contact Will Bunch at 215-854-2957 or at bunchw@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter, @Will_Bunch, or read his blog, Attytood.com.


LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


May 10, 2012 Thursday
PITTSBURGH PRESS EDITION


GIVE OBAMA CREDIT FOR TAKING OUT BIN LADEN


BYLINE: JOHN M. CRISP


SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A-7


LENGTH: 512 words


So, if you were the president, would you have pulled the trigger on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden? Are you sure?

Republican candidate Mitt Romney is certain that he would have and, in fact, he says, the decision to go was so clear-cut that even Jimmy Carter would have launched the raid.

But a couple of cliches are called for: The decision to strike was not, by any means, the kind of no-brainer that Mr. Romney suggests, and the raid's outcome was far from a slam-dunk.

I'm not fond of extra-judicial assassinations, even of non-Americans, but let's face it: If anyone had one coming, it was Osama bin Laden.

OBL wasn't a madman, and I don't like using terms like "evil" to describe motivations that can be explained in rational terms.

But the fact that OBL had his reasons for attacking the United States on 9/11 doesn't release him from the consequences. His attacks were outrageous, his victims were innocent, and he was still a dangerous, motivated threat. Vengeance may be the Lord's, but sometimes he relies on humans to do the right thing.

Republicans don't mention George W. Bush much these days, but he's been resurrected in the attempt to absorb some credit for the groundwork behind the raid that got bin Laden. But Mr. Bush, distracted by Iraq, appears to have lost interest in OBL during the decade that followed 9/11. In any case, he didn't get the job done. Mr. Obama did.

Would Mr. Romney have launched the raid? No one, not even Mr. Romney, really knows the answer to that question. Neither does Mr. Obama.

But the heat that the president has endured over a recent campaign ad that suggests Mr. Romney wouldn't have launched the raid is overwrought. Some have called the ad unpresidential, and the Boston Herald published a cartoon depicting Mr. Obama wondering why anyone would politicize the OBL raid as he sports a T-shirt that features a picture of OBL and a caption that reads, "If I were alive, I'd vote for Romney."

If the Obama campaign ad was a tad over the top, surely it's excusable in the hyper-political atmosphere that the president has endured for the past three years, one that has attempted to deflect well-deserved credit for the bold OBL raid onto everyone except the president.

Of course, plenty of other people deserve credit, as well. A year later, all of them still merit a victory lap. If the raid had gone wrong, apart from the casualties, Mr. Obama would have fallen furthest and hardest. But the raid went exquisitely right, with a result that both the left and the right should feel good about.

With regard to who gets credit, Mr. Obama's been a glory-hog only in the eyes of those who are looking for any opportunity to detract from his record.

So let's give the president a break on the OBL raid. So what if one of his finest accomplishments is lightly tinged with politics? That's not exactly news.

Besides, here's a relevant quote. It's been attributed to many others, but I like the version that puts it in the mouth of St. Louis Cardinals baseball legend Dizzy Dean, who said, reportedly: "It ain't bragging if you can do it."


LOAD-DATE: May 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: John M. Crisp teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas./


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper



Copyright 2012 P.G. Publishing Co.



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UPI


May 10, 2012 Thursday 10:01 PM EST


UPI NewsTrack TopNews


LENGTH: 1150 words


Dimon: JPMorgan Chase lost $2B

NEW YORK, May 10 (UPI) -- JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Thursday the company has lost an estimated $2 billion due to "egregious" and "self-inflicted" mistakes.

In a conference call with reporters, Dimon said the losses in a portfolio of credit investments occurred within the bank's Chief Investment Office, The New York Times reported.

"These were egregious mistakes," he said. "They were self-inflicted and this is not how we want to run a business."

The Chief Investment Office effects trades meant to balance assets and liabilities, and the losses will likely affect the company's overall earnings, the newspaper said.

The company said in a filing the Chief Investment Office is expected to report a second-quarter loss of $800 million. The final count will depend on what action the bank takes and how markets respond, but Dimon said it could "easily get worse."

"We have egg on our face," Dimon said. "We deserve any criticism we get."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said after the disclosure the losses are an indication that financial reform is needed.

"The enormous loss JPMorgan announced today is just the latest evidence that what banks call 'hedges' are often risky bets that so-called 'too big to fail' banks have no business making," Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said in a statement issued by his office. "Today's announcement is a stark reminder of the need for regulators to establish tough, effective standards."

Justice Dept. files lawsuit against Arpaio

WASHINGTON, May 10 (UPI) -- The Justice Department says it is suing Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for his campaign against illegal immigrants.

Federal prosecutors say Arpaio engaged in "discriminatory and otherwise unconstitutional law enforcement actions against Latinos who are frequently stopped, detained and arrested on the basis of race, color, or national origin." The Sheriff's Office is also accused of discriminatory jail practices against Hispanic inmates and taking illegal retaliation against perceived critics.

The Justice Department last December issued a letter of findings, alleging the discriminatory actions and said efforts to reach a resolution have failed, primarily because the Sheriff's Office refused to agree to oversight by an independent monitor.

The lawsuit alleges the Sheriff's Office "promotes and is indifferent to the discriminatory conduct of its law enforcement officers, as is demonstrated by inadequate policies, ineffective training, virtually non-existent accountability measures, poor supervision, scant data collection mechanisms, distorted enforcement prioritization (and) an ineffective complaint and disciplinary system."

The Justice Department said the Sheriff's Office promotes "a culture of disregard for Latinos that starts at the top and pervades the organization."

"At its core, this is an abuse of power case involving Sheriff Arpaio and a sheriff's office that disregarded the Constitution, ignored sound police practices, and did not hesitate to retaliate against perceived critics in a variety of unlawful ways," Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said Thursday in a statement.

"No one in Maricopa County is above the law and the department will fight to ensure that the promise of the Constitution is realized by everyone in Maricopa County."

Romney sorry, but doesn't remember pranks

OMAHA, May 10 (UPI) -- GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, campaigning in Omaha Thursday, apologized for a so-called prank in high school but said he didn't remember the incident.

Romney, the apparent Republican presidential nominee, also took a swipe at President Obama, calling him a "big money Democrat" who is even more liberal than former President Bill Clinton, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The Romney campaign raised $800,000 at a fundraiser dinner at the Omaha Hilton, the report said.

Romney apologized repeatedly Thursday for what he characterized as high school pranks that may have hurt other students. But in an interview with Fox News Channel, the former Massachusetts governor said he doesn't remember them.

Romney spent his teenage years spent at Cranbrook, a prestigious prep school in Michigan, CBS News said.

The incidents were described in a Washington Post story.

The Post said in one incident friends held down a classmate believed to be gay while a young Romney repeatedly clipped his hair as the boy screamed for help.

"I don't remember that incident," Romney told Fox News. "I tell you I certainly don't believe that I ... thought the fella was homosexual. That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s. So that was not the case. But as to pranks that were played back then, I don't remember them all but again, high school days -- if I did stupid things I'm afraid I gotta say sorry for it."

The Post said the attack on the gay student was confirmed by five classmates who said it was "senseless, stupid, idiotic" and "vicious."

Romney also allegedly shouted "Atta girl!" when another supposedly gay student tried to speak up in class, among a series of other pranks, the report said.

The candidate said his propensity for pranks changed when he met his future wife Ann in high school, CBS reported.

Va. GOP denounces member's 'coup' remark

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., May 10 (UPI) -- Greene County (Va.) Republicans are denouncing a comment in their newsletter promoting "armed revolution" if President Barack Obama is re-elected.

The Greene County Republican Committee newsletter for March featured an editorial written by Ponch McPhee calling the November election a challenge to "remove an ideologue unlike anything world history has ever witnessed."

"We shall not have any coarse (sic) but armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November," McPhee wrote. "This Republic cannot survive for 4 more years underneath this political socialist ideologue."

GCRC Chairman Gary E. Lowe says McPhee is no longer the editor of the newsletter, KYTX-TV, Charlottesville, reported Thursday.

In a statement posted on the committee's Web site, Lowe said the committee "denounces such language and does not subscribe to that thinking." He said McPhee's editorial had been written "before a change in the Greene County Republican Committee (GCRC) leadership."

Lowe noted the newsletter carried a disclaimer that its content "does not reflect the opinion of the Republican Party whole or in part, all contents offered are individual" and said the editorial comment is protected by First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"While we believe this election is critical to the direction of the future of this great nation, we do not believe that if the results end up with the re-election of Barack Obama, that will necessitate what the author suggests," Lowe wrote.


LOAD-DATE: May 11, 2012


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USA TODAY


May 10, 2012 Thursday
FINAL EDITION


Mother's Day ad revives mommy-war flap


BYLINE: Martha T. Moore


SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4A


LENGTH: 439 words


Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, tries to revive the mommy wars in an ad timed to Mother's Day on Sunday. The ad reprises the controversy over a remark about Romney's wife, Ann, made last month by Democratic political strategist Hilary Rosen.

Script

Male narrator: Ann Romney raised five boys. She successfully battled breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. But what does White House insider Hilary Rosen say about Ann Romney?

Hilary Rosen (audio clip): Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.

Narrator: And Bill Maher, who gave a million dollars supporting Obama, attacks

Bill Maher (video clip): Ann Romney has never gotten her ass out of the house.

Announcer: Happy Mother's Day from Barack Obama's team. Restore Our Future is responsible for the content of this message.

Visuals

Photos of Ann Romney, Hilary Rosen, and a Mother's Day birthday card with photos of President Obama, Rosen and Maher.

Accuracy

The facts are straightforward: Ann Romney did raise five sons and suffer breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Bill Maher and Hilary Rosen did make those comments -- although Maher's full quote was that Romney "has never gotten her ass out of the house to work." He then said, "No one is denying that being a mother is a tough job," but he made a distinction between working at raising children and working for an employer.

Rosen, who made her comment on CNN, where she is a paid contributor, was villified by Republicans who said her comments reflected Democrats' disdain for women who stay home to raise children. She repeatedly went back on television to apologize to Ann Romney.

The claim that is harder to prove is whether Rosen and Maher are an integral part of Obama's "team'' and whether their comments are representative of the president's views. Rosen's remarks were renounced at the time by Obama, his wife, Michelle, and the leaders of his campaign. Rosen works for political consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker, which has worked for the Obama campaign in the past, and she has visited the White House -- although the White House would not clarify how many times. But she does not work for the Obama campaign or the Democratic Party. Maher, a comic and talk-show host, gave $1million in February to Priorities USA Action, a pro-Obama super PAC.

The ad is aimed at women, among whom Obama holds a lead vs. Romney in opinion surveys. The president's support is skewed to unmarried women, who support him 68% to 24%, according to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. Married women -- perhaps more likely to be stay-at-home moms -- favored Romney 47% to 43%.


LOAD-DATE: May 10, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


PUBLICATION-TYPE: NEWSPAPER



Copyright 2012 Gannett Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved



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The White House Bulletin


May 10, 2012 Thursday


Political Notes


SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN


LENGTH: 505 words


President. Scott Pelley, on the CBS Evening News, said President Obama's backing of same-sex marriage yesterday puts him at odds with Mitt Romney on the issue and "could change the race for the White House by injecting a contentious social issue." Karen Tumulty, in the Washington Post, writes that the issue could make it easier for Romney "to rally conservatives who have been lukewarm to his candidacy." Adam Nagourney, in the New York Times, writes that "however much national attitudes may be shifting, the issue remains highly contentious among black and Latino voters, two groups central to Mr. Obama's success." ... The Los Angeles Times reports, "One hundred and fifty wealthy Democrats will dine with President Obama at George Clooney's Studio City home Thursday night, at a party that organizers expect to gross $15 million for the president's re-election campaign -- the highest amount ever raised at such an event."

Governors.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on an "eye-popping" result from Tuesday's Wisconsin vote, saying, "626,538: The astonishing number of votes Gov. Scott Walker generated in an uncompetitive GOP primary," almost as many as the full slate of Democrats who competed for the right to take him on in the special election, which are "a testament to what might be Walker's greatest political asset, even greater than his considerable money advantage: The ability to mobilize his base." ... The Charlotte (NC) Observer reports that newly-minted North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Walter Dalton (D) "came to Charlotte Wednesday and slammed Republican opponent Pat McCrory in his own backyard," where he looked to tie his rival to the GOP-led state legislature.

Senate.

The AP reports the conservative group Club for Growth yesterday announced it would spend an additional $1 million targeting the frontrunner in the Texas GOP Senate primary, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. The group is backing Ted Cruz in that contest. ... Roll Call says today that Democrats have a "better shot" at picking up Indiana's Senate seat now that Richard Mourdock has defeated Richard Lugar in the GOP primary, but the "winding, narrow path to victory" for Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) requires "just about everything would have to break his way - including, to a degree, the presidential race." ... The Omaha World-Herald reports Deb Fischer, running behind in the polls and fundraising to John Bruning and Don Stenberg in the Nebraska GOP Senate primary, picked up the endorsement of Sarah Palin yesterday.

House.

The Hill reports the NRCC is doubling its "investment in the special election to replace" ex-AZ8 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), committing another $300,000 in ad spending in addition to the $300,000 it has already spent. ... The New York Times reports, "Congressional ethics investigators concluded in a report released Wednesday" that FL13 Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) "appeared to have tried to illegally influence the testimony of an ex-business partner regarding allegations of campaign finance violations in his own race."


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Associated Press Online


May 10, 2012 Thursday 3:44 PM GMT


Obama dings Romney's claim of credit for autos


SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE


LENGTH: 241 words


DATELINE: WASHINGTON


President Barack Obama says Mitt Romney is having an "Etch A Sketch moment" when he claims credit for the U.S. auto industry's revival.

Obama says people remember that Romney's stance was that Detroit should have been allowed to go through bankruptcy without taxpayer help. Of Romney's insistence this week that he deserves credit for the auto industry's success, Obama said: "I don't think anybody takes that seriously."

In an interview with ABC News, Obama says Romney's plan for denying the automakers a federal bailout would have cost the economy about 1 million jobs in the Midwest. GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy on the strength of a costly bailout set up by the Obama administration.

Romney wrote in a 2008 editorial that if the bailout were enacted, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."

Obama's re-election campaign, meanwhile, called attention Thursday to the auto bailout and job growth during his administration in three new TV ads.

One ad, titled "Success," shows Obama talking about his decision to extend federal help to the auto makers. Another ad, titled "Brian from Ohio," features an auto worker who was laid off, then rehired after the bailout. A third ad, "Reverse," charts job losses in the months before Obama took office in January 2009 and the modest job growth that has taken place since then.

The commercials are part of a $25 million ad buy in nine battleground states. None of the ads mention Romney.


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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


May 10, 2012 Thursday 9:47 PM GMT


GOP gets set to start up Pa. presidential campaign


BYLINE: By MARC LEVY, Associated Press


SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL


LENGTH: 590 words


DATELINE: HARRISBURG Pa.


With the primary battle essentially over, the Republican Party is preparing to fire up a presidential campaign in Pennsylvania about a year behind President Barack Obama in a vote-rich state that both sides say they can win.

The Obama campaign is opening its 24th campaign office on Friday in Bethlehem it opened its 23rd in York on Wednesday and running a one-minute TV ad, while Mitt Romney's campaign is getting ready to hire staff and the state party is planning to open its first coordinated campaign offices as early as next week.

Obama's campaign, which launched its website and began organizing volunteers in April 2011, has been mobilizing volunteers, holding voter registration drives and sponsoring phone bank nights. It also has a "truth team" of local officials to respond to Romney's campaign.

An Obama campaign spokeswoman in Pennsylvania, Jennifer Austin, would not say how many staff the organization has hired in Pennsylvania thus far, although a review of the campaign's website suggests that it has at least two dozen.

Michael Barley, executive director of the state Republican Party, said campaign structures are built and volunteers are identified, and that now it's a matter of restarting communication and getting the grassroots message out. The national party has hired a staff "victory director" to help oversee the party's coordinated efforts in phone banking, door knocking and enlisting more volunteers.

Victory in Pennsylvania and with it, the right to claim the state's 20 electoral votes, tied for fifth-most in the nation is probably more crucial to Obama than Romney. In 2008, Obama beat Republican John McCain by 10 percentage points in Pennsylvania.

Harry Truman in 1948 was the last Democratic presidential candidate to lose Pennsylvania but win the election, while Republican George W. Bush lost Pennsylvania twice in 2000 and 2004 on his way to two terms as president.

One recent independent poll showed Obama with a lead in Pennsylvania, 47 percent to 39 percent a much stronger performance by the Democrat than in two other large swing states measured by the poll, Florida and Ohio.

The poll, by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, surveyed 1,168 Pennsylvania voters from April 25 to May 1 and carried a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

The intensity of the campaign in Pennsylvania will depend on how close the race is.

The presidential race in Pennsylvania could easily cost tens of millions of dollars and include spending by organizations called super PACs. As a result of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that erased many campaign-finance regulations, such groups can collect unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals.

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania won by Pat Toomey cost more than $50 million, including spending by the candidates, political parties and outside groups in the general election and the bruising Democratic Party primary in which Joe Sestak beat fifth-term Sen. Arlen Specter.

"All kinds of groups, all kinds of crazy groups that don't have to disclose their donors or disclose who they are will be able to pour their money into the race," said state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, who is leading the Democratic campaign effort in state Senate races.

Obama's ad in Pennsylvania is part of a $25 million, nine-state ad campaign that began Monday. Romney's campaign and a pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, spent heavily on ads in the first half of April until GOP primary rival Rick Santorum suspended his campaign.


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The Associated Press


May 11, 2012 Friday 10:30 AM GMT


10 things to know for Friday


BYLINE: By The Associated Press


SECTION: DOMESTIC NEWS


LENGTH: 365 words


Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT):

1. OBAMA, ROMNEY HIT THE ROAD

After an apology from Biden for forcing his hand on gay marriage - and a night of fundraising at George Clooney's house, the president speaks in Reno, Nev., at 3:10 p.m. and the presumptive GOP nominee campaigns in Charlotte, N.C., at 1 p.m.

2. JP MORGAN CHASE BETS BADLY ON DERIVATIVES

Shares of the largest bank in the U.S. plunge almost 7 percent in afterhours trading after it admitted an embarrassing $2 billion loss in a trading portfolio designed to hedge risk.

3. JOHN EDWARDS' DEFENSE WANTS CHARGES DROPPED

Prosecutors cast him as a liar and a lousy husband, but lawyers for the former vice presidential candidate say he's no criminal.

4. HIV DRUG WINS BACKING OF FDA PANEL

The first drug shown to prevent infection wins the endorsement of a panel of federal advisers, clearing the way for a landmark approval in the 30-year fight against the virus that causes AIDS.

5. FUGITIVE SUSPECT IN KILLINGS, KIDNAPPINGS KILLS HIMSELF AS SWAT TEAM CLOSES IN

Adam Mayes, accused of killing a mother and her teenage daughter and kidnapping her two other children, shoots himself in the head in Mississippi.

6. ANCIENT TERRACES IN THE WEST BANK

One of the last Palestinian farming villages that still uses irrigation systems from Roman times says its ancient way of life is in danger as Israel prepares to lay down its West Bank separation barrier.

7. NAVY SAYS SONAR, EXPLOSIVES COULD HURT MARINE MAMMALS

The military estimates these practices may unintentionally cause more than 1,600 instances of hearing loss or other injury to the sea creatures in one year.

8. HORST FAAS: LEGENDARY AP PHOTOJOURNALIST

The photographer, who died Thursday, was best known for his searing and sometimes startling images of Vietnam. He carved out new standards for covering war with a camera.

9. SURFER SETS GNARLY WAVE RECORD

A Hawaii pro surfer caught a 78-foot wave off the coast of Portugal and gets a world record.

10. KID ROCK GOES CLASSICAL

The rocker is playing a show Saturday to raise money for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and will perform with the musicians themselves.


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The Associated Press


May 11, 2012 Friday 10:11 PM GMT


Obama basks again in Hollywood glory, but at cost?


BYLINE: By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer


SECTION: POLITICAL NEWS


LENGTH: 963 words


Under a tent on George Clooney's basketball court, the cheers were loud and warm for President Barack Obama.

"I want to thank Clooney for letting us use his basketball court," Obama quipped to a glittery crowd that included Barbra Streisand, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Salma Hayek and Tobey Maguire. "This guy has been talking smack about his basketball game ever since I've known him."

It can't feel too shabby to be applauded by Barbra, Salma and Tobey while you're teasing your buddy George. And though many of the guests Thursday night at Clooney's home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles were, like their host, longtime supporters, there was no question the president was feeling some special love at this fundraiser. He had, after all, thrilled the community a day earlier with the support for gay marriage they'd long awaited.

Only months ago, it seemed uncertain whether Obama would get the same kind of loving embrace from Hollywood that he did in the 2008 campaign. Actor and former supporter Matt Damon in particular voiced his displeasure last year, saying the president had "misinterpreted his mandate" and that he needed guts, though he used a blunter term. will.i.am, creator of that "Yes We Can" viral video that ended with the word "HOPE," said: "I don't want to hope anymore." Even Obama's top fundraisers acknowledged the mood was more muted unavoidably, they said than during Obama's first campaign.

To be sure, the issue was also one of timing during the GOP primary season, when a different candidate seemed to be on top each week, there hadn't yet emerged a clear opponent to the president.

"Last year there was no sense of urgency," says Andy Spahn, a political adviser to entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who organized the Clooney event, as well as a top Obama fundraiser himself. "As the race came into focus and the choice became clear, people have been rushing to support the president."

But the gay marriage decision, he says, "will certainly add to the enthusiasm behind the president's campaign. It translates into more energy." And hopefully, dollars: "Funds are critical as we enter the summer months," he says, to counter the "super PAC" money flowing to Republican Mitt Romney. "The re-election is going to need these resources."

He and other fundraisers in the community, though, hasten to note that Obama events had been selling out even before Obama's gay marriage announcement as Clooney's did, raising nearly $15 million, a record for a single fundraiser. (The total included a raffle for small dollar donors.)

"I've never been part of any event that didn't sell out," says Chad Griffin, a member of Obama's National Finance Committee and a prominent gay rights leader. But now, he says, crowds at events like the fundraiser/concert in June he is co-hosting, the LGBT Leadership Council Gala, "will be more energized, more enthusiastic."

"What the president did yesterday was historic," says Griffin, also the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign. He added that he, like many fellow gay rights advocates, will never forget where he was when he heard Obama's words this week.

Hollywood's obvious happiness went beyond the mood at Thursday's fundraiser. Actress Marlo Thomas, for example, wrote a letter on the Huffington Post website saying: "Thank you, Mr. President, for this remarkable triumph." The co-creator of the monster TV hit "Glee," Ryan Murphy, signed on to host a fundraising dinner that will dovetail with the June 6 concert, featuring the singer Pink.

But does all the enthusiasm come at a cost? Obama's opponents tried as hard as they could in 2008 to make the candidate's Hollywood connections a liability, painting him as a celebrity darling hopelessly out of touch with ordinary Americans.

Most famous of those efforts: the John McCain campaign ad linking candidate Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. The ad was ridiculed by many the two celebs were no longer even current, some noted and parodied by Hilton herself. But the Obama campaign did downplay the role of celebrities at the Democratic convention that summer.

This time, there's already a similar ad circulating from the pro-GOP super PAC called American Crossroads. "Four years ago," it starts, "American elected the biggest celebrity in the world."

It shows Obama in dark sunglasses, Obama dancing with Ellen DeGeneres, Obama "slow-jamming" the news with late-night host Jimmy Fallon, Obama singing an Al Green song, and calling Kanye West a "jackass" for his Taylor Swift debacle. Then in bold writing it asks: "After 4 years of a celebrity president is your life any better?"

("Typical Republican grousing," retorts Spahn, adding that the Republicans have no problem with singer Ted Nugent publicly supporting Romney.)

But some celebrities undeniably wield influence let's not forget Oprah Winfrey's clout in 2008.

"Celebrities can attract a lot of attention, and some people take the comments of celebrities quite seriously," says Todd Boyd, a professor of popular culture at the University of Southern California. "I'm not sure if celebrities alone can make or break a campaign, but they can be a potential factor."

Boyd says McCain's efforts to use Obama's celebrity connections against him obviously failed in the end, given the results. But, he adds, since Obama's newness has worn off, even to his Hollywood base, celebrities on the whole will likely play a lesser role this time.

Whatever the role, Griffin, the fundraiser and gay rights activist, says the wealthy Hollywood Democratic community is now firmly and enthusiastically behind its candidate.

"I don't know anyone staying on the sidelines," Griffin says. "We've got a head-to-head. We're in the game."

Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report from Los Angeles.


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CNN Wire


May 11, 2012 Friday 11:52 PM EST


JPMorgan and the politics of financial reform


BYLINE: Charles Riley


LENGTH: 624 words


DATELINE: NEW YORK (CNNMoney)


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wall Street reform has not been a huge topic on the campaign trail thus far, largely because every Republican candidate agreed that the financial regulations enshrined in Dodd-Frank should be repealed.

But as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama begin the general election campaign in earnest, the issue of how best to prevent another financial crisis has the potential to move to the fore of the political discussion.

Any movement in that direction was accelerated Thursday as JPMorgan Chase, thought to be one of the soundest banks in the country, revealed that it had suffered trading losses of $2 billion.

The source of the loss, CEO Jamie Dimon revealed, was a series of massive bets placed by the bank via credit default swaps, the same class of derivatives that wrecked havoc in 2008.

Almost immediately, advocates for more government regulation of banks cited the trades as evidence that JPMorgan was making an end-around the Volcker Rule.

That rule, a part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law passed in response to the financial crisis, aims to ban risky trading by banks for their own profit, sometimes referred to as proprietary trading.

The rule has not yet been implemented, and banks have spent millions of dollars lobbying against it, which they view as cumbersome and excessive.

The lobbying battle has largely pitted Republicans against Democrats, and now, the behind-the-scenes action may well move onto the campaign trail.

The Obama campaign was strangely silent during the day on Friday, but hit back after the market closed, saying that eliminating Dodd-Frank would be "reckless."

Responding to the JPMorgan episode, the Romney campaign said in a statement that it "demonstrates the importance of oversight and transparency in the derivatives market."

Romney has been very critical of Dodd-Frank throughout the campaign, arguing that it represents a heavy-handed approach that gives extraordinary power "to the same agencies that had failed to prevent the financial crisis."

He has made clear that he would repeal the law, although his position on what should replace it is less clear. In his official campaign literature, Romney says that some Dodd-Frank provisions have merit.

"Greater transparency for inter-bank relationships, enhanced capital requirements, and provisions to address new forms of complex financial transactions are all necessary elements of effective financial reform," Romney said.

Asked for more detail about the candidate's plans for replacing Dodd-Frank, a Romney official pointed to examples of his calls for the regulation of "liar loans" and subprime mortgages.

It's not clear what Romney would do about other areas of policy that were dramatically altered by Dodd-Frank, an extremely complex piece of legislation that addressed the regulation of non-bank financial institutions, created a mechanism for winding down large firms that fail, and reorganized the regulatory agencies.

The lack of details may prove to be a positive for Romney. Should Wall Street regulation become a major campaign issue, he will largely be able to fill in the gaps as issues arise.

The approach of the Obama administration, which touts Dodd-Frank as one of its signature policy accomplishments, is more clear, and inflexible.

Obama is likely to argue that a return to pre-crisis law is unacceptable, and any move to repeal Dodd-Frank would endanger hard-won reforms that are the only protections against another financial crisis.

"The law promotes transparency, limits the types of risky investments that can be made with deposits insured by federal taxpayers, and prevents investment losses at one bank from threatening the whole financial system," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement.


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CNN Wire


May 11, 2012 Friday 7:12 PM EST


CNN Wire Weekend Enterprise Digest


BYLINE: By the CNN Wire Staff


LENGTH: 2591 words


DATELINE: (CNN)


(CNN) -- Weekend Supervising News Editors Samira Jafari and Sarah Aarthun - 404-827-1401

SATURDAY

POL-Romney-Liberty

Mitt Romney will deliver the commencement address at the evangelical Christian university led by Jerry Falwell, Jr., Liberty University said.

Georgia Holocaust Survivor

Zhanna Asrshanskaya was 14 when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. She was a piano prodigy. She was also Jewish. For many years she could not speak about the Holocaust until her granddaughter asked her about it. What came out is a remarkable story of the human spirit. Of how Zhanna and her sister escaped death by playing music for the Nazis and how at the end of the war, she fell in love with an America soldier who put got them on the first boat of survivors bound for the United States. She became an accomplished pianist and received an honorary degree Saturday at Atlanta's Oglethorpe University. Her son, journalist Greg Dawson wrote a book about his mother's story. He returned to the Ukraine to find a memorial to the Jews who had perished in Zhanna's hometown. Among the names of the dead was Zhanna's. It was at that moment S="Dawson" fully understood the power of his mother's history.

FEA-Mothers-Sex-Offenders

Mothers of sex offenders worry constantly about their children's safety and future. Experts say their support is key to increasing chances that their children won't reoffend.

US-Journal-Avian-Flu

A science journal is poised to publish a study that some experts believe could give a recipe for bioterrorists -- if it is published in full.

SUNDAY

POL-Campaign-Wrap

Latest from the 2012 presidential race.

FEA-Belief-Mormon-Washington

The nation's capital is a Mormon stronghold, whether or not Romney wins the White House.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ENTERPRISE

DOMESTIC

US-Black-Churches-Same-Sex-Marriage

After the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. first gained wide public recognition in the mid-1950s, he made a special request to evangelist Billy Graham. King was poised to join Graham on one of his barnstorming crusades, but he would do so only on one condition. He asked Graham to publicly speak out against segregation, a request Graham declined, says San Diego State University historian Edward Blum. "What Graham feared was losing all of his influence," Blum says. "For him, personal salvation was primary, justice secondary. For King, justice was primary." After President Obama this week became the first sitting president to endorse same-sex marriage, black clergy and churchgoers could be facing a question that's similar to the one that fractured King and Graham: Should my ideas about personal holiness trump my notion of justice?

US-Veterans-Charity-Fraud

A national charity that vows to help disabled veterans and their families has spent tens of millions on marketing services, all the while doling out massive amounts of candy, hand sanitizer bottles and many other unnecessary items to veteran aid groups, according to a CNN investigation.

US-Montague-Collection-Auction

Nathaniel Montague spent more than 50 of his 84 years chasing history, meticulously collecting rare and one-of-a-kind fragments of America's past. Slave documents. Photographs. Signatures. Recordings. Montague -- Magnificent Montague, as he's been known since his days as a pioneering radio DJ -- amassed an 8,000-piece collection reflecting names from the well-known to the forgotten to those history never thought to remember. It's valued in the millions; some call it priceless. One assessment of just five of the pieces puts the total value of those treasures alone somewhere between $592,000 and $940,000. The Montague Collection was his prized possession, but because of financial woes he has lost it. It is now up for auction.

US-Tombstone-Water-Fight

There's a popular saying in the American West: Whiskey's for drinking, but water's for fighting over. This dusty little city, made famous by the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, has a dilly of a water fight on its hands. Tombstone, population 1,400, is suing the federal government -- and it is likely to be a landmark legal battle.

INTERNATIONAL

Al-Qaeda-Evolving-Strategy

Three months before he was killed by a U.S. drone strike, Fahd al Quso, one of al Qaeda's top operatives in Yemen, spoke at length to a local journalist. He was asked why al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had stopped plotting against the United States. Was it because all efforts were devoted to an internal project? "The war didn't end between us and our enemies. Wait for what is coming," al Quso replied. It seems al Quso, the head of the group's external operations, wasn't bluffing after the recent discovery of a device designed to be carried aboard an airliner by a suicide bomber without detection.

Vusi-Mahlasela-AV

He is lauded as one of Africa s most unique voices, with a fanbase stretching across the world, but South African singing sensation Vusi Mahlasela remains faithful to his roots.

Europe-Revolt

Europeans are revolting -- against their leaders and established political parties, against an austerity plan 'made in Germany', and against a future that promises declining living standards and shriveling public services.

Greece-Why-Care

Greece may have given us the word democracy and many of the principles of civil society. But now it is "the sick man of Europe," and the people of other European democracies are asking whether it's worth saving with billions more dollars of their money. Put crudely, their argument is this: So what if Greece slides ignominiously out of the eurozone?

China-Cui-Jian-Florcruz

Cui Jian burst onto the music scene in China 26 years ago with his signature number, "Nothing To My Name." He was one of the first Chinese musicians to bring rock 'n roll to China during the 1980s as the country began to open up to western influences. He is still making waves today with his fusion of western and Chinese styles.

POLITICAL

POL-Obama-Romney-Campaigns

With Mitt Romney's victories in the April 24 Republican primaries, a new phase of the campaign began at Obama re-election headquarters in Chicago. After a year spent hiring staff and building an organization, Obama for America finally had what it had been waiting for: an opponent. "The monologue is over," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the day after Romney's conclusive five-state primary sweep. "Now Romney has to put his record and his agenda up against the president's, and we look forward to that debate. The general election might just be starting, but we've been at this for more than a year in Chicago." This year of preparation certainly gave the Obama campaign a head start on building up a national organization, but it also allowed the campaign leadership to map out a message for the early weeks of the general election.

POL-Same-Sex-Marriage-Polling

President Barack Obama's announcement that he now supports same-sex marriage reflects a dramatic shift taking place across the country. Last year, for the first time, polls found a majority of Americans share that stance. Surveys show the country's position has undergone a rapid change over the past 15 years -- one not seen on other issues.

POL-Obama-Same-Sex-Strategy

In the political fallout of President Barack Obama's shift to support same-sex marriage, analysts say the move may signal a remarkable change in his campaign's re-election strategy, one that no longer courts the moderate part of his Democratic base.

POL-Lugar-Parting-Words (with art)

As soon as 36-year Senate veteran Richard Lugar finished his concession speech Tuesday, he walked off the stage, out the back door and into his car. But he left behind something unusual and -- in the annals of politics -- somewhat extraordinary.

FINANCIAL

MONEY-Greece-Eurozone

The results of the latest elections in Greece may make it more likely that the country will eventually leave the eurozone. But such an exit would probably be more orderly than Greece's default, experts said.

MONEY-Facebook-Ipo-Investors (with art)

You might think that scoring a stake in Facebook's initial public offering if you are an average investor is like trying to change your privacy controls on the social networking site -- seemingly impossible. But it turns out that Facebook is making an effort to have some of its hotly sought after shares accessible to all.

MONEY-Prepaid-Cards (with art)

Issuers of prepaid debit cards are taking heat over high fees and how they market to consumers. Prepaid cards give consumers an alternative to traditional bank accounts by letting them load their own money onto what is essentially a debit card. They typically target consumers who have few other banking options because they have limited or poor credit. But they can come at a cost.

MONEY-Prepaid-Cards-What-to-Know (with art)

Prepaid cards are wildly popular. But if you're in the market for one, it's important to know what you're signing up for. Here are some factors to consider.

MONEY-Jp-Morgan-Too-Big

JPMorgan Chase's $2 billion hedging blunder is adding fuel to those who think the megabanks are just too big.

MEDICAL

MED-Obesity-Rate-Predictions

After years of rising obesity rates in the United States, recent statistics show the rates may have steadied. But that may not be enough, according to a new report released on Monday - it estimates about 42% of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030.

MED-Memory-Computers-Brain (with graphic)

Quick: What's the fattiest system in your body that has two sides and weighs between 2 and 4 pounds? It's your brain -- you know, that thing that remembers stuff. But because of rapidly evolving information technology, your first impulse was probably to search for the answer on the Internet. As we become ever more dependent on external sources of memory -- using GPS to guide our driving, smartphones to keep our schedules -- it's time to rethink our ideas about what "memory" actually is.

MED-Longer-Commutes-Steal-Health (with art)

Anybody who has a long daily commute knows the frustration of sitting in traffic with nothing to do but wait. Now, a study suggests that long commutes can take away more than just precious time - they also negatively impact your fitness and health.

MED-Addicted-To-Learning

The idea that learning a new skill - say juggling, cooking, or playing guitar - can be like an addiction is no joke. I should know. As a college professor/scientist, who has written about the dynamics of narcotics and self-control, I have spent the last 3 1/2 years all but addicted to learning to play guitar. Despite lacking anything that might remotely resemble musical talent, I find no day is complete without at least a little bit of time on the guitar.

TECH

TECH-Brogrammers (with art)

At one of the world's biggest gatherings of Web culture, a 28-year-old executive talks about landing a tech job by sending a CEO "bikini shots" from a "nudie calendar" he created. On campus at Stanford University, a hot startup attracts recruits with a poster asking if they want to 'bro down and crush some code.'" And the world's largest Internet registration company entices Web entrepreneurs with a Super Bowl ad in which two female celebrities paint its logo onto the body of an apparently naked model. Forget what you think you know about the benignly geeky computer programmer who lives for the thrill of finding a single misplaced semicolon in thousands of lines of code. And welcome to the world of the "brogrammer.".

TECH-Zuckerberg-Hoodie-Wall-Street (with art)

Facebook has raked in billions and will make a splash when its stock hits the open market next week. So, what are folks on Wall Street concerned about? Mark Zuckerberg's hoodie, apparently.

TECH-Social-Media-Parents-Netiquette (with art)

Maternity-leave laws aside, now is a pretty awesome time to be a new parent. Anyone with the Internet can get advice, connect with other parents and share photos and updates with interested parties in real time. (Think about it: Twenty years ago, it'd be much easier to feel isolated when you were at home all day with a little blinking infant who couldn't do much other than sleep, poop and cry.)

TRAVEL

TRAVEL-Airport-Security-Bomb-Plot (with art)

A foiled plot to sneak a bomb through airport checkpoints and onto a plane bound for the United States calls attention to gaps in screening measures that are supposed to detect threats airport metal detectors miss. Outside the United States, the controversial body-scanning technology is not widely used, security experts say. But it is the best way to detect plastic explosives hidden on people boarding airplanes.

TRAVEL-Zurich-Stopover-Hurry

Facing a stopover of a few hours in Zurich? Don't waste it in the airport lounge. Check in your suitcase, and zip into the city for a brief encounter with a European cultural capital set amidst idyllic natural surroundings.

TRAVEL-Buenos-Aires-Tango-Travel-Guide

You can't escape tango in Buenos Aires. It is danced on the trains and in the streets. Restaurants in the bohemian neighborhoods of San Telmo and La Boca try to lure tourists inside with exhibition dancing outside their doors. Taxi drivers play tango music on their radios, and giant billboards promote choreographed tango shows. Tango grew from the working class port neighborhoods of Buenos Aires to become a global dance and music phenomenon that in 2009 was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. But for those visiting the Argentinean capital for the first time, the sheer number of opportunities to experience tango can be overwhelming, and many of the best venues are off the beaten track.

TRAVEL-Petra-Jordan-Cave-Surfing

In front of a cave deep in the monochromatic sandstone canyons of Petra, in southern Jordan, sits a bright pink 1982 Jeep Wrangler. The vehicle's owner, Ghassab Al-Bedouine, calls it the couch surfing flag.

LIVING

The-Olympic-Boat-Project

A piece of rock legend Jimi Hendrix's guitar, teak from China, a salad server and a plank of wood from a newly constructed London Olympic venue. Each item of this unusual collection of materials has its own unique history and now they have been put together to create a new sailing boat.

FEA-Resume-Padding-Scott-Thompson (with art)

It may sound crazy. Why would a high-ranking executive lie about his or her credentials, especially now, when all it takes is a quick phone call or Internet search to verify information? Yet it happens more often than you might think. From a white lie about time spent as a customer service rep to a whopper about earning an MBA, résumé padding occurs regularly across industries, experts say. In a 2010 survey of 1,818 organizations, 69% reported catching a job candidate lying on his or her résumé, according to employment screening service HireRight.

FEA-Dietary-Restrictions-Wedding

When it came time for Sivan Pardo, 31, to plan her wedding to her 28-year-old fiancé Scott Renwick, she knew she wanted a "big fat vegan wedding." "As Scott and I are both vegans for ethical reasons, it was very clear to us that we wanted our wedding, and everything around it, to reflect our ethics and values," said Pardo, the founder and director of "The Vegan Woman" website. Pardo has been vegan for one year and a vegetarian since she was 12. There will be no animal-derived products served at her reception on June 1.

ENT-Dark-Shadows-Throwback

It seems to go without saying that at this point, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton have a lot in common - not least of which being the eight movies they've worked on together. Yet we can add another item to that list: Their affection for "Dark Shadows," the series they've turned into a movie arriving in theaters Friday.


LOAD-DATE: May 12, 2012


LANGUAGE: ENGLISH


NOTES: The following stories will be published by the CNN Wire for the weekend of May 12-13.


PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire



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